That time a new paper mask almost cost me a lung in a condo reno

Last month I was doing a full carpet pull in this older condo building downtown, the kind where the padding had turned to dust basically. I grabbed a fresh box of those basic white paper masks from the truck without thinking twice. About halfway through tearing out the old padding in this tiny bedroom, I could feel that nasty stuff in my throat and nose. Looked down at the mask and realized it was one of those cheap single-layer ones, not the N95s I normally grab. Had to stop the job, drive 20 minutes to Home Depot to get proper masks, and by then the whole schedule was shot. The homeowner's wife even came out and asked if I was okay because I was coughing so bad. Has anyone else grabbed the wrong mask box by accident and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason.mary9d ago

60 bucks in gas later and I felt like a complete idiot for not checking first.

mila3959d ago

Damn that's rough. I've done the exact same thing before and it's such a stupid mistake that you pay for immediately. Those cheap paper masks are basically just for show, they don't stop anything real like dust or mold spores. Your lungs must have been wrecked for days after that. It's crazy how much a tiny oversight can mess up your whole day and your health too.