pelletbucket ,
@pelletbucket@lemm.ee avatar

also the most disarming response when somebody asks "why are you wearing a mask" is, "because I don't trust the government".

pelletbucket ,
@pelletbucket@lemm.ee avatar

if I have something contagious, I'm going to wear a medical mask, because that's the purpose of medical masks. That's considered standard etiquette in other parts of the world, and I think it's a little rude that people walk around with colds and flus without masking up. if I'm going to be in a tube with a bunch of other people, like an airplane, I'm wearing an N95. That's not even about COVID, that's just about fuck that shit

also, I'm autistic, and there are times where I really don't feel like having people see me. COVID made it socially acceptable to wear facial coverings indoors, so I might be at the grocery store wearing a hat, sunglasses, and mask, just because I'm not in the mood to be perceived. in this case it's usually not a medical mask or n95, it's either a decorative mask, or a neck gaiter pulled up.

I still masked up everywhere for a lot longer than most people did, before deciding exactly what I was and was not comfortable with. I figured, now that we've got the vaccines, and more than one antiviral that can treat it, plus other treatments in the hospital, I'm comfortable treating it more like influenza. not something that I'm going to avoid like the plague, but something that I still want to avoid, and when other people have it, they should be going out of their way to not give it to others.

oh and with the autism thing, if you have a place that's blasting some oil diffuser, it helps a lot. people walk around blasting scent like it smells good and it's just a headache

Tazerface ,

Most scented products give me a headache or hurt my throat. I noticed during Covid that my N95 was blocking much of the smells in the stores.

Most likely I'll be wearing a mask for the rest of my life.

A cashier at Walmart asked me why I'm wearing a mask. I had no problem telling him why. Ask your co-worker

Edit: Also, I'm a privacy enthusiast and facial recognition is going to be one of our biggest invasions of privacy.

Zak ,
@Zak@lemmy.world avatar

I'm not immunocompromised or any other kind of high-risk and I wear an N95 mask in most indoor public settings.

I plan on doing it until something changes. That could mean any of:

  • SARS-CoV-2 mutates into a dominant strain with a low risk of long-term disability
  • A new vaccine is developed that reduces the risk of long-term disability following COVID, or probability of infection to virtually nil
  • Monitoring programs, such as CDC wastewater testing show a low risk of infection

It seems to me people collectively decided to stop caring about COVID even though most of the risks that were present two years ago still exist. I would therefore ask the inverse: why stop protecting yourself before the danger is over?

Rhynoplaz ,

For what it's worth, it's not exactly the same COVID. I'm no scientist, but as I understand, the majority of COVID viruses are less dangerous than the 2020 batch. Millions of people died that year. If that were still the case, we'd be seeing a lot more death.

Zak ,
@Zak@lemmy.world avatar

That's correct; the omicron variant that became dominant a bit over two years ago was more contagious and less deadly than those that preceded it. Current variants are similar to omicron in those respects.

The rate of long-term disability is still high.

solrize ,

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/the-people-who-plan-on-wearing-masks-forever.html

I'm still wearing mine and we are in a covid surge right now. We can talk again if there are a few consecutive months with no significant spread. That might in fact be never.

BlastboomStrice ,
@BlastboomStrice@mander.xyz avatar

I tend to wear them on public transportation:

a) in my city I wear them because we have bad public transportation and people tend to be dangerously packed inside the buses (this issue recently has started to be alleviated), so to protect my self (and also show that things arent well inside) I wear the mask.

b) in other foreign cities I wear the mask in public transportation because:

1)I dont want to be sick on vacations

2)Different countries probably(?) have kinda different strains of viruses and such, so it may be more dangerous for me.

Catoblepas ,

I have asthma (is that technically immunocompromised?) and before COVID I used to just get bronchitis every year or two. I haven’t had bronchitis since 2020, except when I caught COVID by taking off my mask. If wearing a mask means I don’t deal with that shit again you better believe I’m not raw dogging public air anymore. Feeling unable to get a full breath is the worst feeling in the world.

morphballganon ,

You should feel more threatened by covid than by masks.

Covid kills people. Masks don't.

Your focus should be on how we can get rid of Covid rather than when you'll stop seeing bits of fabric that don't affect you (other than protecting you from germs).

jordanlund ,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

It's been nice not getting a cold or the flu for a couple of years...

KeepFlying ,

I've started to skip the mask for small groups for short time periods but I still mask up for the grocery store, and large gathering, and any time I'm in a smaller room with people for a long time.

I get sick so rarely now, it's great. And it's so much less socially exhausting to wear a mask and be able to hide my face. I dont have to take a smile or watch my expressions nearly as much.

And it helps support my friends who are immunocompromised by normalizing mask wearing.

I don't plan to stop for a long while. And I plan to always mask up if I'm sick, even just a cold, to avoid spreading it.

yyyesss ,

The rest of my life, no question. I haven't had a cold or the flu in years. It's not inconvenient, other than a few assholes so why should I stop?

DevCat ,
@DevCat@lemmy.world avatar

I noticed during COVID, I had almost no problems with hay fever. I wouldn't mind going back to wearing one full time.

owatnext ,
@owatnext@lemmy.world avatar

Forever, because I look cool.

CaptainKickass ,

Why do you give a shit? Are the bad mask people hurting you? Leave people alone ffs.

Nemo ,

Yeah, it'll be the rest ofy life. We should'vbe been doing this two decades ago, honestly.

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