I still mask, I think COVID is super serious and I work with immunocompromised patients in a hospital, and I take public transit, so it’s just generally a good idea. I am very, very, very vaccinated, but I’m still not comfortable unmasked. Two angry men on separate occasions have made comments to me about masking and how I don’t need to do it. I just stare right through them and ignore, but why are they so angry? It does not affect them in the slightest, and if they think I’m stupid have at it.
Just tell them you’re contagious, and don’t want to pass it on to them.
I also mask. People don’t generally talk about it here, and masking wasn’t even very common back when the pandemic was taken more seriously.
Never faced any aggression but people do give you a wide berth which is kind of hilarious to me, but it doesn’t bother me at all.
The wide berth I don’t care about, although mostly it’s still pretty normal to see masks in hospitals, but some creep in a Fuck Trudeau shirt reeeeeeing at me about it on the bus I could live without. I always make sure to wear earbuds and just pretend I can’t hear them.
I rather like the wide berth people give me even though it doesn’t make much sense. Like, anyone could have Covid, but if I had it and I wear a respirator I’ll be less dangerous than someone who has it and doesn’t wear one. I get that people equate respirators with spooky but that’s just because they haven’t thought about it.
Thinking back on it, there was a single dude that spoke to me randomly. I think it might have been because of the mask but I’ve genuinely no idea, I always wear ANC headphones and ignore people. It helps my anxiety a lot.
Sadly, the people that will really appreciate you using a respirator are those you generally don’t see out and about because they can’t be, it isn’t safe for them.
I’m immunocompromised and I wear a mask whenever I go out. When people challenge me, saying “COVID is over, and anyway, it’s just like a cold”, I tell them that it’s not over, it will never be over, over 100 people in our local city went to hospital just last week, and another 30 or so died from it.
I think that people know deep down that COVID really is serious, they don’t want to admit it or wear masks, and seeing people taking it seriously makes them feel threatened emotionally and philosophically.
Due to immunocompromised people I regularly interact with, I masked and isolated much more and much longer than the average person in my area. I still keep a mask in the car and on my bike. They also come in useful when you don’t want to be recognized or bothered by people. I’m not sure if they cause problems for some facial recognition tech, but that would be a welcome bonus.
My theory is that they see as a religious garment like a hijab/niqab, something you only do if you are a pro-illuminati cultist.
Edit: Or maybe they view it like a liberal version of the Maga hat.
