'Larva Phobia'?

 Translated from Latin.....it means a person having a fear or aversion to masks (you know....the FFP2 or Covid-type mask).

Any day, I expect some mental clinic in Germany to announce their first patient who who either has a fear of wearing a mask....or a fear of hanging around people who wear the Covid mask.

I should note here....with all phobias.....they are always listed as a 'irrational fear'.

Throughout my military career....around every six months while 'stationed' in Germany....we'd undergo gas-mask training, and you'd end up in a booth at the end of the half-day of training....to stand there for ten minutes with the mask on while some tear-gas cannister was opened up.  The first dozen-odd times....I had this phobia of the training day, and hated this more than you'd think.  I eventually got used to it.

These days.....stepping out of a car, it's almost an automatic reaction....reaching for my mask, and ensuring it's there.  The fact that it's probably got fifty hours of use, and not up to practical standards (as the German authorities preach weekly)?  Yeah, but it's the 'look' that matters.  

I stood in a grocery last week, and noted some smaller lady (compact face), who had a FFP-2 mask on....that was too large.  There was a gap of 5 centimeters at the top of the mask....allowing total airflow in.  She was one of those people who ought to be wearing a kid's mask (my humble view).  No one was going to correct....even if they felt a duty to do so.

Will Larva Phobia catch on?  I suspect people will reach a level where they smoke a bit of cannabis or sip through four shots of rum.....to get over the irrational fear of the mask.