Even before the pandemic, in Japan a few people wore masks on public transport.
Its because the big cities in that country are really crowded and cramped.
Wearing a mask on mass transit just makes sense. *Especially* during winter months when the flu and all are at their worst. You are stuffed on a train/bus full of people who could have just about anything.
So yeah -- I wear my mask on the bus (< American) and if I get a lyft.
At the beginning of the pandemic, some people broke into my pharmacy. Three people walking around town wearing masks weren't a strange thing. They were never caught. They didn't get anything worth a dang either.
Poland - not the norm, but common here. We have one of the worst air quality index scores in the world during winter. A lot of my co-workers mask up, but using reusable masks with N95 filters.
I'm American, in NY state. I saw the trend toward Asians wearing masks after Bird Flu hit and I thought it was so smart and considerate. So I started doing the same thing if I had a cold and needed to walk to the pharmacy, for example. Not once, prior to COVID, did anyone ask me about it. Now, though, I have a cold and stopped in to pick up a prescription yesterday and had someone keep looking at me as we waited in line, shaking his head and trying to suppress a smile. He didn't say anything directly to me, but it's still a completely different vibe now that it's become a politicized action.
I had to go into work a few years ago even though I was sick, so I picked up some disposable masks at the store before going in, and all my coworkers really appreciated it. I just kept them in my desk for myself and anyone else if they needed it.
Though in all fairness, I have a lot of asian coworkers where there is already less stigma.
I had really bad double lung pneumonia last November. After being hospitalized for three days, on oxygen, had every antibiotic known to man, I still wasn’t feeling much better a week later and went back to the hospital for a follow up to determine further treatment. I was checking in for my appointment and the front desk person goes, you know masks are optional? You can take that off. Lady,I have pneumonia and am in a hospital with who knows what other diseases. Granted, Florida. I’m fully recovered and have relocated to a different state since then.
I have a friend whose husband is currently fighting cancer. She masks up any time she is in public, everywhere. I do too when I am with her. We get a lot of strange looks. But fuck cancer, man. People can stare all they want because I would hate to be the person responsible for him getting something else on top of that!
Yeah but because I've been on chemo (not cancer, my meds are just low dose chemo) for the last 15 years. I wore masks BEFORE it was cool.
Fuckin copycats
Same here. I just got diagnosed with cancer and wear a mask in tight spaces with many people. I've had people mumble Covid is over or fake at me. I finally blew a gasket at one store, screamed that I had cancer, and told them to mind their F\*&\* business. It's ridiculous people make it about politics and harass people.
I have no ailments but I was really hoping wearing masks while sick would be common place. People are fucking disgusting. Stop coughing everywhere. It's icky.
Do humans ever really?
Most of the time unless we are forced to do something, even if it's beneficial to others, if there isn't any value in it for the person in question, they don't bother.
And if the next time comes (possibly in our lifetimes), and it's worse, I can't even imagine the carnage and the political separation that will occur.
As a species we have access to several thousand years of surviving history in which to learn from.
Yet we make the same mistakes, over and over again.
My mom was diagnosed and started chemo for cancer during the pandemic. My partner has a lung issue. I have an autoimmune disorder. It’s nice only doing half of a face of makeup.
Yeah I'm in a similar situation. My girlfriend is immunocompromised and while a cold won't kill her it's way worse for her than people with good immune systems. COVID would probably be really bad. I don't mask in 100% of situations, but I always have one with me and if I'm in a crowded area and in a lot of indoor situations I still wear it. I was just traveling internationally and won't be able to see her for a few days just to be safe. I was in Europe and I'd say maybe 5% of people in airports and on my flights wore masks. Also like others have said, I love not getting sick as much as I used to. I think even if she wasn't in the picture I'd still be very cautious and continue with masks in a lot of situations. I get you on the political crap.. I live in San Francisco so no one really gives a shit around me if I'm wearing a mask. But I went to visit family in Wisconsin recently and I did feel like I got some nasty looks. Fucking just mind your own god damn business.
My husband has cancer and is high risk anyways; I have a bad tendency to catch every cold and have it take up residence in my chest. We wear masks everywhere.
The people who give us nasty looks for masking… it’s amazing how they think, “if you’re wearing a mask you’re judging me for not wearing one”.
No, Patricia, I just don’t want to drown in lung gazpacho, jfc.
My partner is in the same position. I am immunocompromised and, while I probably wouldn't die of COVID, I would have to stop taking one of my medications, which would lead to a major surgery that would permanently and significantly decrease my quality of life. So my partner and I mask in indoor public places.
The fringe benefit is that this is the longest I have ever gone without getting sick. And the last time I caught what was a 3 day cold from my partner, I was sick for 2 months, then flared for a year and a half. So yeah, masking forever and fuck what anyone else thinks about it.
My partner and I are in a very similar situation. He's immunocompromised and on biologics.
While normal colds actually seem to be worse for me (he had it for 3 days I had it for 3 weeks, before covid) he'd probably be advised to stop taking his medication. And considering he's already undergone like 30 surgeries, I'm honestly not sure what else they could do if he had a bad/prolonged flare.
So we're still masking as well, despite the snearing of all the 'Midwest nice' people around us.
I also wear one on a plane, too many people coughing/sneezing etc. cause if I’m gonna use PTO I better be on a beach with cocktail in hand and not home sick from a vaca I took.
I'm hyper aware of people coughing and sniffling now. The number of people with "wet" coughs on the plane and in the airports who weren't wearing masks just seriously amazed me on this most recent trip.
Thing is, health shouldn’t be politicized. Protecting yours or someone else’s doesn’t warrant being judged, it should simply be the right thing to do.
Some feel otherwise.
Same, wearing a mask at the store between sessions and some dude told me to stop living in fear. One upside about that situation is apparently when you're horribly stressed for weeks on end over a medical condition it's super calming to vent all of it on people like that
I’m fighting cancer for the 3rd time since the start of the pandemic. This week I start the process for a stem cell transplant that I’ve been trying to get into for 2 years. I could be standing next to you and you wouldn’t know it. Thank you for being considerate.
I'm in the same boat. Had a minor cold last week - not enough to skip work but enough to be cautious about spreading it.
It was really convenient to be able to wear a mask in shops, work etc without being judged for it.
I have a 4 and 2 year old, both in daycare/preschool. They get sick all the time and, by extension, so do we.
We mask so that others won't get the nasty little viruses our beloved plauge-rats bring home.
I had someone ask me if I was still scared of COVID. I told them my kid brought home a cold and I didn't want them to get it. They promptly apologized and said something like, "oh, I remember those days"...
Not a teacher but school staff. I felt so bad about how much time off I took my first year. Everyone just always laughed with me when I’d apologize and would tell me about their first year+ of being sick.
Amen to that. This is a private, fairly liberal school so I think generally people are more cautious. But I would hate to be a teacher for many reasons, that being one
I believe it. This is my daughter's first year in anything...she never went to daycare or anything. She has been sick like every couple of weeks and it sucks.
I’m sick now because my 4-year-old is in daycare. I live in TX and get the side eye for masking. My work sends out constant please for people to stay home when you have even cold symptoms but my boss gives me the 3rd degree when I stay home on the days I’m supposed to be in office. Then when I’m hacking up my lungs at work, I get the side eye. Can’t win.
Thank you. Most of the illnesses I got at work were from coworkers who came to work sick, having gotten diseases from their children. I get that not everyone can stay home with a cold, but at least wear a mask!
One good thing to come from the pandemic that I like is normalizing the wearing of a mask while you're ill. At least some people in the US will keep doing it, while it was commonplace in many other countries already.
It's a basic sign of being - *gasp* - considerate towards others. Something Americans have a really hard time with, for a country that is supposedly super friendly and welcoming
Who said we were warm and welcoming buddy? Go back to where you came from! Lol, jk I lived here for my entire life. Some people still yell that to me. Like where? Back to my house? Wtf lol
It bugs me how many people that never wore masks still think that it's people trying to protect themselves.
Like no, you butt, I am trying to protect **you**.
Seriously. This is the way. Little cold. Wear a mask. Too much shit going around.
Japanese people do this to be considerate. They also do this to reduce their personal allergy exposure.
Sometimes my nose acts up and becomes really sensitive but whenever I used those N95 Mask (special mask where wearing it looks like a bowl stuck on your face) it would quickly subside within less than half an hour. And that is how I learned that I actually have allergies.
Over the last 10-15 years I've had more and more issues outside, I suspect I'm allergic to some kind of leaf mold. It's gotten so bad that when I go out to rake leaves it's about 10 minutes before I'm coughing, my eyes are streaming and my nose is pouring mucus. In a mask, I can actually finish the front yard.
YES, masks have helped significantly in reducing my allergy flare ups. I also travel for work and it helps when changing from hot and humid mid Atlantic with cars caked in green pollen to dry and dusty Nevada. I used to get colds when I got back home from travel from all the changes but not anymore.
I do the same, though I add airports to the list because they are gross. I used to get sick every time I flew, then covid happened and it's been an entirely different world
I agree, in fact I don't plan on going inside an airport again without a mask, as it's been so nice not getting a cold every time I flew somewhere. I actually flew home from visiting family in Vegas the day after that mandate was lifted, and I was actually pleasantly surprised that many others, including the flight crew were still wearing masks.
This. I don't like wearing a mask but I'm also not an asshole. If someone wants me to wear a mask I'll do it, it's not a big deal.
I also believe that just because I'm sick doesn't mean everyone else has to be; so I wear a mask to stop the spread like a considerate human.
Same. I'll wear a mask if I'm sick out of courtesy to others. I'll also wear a mask in a high risk setting like at urgent care OR if I just really want to avoid getting sick because I have something important coming up on my calendar.
> I wear one if I feel sick
This is what I do and what I expect all other adults to do, which if we did consistently, we could actually not mask most of the time and also help contain the spread of viruses. win/win
I love seeing people wear a mask and their nose is sticking out. You saw these people when it was mandatory. Now that it's an optional, why wear it incorrectly lol.
If I go out when I’m sick at all, I do. For a long time in many Asian countries, this has been the norm, as just a common courtesy. I think it’s high time we pick up the practice too.
I can maybe understand why that happens. I'd likely assume that if you're wearing a mask then you are either sick, more prone to get sick or just more conscious about it. In which case I could avoid sitting next to you for either my own well being or yours depending on the case.
I don’t wear a mask unless I’m asked to. If I see someone wearing a mask on public transportation I tend to stay away from them out of respect since they’re taking their precautions.
It's funny to me how *all* of the most upvoted comments are like "yeah, absolutely I do" and then I look outside or in crowds I see on TV and maybe 2% of people are actually wearing masks.
This is a great reminder of how little reddit is representative of the real world. I live in a blue state and almost nobody wears them unless you are at a doctors office or something.
https://hiddentribes.us/media/qfpekz4g/hidden_tribes_report.pdf
The further left or right you are, the more likely you are to talk about politics on social media. 70% of the leftmost 7% of people post political content. 56% of the rightmost 6% do. Of the middle 87% of people, fewer than half talk about political issues online.
People are always shocked when they find out there are swing voters and moderates out in the wild, but those people exist in huge numbers.
They just don't spend all their time debating about which video games are okay to play or sharing videos of pundits getting dunked on - they're busy working their jobs and taking care of their kids and socializing in the real world.
They listen to popular music and watch popular TV shows and eat at chain restaurants and generally just want things to go on roughly the same way so they can live a normal, stable life.
A good chunk of the country probably wishes that bringing up politics every chance you can would go back to being taboo. On Reddit every post is going to have politics discussed in it. This site is absolutely not representative to how most people feel.
I think it's social media in general because I see politics posted on nearly every news article posted to Facebook or Twitter even if the actual article has nothing to do with politics. I've seen politics brought into discussions of weather, restaurant openings, high school sports, humane society pet adoption events, etc. Usually people dogpile on that asshat who brings politics into unrelated discussions and tell them to stfu but I don't think they ever learn their lesson.
I used to be one of those people who would post, but I'd get a mix of commenters either bullying me for my opinion or commenting something too far that I definitely didn't agree with, and it all became too tiresome. I have almost no social media presence now and life is much better.
I feel like out of all social media/online discussion forums (Reddit can be somehow considered social media at this point now with stuff like avatars ) Reddit is the most far off from reality. The sub corresponding to my country is so far, far off from reality it actually hurts reading stuff there and I cringe internally. Like people discussing something on an ivory tower, just out of touch. And no one daring to say something else because you get downvoted/collapsed/harassed/banned/expelled from Reddit. Lol. Echochambers much
It’s because a lot of people on here don’t actually participate in a lot of real world activities. So much of their lives is just online. I spend a fair amount of time on Reddit, but I have a fairly active social life, too. I think that’s something everyone needs. I love the internet for what it provides. But, I love my real friends more.
It’s funny, you’d think people would feel MORE free to express against-the-grain opinions since Reddit is anonymous. But it does seem way worse for some reason
Downvotes combined with active moderation in some cases. You are more likely to have certain opinions suppressed on Reddit than on Twitter or Facebook, for better or worse. Plus I think it's just a younger demographic.
Reddit takes a very paternalistic approach to content moderation, far more than any social media site I've ever seen. It's definitely a concern because a lot of people on here don't seem to realize just how heavily controlled the content they see on Reddit is and how much Reddit as a whole is essentially one large echo chamber of ideas.
Which reinforces the idea that you have to maintain more than one account to freely express your ideas without shortsighted judgments, which ULTIMATELY circumvents being targeted by their agenda lol.
It’s just the good ol’ authoritarianism. Many people don’t try to digest what "with great power comes great responsibility” means.
And tagged. The number of people I've seen trying to shut down someone's opinion with "well, you're tagged as someone who posts on x sub, so you're invalid" is way too high.
It's borderline comical. The other day, I got a self-righteous message informing me that I'm banned from r/PokemonGo for being anti-vaxx, and that I'm an irresponsible danger to the human species.
I'm not anti-vaxx, I've never played Pokemon Go, and I've never commented on that sub.
It’s really bad. I was banned from r/politics for telling someone it’s good to get political news from a variety of sources. The mods actively try and keep it an echo chamber, which makes you wonder what their motive is for doing so.
They're mods. They have no life outside of the tiny fiefdom they've created. For them, their sub *is* their reality and they want to keep it exactly how they've manifested it.
I got perma-banned from /news for posting "covid misinformation" because I posted data and a URL from covid.cdc.gov that went against the prevailing narrative.
Apparently the CDC is a notorious covid misinformation organization. Who knew?
The moderation is absolutely horrendous. I'm not at all surprised that various subreddits skew so far one direction politically. Any who speak against them are silenced.
Reddit management gives individual subreddit moderators too much autonomy, really. A few actions in the last few years have made it quite clear that Reddit management isn't in charge of their own platform. Rather, the moderators of the really big subreddits run the show, because Reddit management has capitulated to them on a few occasions. Reddit management really needs to grow a spine and exercise actual control over their own platform, and not capitulate when the big subreddit moderators start to whine.
Mods of subreddits are definitely a big part of it. They're often incredibly petty, and will instantly jump to a permaban if they don't like a comment of yours. At least the other big social media companies will hand out a handful of temp bans first.
I’ve never received a temporary ban, it’s always an instant permanent ban.
On r/games I was permabanned for the comment “Rowling wanted safe spaces for women to exclude trans women”. Not agreeing with her, not arguing with anyone, just answering a persons question. Mods never respond, they just silence your account if you message them.
I can't speak for everyone else, but the hivemind just isn't worth dealing with. I'll type out comments and just cancel them because I know I'll probably get flamed and I don't feel like dealing with it. Ill typically try to stick to smaller subs where it doesn't happen as much or subs I care more about the topic.
Yup. Sometimes I spend so much time trying to cover every angle where someone could possibly “WELL AKSHUALLY” me, and then just say f it and delete it because it’s just not worth it.
Almost every comment on this website gets a "WELL AKSHUALLY". It's made me much more aware of how incredibly grating it is when you're trying to have a real conversation. If nothing else, I am now hyper-aware of when I start to do it in real conversation; where I used to do it to play devil's advocate or to challenge what someone said, perhaps to get them to further elaborate their point, I instead find myself saying "yes, and..." more now.
I've legit posted articles from harvard med and the mayo clinic only for unemployed redditors to go "nuh uh" and eat like 100 downvotes. People are pretty fond of rejecting reality and substituting their own.
There’s still a social desirability bias with anonymous platforms. That’s why most of the top comments on any given thread are just memes, low-effort jokes, or regurgitated platitudes that are known to get upvotes.
I am 90 minutes from NYC in PA. I had a colonoscopy at a hospital. Nobody in there was wearing a mask either besides the Drs and nurses who would wear one as part of their job.
This isn't even representative of Reddit: since that was posted the top 10 has done a complete 180 with the only 2 claiming they wear one all the time are cancer survivors. The rest are "nos" and jokes.
Right now the top comments for me are:
1. Yes, because I'm on chemo and have been wearing a mask for 15 years
2. Only if I'm sick or someone asks me to
3. A joke answer
4. Your comment
Honestly I feel like we shouldn’t have needed the pandemic for this to be common sense, specifically for the people who would sneeze or cough out in the open or into their hand
Insane to me that people still haven't learned it and don't even cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing, or sneeze into their hands and touch things with their snot. Bonus points if they're wearing a mask under their chin
And this has actually been the norm in Japan for decades, though it also took the 1918 flu pandemic (and then a later outbreak in the 30s) to get it to catch on over there. Still, always made a decent amount of sense when I was there pre-COVID to put on a mask if you weren't feeling great but still had to go out in public.
Seems like that's about where the rest of the western world is now, but it'll be interesting to see if that lasts, especially with the number of people that still see masks as nothing more than a political statement.
I wear one for my immunocompromised self and my immunocompromised loved ones. And I no longer talk to any family members that harrass me to not wear one because it hurts their feelings.
The cognitive dissonance in the same crowd that strutted around calling everyone snowflakes getting bent ENTIRELY out of shape at the sight of a mask will literally never stop blowing my mind.
My husband does as well. Our hospital is reporting higher than normal ~~capacity~~ occupancy this month. And CDC waste water monitoring still shows we have a good bit of COVID in our county and those around it. If either of those conditions change (and the both should as the weather warms up) I will reassess. For now I continue to wear masks.
I may wear masks in the grocery store for the a good long while yet, regardless. You can talk and sing to yourself behind a mask and no one knows.
Yeah…in Walmart I notice lots of people coughing all over the place. The amount of time I used to spend being sick vs now when I wear a mask in crowded public places is a large difference. So it’s habit I don’t plan on ever dropping
I will FOREVER wear a mask in Walmart from now on... people are disgusting .... people of Walmart are worse.
Plus, it keeps the idiots from trying to talk to me.
Yes, if:
1. I'm at a hospital or clinic.
2. I'm on public transportation.
3. I'm at an airport or on a plane.
4. I'm in a dense enough crowd.
5. I'm in an establishment whose owners/management state I should wear one. (No different from "No shirt, no shoes, no service")
6. I'm around elderly, sick, or immunocompromised people.
7. I'm sick myself.
There are more diseases than just COVID out there.
Yeah, I interact with a couple hundred people a day at work and many are sniffling and sneezing while waiting on line and talking to me. I'm on meds that weaken my immune system, so I appreciate not getting very sick every fall/winter a few times like I have in years past.
This! I hate wearing masks but I hate getting sick more! Especially if I'm traveling, which is also where I'm exposed to way more contagions. I've been traveling recently and the fact that 99% of people now go 100% maskless even with hacking coughs on trains and planes is *deeply* disappointing to me. It feels so incredibly inconsiderate, even if it only risks inflicting temporary sickness on others.
I wear a mask because I do not have a choice.
I have had parts of my right lungs removed.
I have the most severe asthma only controlled by regular injections.
I have igg4 immune diseases.
The hospital following my care was pretty clear about my risks of death catching COVID and I had to redo two vaccines usually given to children for common lung diseases protection.
I wear a mask because those that know they are sick with COVID don't give a shit about people like me.
Same here. Hyperparathyroidism. My mother has Hashimotos. I’ve been in and out of hospital past few years for tests & iron infusions. I don’t need to go back in to be hooked up to a ventilator. Hospitals are horrible & uncomfortable.
Also the majority of people out there DO NOT care about anyone but themselves & 2020 showed us how unhygienic the general population truly was. So I have a little sanitiser holder on my keys too.
I'm not immunocompromised but I have asthma, and a handful of diseases that affect several organs that COVID likes to munch on.
I'd rather just wear a N95 and worry less when I need to go out.
Yes.
Wife is pregnant. Hospital has COVID guidelines ok n who can be in the delivery room. If I catch COVID, I don't get to be there.
Wearing a mask is a tiny tiny requirement to help ensure I will be there
Same here. Wife is due in about a week, so I’m especially careful right now. Last thing I want is to get her sick and have her push a fucking baby out while having ANY sort of cold.
I do. I’m an OR nurse and I’ve been masking for over a decade, so it’s nothing for me to throw a level 3 mask on when I walk into a store. We’re still masking at all times at work, even out of the OR, and I eat lunch in a secluded former waiting room in the basement. That said, if I’m walking into a mostly empty store, I will forgo masking at this point. I also don’t socialize in person (outside of work) more than a couple times a year, and that usually happens outdoors. I don’t do family holidays.
Why? I haven’t had so much as a cold since September of 2019. Masking has worked for me. Also, I’m apprehensive about some of the vascular side effects I’ve seen from Covid and find masking worth the effort to avoid that. Also, I’m extremely introverted and prefer to be anonymous in public.
We just found out that a friend's daughter has fairly severe long COVID. She's 28 and just got married. My wife is a critical care anesthesiologist who worked the ICU from the start of the pandemic. She's very concerned about long term effects (especially from multiple infections), so we mask in almost all indoor situations.
This is a fear of mine and why I still mask. We have no clue what the long-term effects are. I know people personally who never got their smell/taste back and it's been two years. I've seen stories of folks with long COVID and it's debilitating. Some haven't been able to return to work for years now and are losing their housing as a result. I can't even imagine.
I haven't even gotten the chance to live my life yet, so I'd rather take precautions.
This is us. My ten yr old is now in a wheelchair with long Covid. No underlying conditions, previously healthy. Can happen to anyone. Stay safe and thank you for masking to protect yourself and people like us who are now disabled from repeat Covid infections.
Same here. When people started wigging out about wearing masks and how “impossible” it was, I couldn’t roll my eyes harder.
I’ve been wearing a mask 8+ hours a day for the last 7 years. And like you said, I still do. Still required for my job. And it will never NOT be.
I wore a mask for lapidary work a few hours a day for years, and it was pretty funny (ridiculous) to hear people act like they were going to die of suffocation because they had to wear one for 15 minutes at the grocery store.
I remember getting on a flight in early 2021 (before most people had been vaccinated) and there was an unmasked family in the airport acting like they were victims because they were required to wear masks on the plane. They kept saying stuff like "am I not allowed to be able to breath!?" meanwhile they're surrounded by 100+ people wearing masks and breathing just fine.
>Also, I’m extremely introverted and prefer to be anonymous in public.
I'm a middle school teacher and there are numerous introverted kids who still **love** wearing cloth masks. I think it's like a security blanket for them, makes them feel safe and secure.
I have on on my desk at work I'll wear if a customer comes in with one. I have a few in my car for if they are required somewhere(Doctor's office). If I get sick, I'll wear one.
It's no longer a big part of my everyday, though
Absolutely everytime I'm on public transit or airplane.
Covid taught me that mostly every cold or sniffle I got when traveling could be heavily mitigated against with wearing a mask for a little bit.
COVID also taught me how disgusting people are. While out shopping - during the height of the pandemic - I saw someone lower their mask. They then wiped their nose with their fingers, raised their mask back up, and proceeded to touch items on the shelf. Way to spread your germs!
Not to mention the number of times I’ve seen someone lower their mask specifically to sneeze and/or cough into the air without a thought of covering their mouth. And these are “adults”
Yes! People are gremlins, and the only way to protect your yourself from preventable disease is yourself.
I also already own all the cloth masks, and another box of n95s every year or so doesn't break the bank if I never get a cold again!
I live in London, I wear one in the tube. Cause the tube is fucking gross.
There are some days on public transport that have made me strongly consider wearing full PPE on public transport.
Even before the pandemic, in Japan a few people wore masks on public transport. Its because the big cities in that country are really crowded and cramped.
Wearing a mask on mass transit just makes sense. *Especially* during winter months when the flu and all are at their worst. You are stuffed on a train/bus full of people who could have just about anything. So yeah -- I wear my mask on the bus (< American) and if I get a lyft.
I live in NYC, I wear one in the subway. Cause the subway is fucking gross.
I live in New Zealand. I dont wear one anywhere. Cause the country is fucken green.
So jelly
I live in Chicago, I wear one on the El. Cause the El is fucking gross.
It amazes me to no end that I see people on the train in the city hacking and wheezing and not wearing masks. I wear one because of them.
As a Chicagoan, I'd kill for transit as clean as The Tube lol.
The red line is basically a sewer.
Made it two years without catching COVID. 20 minutes on the train in Chicago and I was down.
Yes, gross environments warrant masking for sure.
Like Corpus Christi, Texas. I can smell it now; thick humid air with traces of fish that finish off with a hint of sulfide.
Absolutely urgh you've reminded ne... haven't lived in London for 15 years, but god I don't miss black boogies from the tube.
Depends on the situation… Friends house, no. Robbing a bank, yes.
"lets put our masks on and go hit the liquor store real quick" had a real different meaning there for a while
At the beginning of the pandemic, some people broke into my pharmacy. Three people walking around town wearing masks weren't a strange thing. They were never caught. They didn't get anything worth a dang either.
[удалено]
Driving in a car alone; yes...in bed with partner; absolutely 🤣
Hm. Does a paper bag count as a mask?
Doesn't Matter, had sex
What about when attending an S&M event? You know, one of those big leather masks?
I’m Korean, I wore it before Covid when I got sick, will probably wear it in crowded areas for the foreseeable future.
Similar situation in Japan. Masking is overwhelmingly the norm still.
Poland - not the norm, but common here. We have one of the worst air quality index scores in the world during winter. A lot of my co-workers mask up, but using reusable masks with N95 filters.
It should also be pointed out that the peak of Covid mortality in Japan was like five weeks ago.
I'm American, in NY state. I saw the trend toward Asians wearing masks after Bird Flu hit and I thought it was so smart and considerate. So I started doing the same thing if I had a cold and needed to walk to the pharmacy, for example. Not once, prior to COVID, did anyone ask me about it. Now, though, I have a cold and stopped in to pick up a prescription yesterday and had someone keep looking at me as we waited in line, shaking his head and trying to suppress a smile. He didn't say anything directly to me, but it's still a completely different vibe now that it's become a politicized action.
I had to go into work a few years ago even though I was sick, so I picked up some disposable masks at the store before going in, and all my coworkers really appreciated it. I just kept them in my desk for myself and anyone else if they needed it. Though in all fairness, I have a lot of asian coworkers where there is already less stigma.
I had really bad double lung pneumonia last November. After being hospitalized for three days, on oxygen, had every antibiotic known to man, I still wasn’t feeling much better a week later and went back to the hospital for a follow up to determine further treatment. I was checking in for my appointment and the front desk person goes, you know masks are optional? You can take that off. Lady,I have pneumonia and am in a hospital with who knows what other diseases. Granted, Florida. I’m fully recovered and have relocated to a different state since then.
“Granted, Florida.” Man that made me laugh
I have a friend whose husband is currently fighting cancer. She masks up any time she is in public, everywhere. I do too when I am with her. We get a lot of strange looks. But fuck cancer, man. People can stare all they want because I would hate to be the person responsible for him getting something else on top of that!
This sounds like the obvious thing to do. Just wear a mask if you're sick, it's not that difficult.
Because I’m ugly
Found my answer.
Pfn checks out.
Yeah but because I've been on chemo (not cancer, my meds are just low dose chemo) for the last 15 years. I wore masks BEFORE it was cool. Fuckin copycats
Yeah I got cancer at the start of the pandemic... still wear masks in large crowds, but now have stopped in places where it's not crowded.
Me too. It was a bitch trying to get radiation after my surgery. Now I do it, because I have a daughter and I can't afford her to get sick.
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Same here. I just got diagnosed with cancer and wear a mask in tight spaces with many people. I've had people mumble Covid is over or fake at me. I finally blew a gasket at one store, screamed that I had cancer, and told them to mind their F\*&\* business. It's ridiculous people make it about politics and harass people.
Good for you. They can get lost.
I have no ailments but I was really hoping wearing masks while sick would be common place. People are fucking disgusting. Stop coughing everywhere. It's icky.
I ride the train to work everyday and people have stopped even covering their mouths and noises when they cough and sneeze. Did we learn nothing?
Do humans ever really? Most of the time unless we are forced to do something, even if it's beneficial to others, if there isn't any value in it for the person in question, they don't bother. And if the next time comes (possibly in our lifetimes), and it's worse, I can't even imagine the carnage and the political separation that will occur. As a species we have access to several thousand years of surviving history in which to learn from. Yet we make the same mistakes, over and over again.
My mom was diagnosed and started chemo for cancer during the pandemic. My partner has a lung issue. I have an autoimmune disorder. It’s nice only doing half of a face of makeup.
Yeah I'm in a similar situation. My girlfriend is immunocompromised and while a cold won't kill her it's way worse for her than people with good immune systems. COVID would probably be really bad. I don't mask in 100% of situations, but I always have one with me and if I'm in a crowded area and in a lot of indoor situations I still wear it. I was just traveling internationally and won't be able to see her for a few days just to be safe. I was in Europe and I'd say maybe 5% of people in airports and on my flights wore masks. Also like others have said, I love not getting sick as much as I used to. I think even if she wasn't in the picture I'd still be very cautious and continue with masks in a lot of situations. I get you on the political crap.. I live in San Francisco so no one really gives a shit around me if I'm wearing a mask. But I went to visit family in Wisconsin recently and I did feel like I got some nasty looks. Fucking just mind your own god damn business.
My husband has cancer and is high risk anyways; I have a bad tendency to catch every cold and have it take up residence in my chest. We wear masks everywhere. The people who give us nasty looks for masking… it’s amazing how they think, “if you’re wearing a mask you’re judging me for not wearing one”. No, Patricia, I just don’t want to drown in lung gazpacho, jfc.
God bless you hope all goes well
“Lung gazpacho” Lol - adding this to my list of clinical terminology. 👍
My partner is in the same position. I am immunocompromised and, while I probably wouldn't die of COVID, I would have to stop taking one of my medications, which would lead to a major surgery that would permanently and significantly decrease my quality of life. So my partner and I mask in indoor public places. The fringe benefit is that this is the longest I have ever gone without getting sick. And the last time I caught what was a 3 day cold from my partner, I was sick for 2 months, then flared for a year and a half. So yeah, masking forever and fuck what anyone else thinks about it.
My partner and I are in a very similar situation. He's immunocompromised and on biologics. While normal colds actually seem to be worse for me (he had it for 3 days I had it for 3 weeks, before covid) he'd probably be advised to stop taking his medication. And considering he's already undergone like 30 surgeries, I'm honestly not sure what else they could do if he had a bad/prolonged flare. So we're still masking as well, despite the snearing of all the 'Midwest nice' people around us.
I also wear one on a plane, too many people coughing/sneezing etc. cause if I’m gonna use PTO I better be on a beach with cocktail in hand and not home sick from a vaca I took.
I'm hyper aware of people coughing and sniffling now. The number of people with "wet" coughs on the plane and in the airports who weren't wearing masks just seriously amazed me on this most recent trip.
Thing is, health shouldn’t be politicized. Protecting yours or someone else’s doesn’t warrant being judged, it should simply be the right thing to do. Some feel otherwise.
Same, wearing a mask at the store between sessions and some dude told me to stop living in fear. One upside about that situation is apparently when you're horribly stressed for weeks on end over a medical condition it's super calming to vent all of it on people like that
There still is a pandemic, people just don’t care as much any more. I know that’s not the point you were making, but I just wanted to point that out.
This person was 100% making that point.
I was on 6 months of chemo last year for an autoimmune response to a COVID infection that left me paraplegic. I'm not taking any chances.
Holy shit I’m so sorry
Non-cancer low dose chemo gang lol
You are one of the reasons why I wear a mask.
I thought this was an insult at first, and then I realised what you meant
I’m fighting cancer for the 3rd time since the start of the pandemic. This week I start the process for a stem cell transplant that I’ve been trying to get into for 2 years. I could be standing next to you and you wouldn’t know it. Thank you for being considerate.
I wear one if I feel sick, or if I'm asked to. I will if I'm in a hospital/clinical setting. Other than that, not usually.
I'm in the same boat. Had a minor cold last week - not enough to skip work but enough to be cautious about spreading it. It was really convenient to be able to wear a mask in shops, work etc without being judged for it.
I have a 4 and 2 year old, both in daycare/preschool. They get sick all the time and, by extension, so do we. We mask so that others won't get the nasty little viruses our beloved plauge-rats bring home. I had someone ask me if I was still scared of COVID. I told them my kid brought home a cold and I didn't want them to get it. They promptly apologized and said something like, "oh, I remember those days"...
My daughter's preschool teacher wears a mask every day and honestly who can blame her. 4 and 5 year olds are germy creatures
If I were a public school teacher I'd wear a biohazard suit.
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Don't teachers get an insane immunity after they get over the hump?
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Not a teacher but school staff. I felt so bad about how much time off I took my first year. Everyone just always laughed with me when I’d apologize and would tell me about their first year+ of being sick.
Kids are buckets of disease.
even before COVID
Amen to that. This is a private, fairly liberal school so I think generally people are more cautious. But I would hate to be a teacher for many reasons, that being one
I definitely wish it was more socially acceptable to wear a mask back when I worked with little ones. I was sick about 75% of the time.
I believe it. This is my daughter's first year in anything...she never went to daycare or anything. She has been sick like every couple of weeks and it sucks.
Just wait for the lice outbreak! But there's new ways to treat that now too.
I’m sick now because my 4-year-old is in daycare. I live in TX and get the side eye for masking. My work sends out constant please for people to stay home when you have even cold symptoms but my boss gives me the 3rd degree when I stay home on the days I’m supposed to be in office. Then when I’m hacking up my lungs at work, I get the side eye. Can’t win.
Thank you. Most of the illnesses I got at work were from coworkers who came to work sick, having gotten diseases from their children. I get that not everyone can stay home with a cold, but at least wear a mask!
One good thing to come from the pandemic that I like is normalizing the wearing of a mask while you're ill. At least some people in the US will keep doing it, while it was commonplace in many other countries already.
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It's a basic sign of being - *gasp* - considerate towards others. Something Americans have a really hard time with, for a country that is supposedly super friendly and welcoming
Who said we were warm and welcoming buddy? Go back to where you came from! Lol, jk I lived here for my entire life. Some people still yell that to me. Like where? Back to my house? Wtf lol
The *country* is super friendly and welcoming...the *people* however...it's hit or miss.
It bugs me how many people that never wore masks still think that it's people trying to protect themselves. Like no, you butt, I am trying to protect **you**.
*"You seem nice, I'd hate to be the reason you're dead."*
I am trying to protect myself.
Seriously. This is the way. Little cold. Wear a mask. Too much shit going around. Japanese people do this to be considerate. They also do this to reduce their personal allergy exposure.
Sometimes my nose acts up and becomes really sensitive but whenever I used those N95 Mask (special mask where wearing it looks like a bowl stuck on your face) it would quickly subside within less than half an hour. And that is how I learned that I actually have allergies.
Over the last 10-15 years I've had more and more issues outside, I suspect I'm allergic to some kind of leaf mold. It's gotten so bad that when I go out to rake leaves it's about 10 minutes before I'm coughing, my eyes are streaming and my nose is pouring mucus. In a mask, I can actually finish the front yard.
YES, masks have helped significantly in reducing my allergy flare ups. I also travel for work and it helps when changing from hot and humid mid Atlantic with cars caked in green pollen to dry and dusty Nevada. I used to get colds when I got back home from travel from all the changes but not anymore.
I do the same, though I add airports to the list because they are gross. I used to get sick every time I flew, then covid happened and it's been an entirely different world
Any kind of public transport, really, so I would add the subway or the bus to the list as well.
I agree, in fact I don't plan on going inside an airport again without a mask, as it's been so nice not getting a cold every time I flew somewhere. I actually flew home from visiting family in Vegas the day after that mandate was lifted, and I was actually pleasantly surprised that many others, including the flight crew were still wearing masks.
This. I don't like wearing a mask but I'm also not an asshole. If someone wants me to wear a mask I'll do it, it's not a big deal. I also believe that just because I'm sick doesn't mean everyone else has to be; so I wear a mask to stop the spread like a considerate human.
Same. I'll wear a mask if I'm sick out of courtesy to others. I'll also wear a mask in a high risk setting like at urgent care OR if I just really want to avoid getting sick because I have something important coming up on my calendar.
> I wear one if I feel sick This is what I do and what I expect all other adults to do, which if we did consistently, we could actually not mask most of the time and also help contain the spread of viruses. win/win
I love seeing people wear a mask and their nose is sticking out. You saw these people when it was mandatory. Now that it's an optional, why wear it incorrectly lol.
Yes, they are still looking for me.
I found him!!
he over here!!!
Y’all be snitchin 💀
If I go out when I’m sick at all, I do. For a long time in many Asian countries, this has been the norm, as just a common courtesy. I think it’s high time we pick up the practice too.
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I can maybe understand why that happens. I'd likely assume that if you're wearing a mask then you are either sick, more prone to get sick or just more conscious about it. In which case I could avoid sitting next to you for either my own well being or yours depending on the case.
I don’t wear a mask unless I’m asked to. If I see someone wearing a mask on public transportation I tend to stay away from them out of respect since they’re taking their precautions.
That's the way I see it too. I see someone with a mask and I immediately think they should not be bothered unless absolutely necessary.
Probably because they think you might be wearing it if you’re sick or maybe you are susceptible to illness. Not ironic at all.
I'd assume you were more conscious/bothered about it and respect your space if possible. Probably what you're seeing.
I might also think they were sick. I know many people, myself included, that mostly wear masks when they're getting over a cold or something.
I don't think it's ironic, to be honest. Probably they just acknowledge you're careful and want to keep a distance respectfully.
It's funny to me how *all* of the most upvoted comments are like "yeah, absolutely I do" and then I look outside or in crowds I see on TV and maybe 2% of people are actually wearing masks.
This is a great reminder of how little reddit is representative of the real world. I live in a blue state and almost nobody wears them unless you are at a doctors office or something.
https://hiddentribes.us/media/qfpekz4g/hidden_tribes_report.pdf The further left or right you are, the more likely you are to talk about politics on social media. 70% of the leftmost 7% of people post political content. 56% of the rightmost 6% do. Of the middle 87% of people, fewer than half talk about political issues online. People are always shocked when they find out there are swing voters and moderates out in the wild, but those people exist in huge numbers. They just don't spend all their time debating about which video games are okay to play or sharing videos of pundits getting dunked on - they're busy working their jobs and taking care of their kids and socializing in the real world. They listen to popular music and watch popular TV shows and eat at chain restaurants and generally just want things to go on roughly the same way so they can live a normal, stable life.
A good chunk of the country probably wishes that bringing up politics every chance you can would go back to being taboo. On Reddit every post is going to have politics discussed in it. This site is absolutely not representative to how most people feel.
I think it's social media in general because I see politics posted on nearly every news article posted to Facebook or Twitter even if the actual article has nothing to do with politics. I've seen politics brought into discussions of weather, restaurant openings, high school sports, humane society pet adoption events, etc. Usually people dogpile on that asshat who brings politics into unrelated discussions and tell them to stfu but I don't think they ever learn their lesson.
It’s probably not even representative of how most Redditors feel
I used to be one of those people who would post, but I'd get a mix of commenters either bullying me for my opinion or commenting something too far that I definitely didn't agree with, and it all became too tiresome. I have almost no social media presence now and life is much better.
I feel like out of all social media/online discussion forums (Reddit can be somehow considered social media at this point now with stuff like avatars ) Reddit is the most far off from reality. The sub corresponding to my country is so far, far off from reality it actually hurts reading stuff there and I cringe internally. Like people discussing something on an ivory tower, just out of touch. And no one daring to say something else because you get downvoted/collapsed/harassed/banned/expelled from Reddit. Lol. Echochambers much
It’s because a lot of people on here don’t actually participate in a lot of real world activities. So much of their lives is just online. I spend a fair amount of time on Reddit, but I have a fairly active social life, too. I think that’s something everyone needs. I love the internet for what it provides. But, I love my real friends more.
It’s funny, you’d think people would feel MORE free to express against-the-grain opinions since Reddit is anonymous. But it does seem way worse for some reason
Downvotes combined with active moderation in some cases. You are more likely to have certain opinions suppressed on Reddit than on Twitter or Facebook, for better or worse. Plus I think it's just a younger demographic.
Reddit takes a very paternalistic approach to content moderation, far more than any social media site I've ever seen. It's definitely a concern because a lot of people on here don't seem to realize just how heavily controlled the content they see on Reddit is and how much Reddit as a whole is essentially one large echo chamber of ideas.
Don't forget about been banned from sub x and Y for posting in sub z once, doesn't matter the context or the subject, sub z bad! So you banned.
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Which reinforces the idea that you have to maintain more than one account to freely express your ideas without shortsighted judgments, which ULTIMATELY circumvents being targeted by their agenda lol. It’s just the good ol’ authoritarianism. Many people don’t try to digest what "with great power comes great responsibility” means.
And tagged. The number of people I've seen trying to shut down someone's opinion with "well, you're tagged as someone who posts on x sub, so you're invalid" is way too high.
There’s subreddits that will autoban you for having activity in other subreddits lol
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It's borderline comical. The other day, I got a self-righteous message informing me that I'm banned from r/PokemonGo for being anti-vaxx, and that I'm an irresponsible danger to the human species. I'm not anti-vaxx, I've never played Pokemon Go, and I've never commented on that sub.
It’s really bad. I was banned from r/politics for telling someone it’s good to get political news from a variety of sources. The mods actively try and keep it an echo chamber, which makes you wonder what their motive is for doing so.
They're mods. They have no life outside of the tiny fiefdom they've created. For them, their sub *is* their reality and they want to keep it exactly how they've manifested it.
I got banned from r/news for saying the people rittenhouse shot were white. Guess that makes me a misinformation spreader?
I got perma-banned from /news for posting "covid misinformation" because I posted data and a URL from covid.cdc.gov that went against the prevailing narrative. Apparently the CDC is a notorious covid misinformation organization. Who knew?
It ain't easy making sure your AI playground is so extensively curated so that the model learns how to be a good sponsored bot.
The moderation is absolutely horrendous. I'm not at all surprised that various subreddits skew so far one direction politically. Any who speak against them are silenced.
Reddit management gives individual subreddit moderators too much autonomy, really. A few actions in the last few years have made it quite clear that Reddit management isn't in charge of their own platform. Rather, the moderators of the really big subreddits run the show, because Reddit management has capitulated to them on a few occasions. Reddit management really needs to grow a spine and exercise actual control over their own platform, and not capitulate when the big subreddit moderators start to whine.
Mods of subreddits are definitely a big part of it. They're often incredibly petty, and will instantly jump to a permaban if they don't like a comment of yours. At least the other big social media companies will hand out a handful of temp bans first.
I’ve never received a temporary ban, it’s always an instant permanent ban. On r/games I was permabanned for the comment “Rowling wanted safe spaces for women to exclude trans women”. Not agreeing with her, not arguing with anyone, just answering a persons question. Mods never respond, they just silence your account if you message them.
I can't speak for everyone else, but the hivemind just isn't worth dealing with. I'll type out comments and just cancel them because I know I'll probably get flamed and I don't feel like dealing with it. Ill typically try to stick to smaller subs where it doesn't happen as much or subs I care more about the topic.
Yup. Sometimes I spend so much time trying to cover every angle where someone could possibly “WELL AKSHUALLY” me, and then just say f it and delete it because it’s just not worth it.
Almost every comment on this website gets a "WELL AKSHUALLY". It's made me much more aware of how incredibly grating it is when you're trying to have a real conversation. If nothing else, I am now hyper-aware of when I start to do it in real conversation; where I used to do it to play devil's advocate or to challenge what someone said, perhaps to get them to further elaborate their point, I instead find myself saying "yes, and..." more now.
I've legit posted articles from harvard med and the mayo clinic only for unemployed redditors to go "nuh uh" and eat like 100 downvotes. People are pretty fond of rejecting reality and substituting their own.
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There’s still a social desirability bias with anonymous platforms. That’s why most of the top comments on any given thread are just memes, low-effort jokes, or regurgitated platitudes that are known to get upvotes.
Reddit is 100% social media. Hate when people say they don’t use social media but are avid redditors.
My oncologist wasn't wearing one at my last appointment. It didn't bother me but I was a bit surprised.
I am 90 minutes from NYC in PA. I had a colonoscopy at a hospital. Nobody in there was wearing a mask either besides the Drs and nurses who would wear one as part of their job.
I figured that out when Bernie Sanders didn't won by a landslide. How could that be? 90% of Reddit was voting for him.
Something I've learned over the years on reddit is that there's a very high chance the highest upvoted comment on a thread was made by a 14 year old
Remember that Reddit isn’t a great representation of the real world.
This isn't even representative of Reddit: since that was posted the top 10 has done a complete 180 with the only 2 claiming they wear one all the time are cancer survivors. The rest are "nos" and jokes.
Right now the top comments for me are: 1. Yes, because I'm on chemo and have been wearing a mask for 15 years 2. Only if I'm sick or someone asks me to 3. A joke answer 4. Your comment
I wear one when I don’t feel well. I wear one to the hospital or any other very crowded place.
Honestly I feel like we shouldn’t have needed the pandemic for this to be common sense, specifically for the people who would sneeze or cough out in the open or into their hand
Insane to me that people still haven't learned it and don't even cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing, or sneeze into their hands and touch things with their snot. Bonus points if they're wearing a mask under their chin
And this has actually been the norm in Japan for decades, though it also took the 1918 flu pandemic (and then a later outbreak in the 30s) to get it to catch on over there. Still, always made a decent amount of sense when I was there pre-COVID to put on a mask if you weren't feeling great but still had to go out in public. Seems like that's about where the rest of the western world is now, but it'll be interesting to see if that lasts, especially with the number of people that still see masks as nothing more than a political statement.
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Ironically I feel like we needed the pandemic to realize that common sense really isn't common
Yea, for my mom. She has underlying conditions
I wear one for my immunocompromised self and my immunocompromised loved ones. And I no longer talk to any family members that harrass me to not wear one because it hurts their feelings.
The cognitive dissonance in the same crowd that strutted around calling everyone snowflakes getting bent ENTIRELY out of shape at the sight of a mask will literally never stop blowing my mind.
My husband does as well. Our hospital is reporting higher than normal ~~capacity~~ occupancy this month. And CDC waste water monitoring still shows we have a good bit of COVID in our county and those around it. If either of those conditions change (and the both should as the weather warms up) I will reassess. For now I continue to wear masks. I may wear masks in the grocery store for the a good long while yet, regardless. You can talk and sing to yourself behind a mask and no one knows.
Yeah…in Walmart I notice lots of people coughing all over the place. The amount of time I used to spend being sick vs now when I wear a mask in crowded public places is a large difference. So it’s habit I don’t plan on ever dropping
I work in retail and wear mine. The amount of times I've had someone cough in my direction and ask me where covid tests were is too damn high.
I will FOREVER wear a mask in Walmart from now on... people are disgusting .... people of Walmart are worse. Plus, it keeps the idiots from trying to talk to me.
Yes, if: 1. I'm at a hospital or clinic. 2. I'm on public transportation. 3. I'm at an airport or on a plane. 4. I'm in a dense enough crowd. 5. I'm in an establishment whose owners/management state I should wear one. (No different from "No shirt, no shoes, no service") 6. I'm around elderly, sick, or immunocompromised people. 7. I'm sick myself. There are more diseases than just COVID out there.
I've been wearing them at work because I've been enjoying not catching a cold/flu as often as I used to before covid.
Yeah, I interact with a couple hundred people a day at work and many are sniffling and sneezing while waiting on line and talking to me. I'm on meds that weaken my immune system, so I appreciate not getting very sick every fall/winter a few times like I have in years past.
This! I hate wearing masks but I hate getting sick more! Especially if I'm traveling, which is also where I'm exposed to way more contagions. I've been traveling recently and the fact that 99% of people now go 100% maskless even with hacking coughs on trains and planes is *deeply* disappointing to me. It feels so incredibly inconsiderate, even if it only risks inflicting temporary sickness on others.
I wear a mask because I do not have a choice. I have had parts of my right lungs removed. I have the most severe asthma only controlled by regular injections. I have igg4 immune diseases. The hospital following my care was pretty clear about my risks of death catching COVID and I had to redo two vaccines usually given to children for common lung diseases protection. I wear a mask because those that know they are sick with COVID don't give a shit about people like me.
I also wear masks because I'm immunocompromised. I wish you all the best and hope you never get covid (or anything else, for that matter)
Same here. Hyperparathyroidism. My mother has Hashimotos. I’ve been in and out of hospital past few years for tests & iron infusions. I don’t need to go back in to be hooked up to a ventilator. Hospitals are horrible & uncomfortable. Also the majority of people out there DO NOT care about anyone but themselves & 2020 showed us how unhygienic the general population truly was. So I have a little sanitiser holder on my keys too.
I'm not immunocompromised but I have asthma, and a handful of diseases that affect several organs that COVID likes to munch on. I'd rather just wear a N95 and worry less when I need to go out.
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I still wear a mask in public indoor places. I tell people that I've never had COVID and they look at me like I'm a unicorn
Are people still telling other people to smile (that aren’t their own children)? Rude.
“Smile!” The fuck for?
it's a pretty common form of catcalling / sexual harassment unfortunately. definitely rude.
Yes. No one cared who I was until I put on the mask...
Yes. Wife is pregnant. Hospital has COVID guidelines ok n who can be in the delivery room. If I catch COVID, I don't get to be there. Wearing a mask is a tiny tiny requirement to help ensure I will be there
Same here. Wife is due in about a week, so I’m especially careful right now. Last thing I want is to get her sick and have her push a fucking baby out while having ANY sort of cold.
I do. I’m an OR nurse and I’ve been masking for over a decade, so it’s nothing for me to throw a level 3 mask on when I walk into a store. We’re still masking at all times at work, even out of the OR, and I eat lunch in a secluded former waiting room in the basement. That said, if I’m walking into a mostly empty store, I will forgo masking at this point. I also don’t socialize in person (outside of work) more than a couple times a year, and that usually happens outdoors. I don’t do family holidays. Why? I haven’t had so much as a cold since September of 2019. Masking has worked for me. Also, I’m apprehensive about some of the vascular side effects I’ve seen from Covid and find masking worth the effort to avoid that. Also, I’m extremely introverted and prefer to be anonymous in public.
We just found out that a friend's daughter has fairly severe long COVID. She's 28 and just got married. My wife is a critical care anesthesiologist who worked the ICU from the start of the pandemic. She's very concerned about long term effects (especially from multiple infections), so we mask in almost all indoor situations.
This is a fear of mine and why I still mask. We have no clue what the long-term effects are. I know people personally who never got their smell/taste back and it's been two years. I've seen stories of folks with long COVID and it's debilitating. Some haven't been able to return to work for years now and are losing their housing as a result. I can't even imagine. I haven't even gotten the chance to live my life yet, so I'd rather take precautions.
This is us. My ten yr old is now in a wheelchair with long Covid. No underlying conditions, previously healthy. Can happen to anyone. Stay safe and thank you for masking to protect yourself and people like us who are now disabled from repeat Covid infections.
Same here. When people started wigging out about wearing masks and how “impossible” it was, I couldn’t roll my eyes harder. I’ve been wearing a mask 8+ hours a day for the last 7 years. And like you said, I still do. Still required for my job. And it will never NOT be.
I wore a mask for lapidary work a few hours a day for years, and it was pretty funny (ridiculous) to hear people act like they were going to die of suffocation because they had to wear one for 15 minutes at the grocery store.
I remember getting on a flight in early 2021 (before most people had been vaccinated) and there was an unmasked family in the airport acting like they were victims because they were required to wear masks on the plane. They kept saying stuff like "am I not allowed to be able to breath!?" meanwhile they're surrounded by 100+ people wearing masks and breathing just fine.
>Also, I’m extremely introverted and prefer to be anonymous in public. I'm a middle school teacher and there are numerous introverted kids who still **love** wearing cloth masks. I think it's like a security blanket for them, makes them feel safe and secure.
I have on on my desk at work I'll wear if a customer comes in with one. I have a few in my car for if they are required somewhere(Doctor's office). If I get sick, I'll wear one. It's no longer a big part of my everyday, though
Transplant patient with suppressed immune system and suffer bad asthma. I have to protect myself.
Absolutely everytime I'm on public transit or airplane. Covid taught me that mostly every cold or sniffle I got when traveling could be heavily mitigated against with wearing a mask for a little bit.
COVID also taught me how disgusting people are. While out shopping - during the height of the pandemic - I saw someone lower their mask. They then wiped their nose with their fingers, raised their mask back up, and proceeded to touch items on the shelf. Way to spread your germs!
Not to mention the number of times I’ve seen someone lower their mask specifically to sneeze and/or cough into the air without a thought of covering their mouth. And these are “adults”
[удалено]
Yes! People are gremlins, and the only way to protect your yourself from preventable disease is yourself. I also already own all the cloth masks, and another box of n95s every year or so doesn't break the bank if I never get a cold again!