Wearing facemasks outside has become normal during COVID-19, as we aim to prevent the transmission of the disease from person to person when we have no choice but to be in close contact, as in at the market. But wearing a mask presents its own, some might say very inconsequential, problems. Like taking a drink.
Thankfully for those who are concerned with such a plight, artist Ellen Macomber has designed a unique face mask, featuring a small straw slot for sipping cocktails that could have only originated in a city famed for its nightlife.
“We’re all in New Orleans, and here in New Orleans, we like to drink,” says Macomber, who began sewing masks to join the fight against COVID-19, as many others have done lately. 
For $30 a piece, within a half hour of launch, she had completely sold out.
And I know what you’re thinking: doesn’t a hole in the mask completely defeat the purpose of it?
“We were thinking of doing a lip appliqué, where it would flap open and close, but you’d have to touch your face. I was like, ‘Well that won’t work because you have to touch your mask,” Macomber said. “That’s when I was like, ‘Dude, we just drill a little flap, an extra layer, and you angle the straw to get in. So the hole is never completely open.’”
“Anything is better than nothing,” she said. “If we’re going to be handling different errands … this is just one option for one of the variety of errands you’re needing to do.”
You can find the masks on her website here.
via NY Post
