Do you wear a mask when you're in public?

[krypton iodine sulfur]

I have a mask with me whenever I go out. I moved from an urban area to a small town just recently, so mostly I can get around without coming in close proximity of others. In stores is another matter. Even when I was still in the coty, I mostly went out around midnight to shop, and tried to do big runs so I could stay home more.

I changed or introduced quite a few habits due to covid, some of which were pretty annoying, but all told not that big of a deal. Like a lot of people, my tiredness over covid measures has more to do with a pessimism surronding all the people who do absolutely nothing.

About a week and a half ago I decided to take a drive up to a nearby touristy area for getting it was the long weekend. I was sick of looking at unpacked boxes and needed to get out of the apartment. Even at 4pm all of the parking lots throughout the town were swamped with people circling, looking for open parking spaces that didn't exist. No masks. Densely crowded.

I guess I am a little glad that the local businesses which rely on tourism got some money out of the stupidity, but I hope their staff actually wanted to work. BC hasn't been hit super hard by corona, but new cases sharply spiked recently, unsurprisingly. With schools planning to have students back soon, I think we're in for a rough ride.

 

[barbos]

Here masks are mandatory inside shops and other such places. In reality they only demand masks on check out and most people don't cover noses so their masks are absolutely useless. I wear N95 to shops, nothing if I go for a walk.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yes, unless there's nobody anywhere nearby. I was out hiking earlier, I got a very early start--I wore it at the very start because I heard voices but they turned out to be campers far from trail, and then I didn't need it again until I was 1/3 of the way back. I put it on if I saw anyone, I took it back off if I had gone a minute without seeing anyone.

It's a bit annoying in the heat but Covid would be much more annoying. If it's cool enough it just makes me feel like I'm at a higher altitude (I'm using N95s) and since I'm used to hiking at high altitude anyway that's no big deal.

Anything short of medical stuff, if there are people around and wearing a mask wasn't possible I simply wouldn't do it. I also don't hike in groups--if I'm not comfortable going alone I don't go. Generally that's not that big a limitation but it's going to mean no snowshoeing this winter. (If you break through into a hidden cavity it's no big deal if you have companions, but alone you can die of hypothermia before rescue can reach you. If I know the snow is shallow I'll cross it, but when everything is white it's awfully hard to know just how much of it there is.)

 

[DrZoidberg]

I'm in a relatively small town. I don't wear it if I'm taking a walk, or when no one is around. But I always wear it when I'm in spitting distance of another human.

One of my town's prominent physicians died of the virus. He succumbed shortly after he had tested positive. Sad because he was masked as a matter of routine. He was only 65.

Masks are more about protecting other people than yourself. It won't protect you much from an infected non-mask person breathing on you

 

[rousseau]

My city has mandated it's use indoors which I'd been doing for a few weeks prior to the mandate. I haven't been wearing one outside, but then I've been working from home since March and the only public place I find myself in most of the time are grocery store parking lots where I usually have it on. If I was going somewhere that was dense with people I'd throw it on.

Like others it just seems like common courtesy to me.

 

[Treedbear]

Yesterday I was at a dinner discussing and I had a friend who didn't wear a mask. When I pressed him on why he conceded that it looked silly. No arguments. Another friend says that it makes it hard to breathe for her. Another bullshit reason.

I don't get this attitude. Wearing a mask has almost zero cost. It's the smallest inconvenience. We're in the middle of a pandemic. To me it's not even a question of ideology. Even if I thought Covid-19 is exagerated, I still don't want other people to think I'm an inconsiderate dick. So mask goes on.

It's strange times we live in.

As the saying goes, with friends like those ...
I don't make enemies easily but I'm very particular about who I associate with. I would have been out of there in a New York minute. When I'm in public and encounter someone without a mask I make it obvious that I'm steering clear of them just so they know my intentions. If they have any humanity left they might reconsider their position. Or else they might get even more pig-headed about it. For me it's a matter of whether one wants to die with a plastic tube stuck down their throat. I feel lucky to live in a state where the positivity is below 1% and almost everyone wears a mask.

 

[Toni]

With a couple exceptions. I do not while riding my bicycle. Few people on the trails do. Passing by others on a narrow path, maybe I should. My assumption is it would be extra sweaty and uncomfortable under there. Nor do I wear them when I need to put my reading glasses on. The two are incompatible.

Yea, ditto here. We do a lot of stuff outdoors. I don't wear one while kayaking, hiking, fishing, and etc. But when people get close on trail, I put it on. I put it on whenever I get close to anyone; always have it on inside (at the store or whatever).

Same. Anytime I am indoors other than inside my home, I have worn a mask. Since March.

 

[ronburgundy]

The only time I've been out of my house in 5 months w/o a mask is walking to and from my car (and inside my car), and twice in a friends backyard while we sat about 10 feet from each other drinking. Which also means I haven't drank or eaten at any establishment, including outdoor seating in 5 months, despite this being a 2-3 times per week occurrence prior to the pandemic.

I even wore a mask (and an N95 mask) back in March when US health official were discouraging it, b/c I knew that advice was bullshit that never made medical sense and was driven by trying to prevent mask hoarding (a reasonable fear). I got lucky and have a neighbor in construction who had N95 masks in his truck.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

I wear it where it is required, and don't wear it the rest of the time. So no, I don't where it when I'm outside.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Yesterday I was at a dinner discussing and I had a friend who didn't wear a mask. When I pressed him on why he conceded that it looked silly. No arguments. Another friend says that it makes it hard to breathe for her. Another bullshit reason.

I don't get this attitude. Wearing a mask has almost zero cost. It's the smallest inconvenience. We're in the middle of a pandemic. To me it's not even a question of ideology. Even if I thought Covid-19 is exagerated, I still don't want other people to think I'm an inconsiderate dick. So mask goes on.

It's strange times we live in.

As the saying goes, with friends like those ...
I don't make enemies easily but I'm very particular about who I associate with. I would have been out of there in a New York minute. When I'm in public and encounter someone without a mask I make it obvious that I'm steering clear of them just so they know my intentions. If they have any humanity left they might reconsider their position. Or else they might get even more pig-headed about it. For me it's a matter of whether one wants to die with a plastic tube stuck down their throat. I feel lucky to live in a state where the positivity is below 1% and almost everyone wears a mask.

I can relate to the sentiment. I'm the same with condoms. If I'm having sex with a woman who is ok with us not using a condom, then it becomes extra important to me to use a condom with her.

 

[aupmanyav]

I have been totally confined to home for nearly five months now (since March 25). But yes, other people in the family use masks when they go out. India is having a hard time.

 

[The Colourful Jester]

No, around my town it’s basically back to normal.