this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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I'm sure it's a mix of things. Some of it's probably a lack of understanding, and sometimes it's a "don't let perfect be the enemy of good" situation. They might have their mask on and ready to go for situations where they might want to mask up or where somebody else might want them to mask up... Or... Whatever. Maybe even some people take it off to talk (which is frustrating) because they think it's easier to communicate that way and worth the risk to themselves and others and they'll pull it back up after because it still does limit exposure overall? I dunno. Maybe I shouldn't speculate too much. I guess I've been on the other side of this where a bunch of people were complaining about people wearing masks outside alone because it's "stupid and pointless" and I've definitely done that when going between places because it was just easier to keep the thing on for me (especially since I try to have it fit really well).
This is exactly how I view it. Faith in humanity skyrocketed when I decided to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Yeah, and I mean I really want people to be better about masking when it matters too... But I think it's best to not get too mad about the people who are trying and making some questionable tradeoffs of comfort / effectiveness or whatever. I don't understand all of the weird things people do with masks, and it'd be nice if we could actually talk to people and say "hey, are you wearing a mask to protect yourself or others? I think this is making it a lot less effective!" and have people be receptive to that, because there probably are some people that just don't think about it too much and don't realize... But it's difficult to have those conversations without it feeling confrontational, especially when the whole thing has become such a contentious issue.
I never understood the whole: "stupid and pointless anger" a lot of people had. I had a co-worker who would turn his head when we were driving, veing annoyed because someone dared to wear a mask while being alone in their car. Or he saw someone sitting alone in an office with a mask. Like, i don't know dude, maybe their coworker is on the toilet or something. Also, non of your business. Imagine getting mad at people for wearing sunglasses when it got cloudy. TAKE THAT SHIT OFF, IT'S POINTLESS
It's a bit odd... I guess people just want to feel justified in their own beliefs about the thing which manifests as anger. But I think there's often perfectly reasonable justifications for these things too... Like, Uber and Lyft both required drivers to mask, so it's perfectly reasonable for them to just keep the mask on between picking up passengers, and in that case it really wouldn't be useless... Maybe somebody is picking somebody up or just dropped somebody off and feels more comfortable keeping the mask on in the meantime... Maybe it's just easier to put the mask on at home and they don't want to fiddle with it during the day... Or maybe it's completely pointless, but it doesn't harm anybody so who cares?
Honestly, I've just found the response to COVID (particularly in the USA) really depressing to the point where I just don't want to be around people anymore. I guess just all of the selfishness and vitriol about the whole thing really took a toll on me.