It's been over a week since the new mask mandate was put forth, and people are still resolutely wearing their masks outside, especially the women. I've noticed that masks tend to come off a bit more as the sun goes down, almost as if people felt freer to expose their faces under cover of darkness. (Monday night, I counted over 130 people without masks along the route I walked, but they were still in the minority.) The whole thing is—as it's been this entire pandemic—irrational and silly. But the current behavior matches my prediction that masks will probably be the last vestige of the pandemic to fall away.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
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I guess the mask mandate is still in force here, but more and more, it seems to be ignored. I have started to give people I know shit about still masking up, but in a good-natured way. I really don't care if someone chooses to wear a slavemask; to me, it just identifies their ignorance. That's one of the things I'll say to a masked friend: why don't you just wear a sign saying "I'm stupid"?
It does seem to be taking people a while, doesn't it? I've heard all sorts of weird reasons for keeping masks on, although one that does make a certain amount of sense is that it is currently pollen season. My allergies haven't bothered me in years, but I do know some people who are susceptible, and they've told me that when they take their masks off outside they start sniffling, and that gets them stares from other people.
The implication, of course, is that the masks will come off once pollen season is over (which will be soon), but I think that mention of stares from other people is telling--people are still feeling social pressure. I still think that the coming hot weather will be the greatest incentive to demask. It will be interesting to see how many people insist on continuing to wear masks despite the summer heat.
Our neighborhood, by the way, seems to be a bubble of mask culture, perhaps due to the presence of the university. HJ tells me that far more people are demasking downtown during the day.
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