Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for continuing to work in the healthcare field. I think it's one of a number of things when I still see people wearing them.
1. They are recovering from Covid but are now out and about
2. They or someone in their household has a medical condition and they want to minimize chance of getting Covid
3. They are prepping for a vacation or trip or other event and don't want to get Covid.
4. They have a particularly high level of anxiety and have been unable to re-baseline Covid-related risk in comparison to most of the population.
5. They work in an industry with high levels of exposure to others (healthcare, food service) and are trying to minimize catching Covid from the hundreds of people they come in contact with daily

If I am being perfectly honest, this is what I think. Though I've been trying to battle that assumption and remember that the other 4 reasons you listed do exist too.

I have generalized anxiety order (really bad) and I took the mask off as soon as I could. It’s not just anxiety - it’s conspiracy-theory level misunderstanding of the risks.

Another person with an anxiety disorder. I also unmasked as soon as feasible. The biggest barrier to me removing my mask was not health anxiety but social anxiety -- I feared people judging me or thinking I didn't care about them or was some kind of MAGA anti-vaxxer (I'm not). On the health side, I was able to do enough reading to get to the point where I did not feel masks were necessary to keep myself for family safe, and I also reached a point where I felt masking was bad for both my kid's social development and my own mental health. So in terms of health, I was fine with dropping masks.

My husband unmasked sooner than I did because he didn't care about this, I did it more gradually as more people in our neighborhood and school community stopped masking and I felt it was more accepted. I'm grateful to people like my DH who were willing to do it first and get people used to the idea, because it made it easier for people like me who are really, really afraid of offending people to eventually be able to drop them.

Being able to see faces and expressions again has bee a huge valuable thing for my own anxiety.

I do not care one way or another. Actually, that's a lie. I think that they must be dealing with remnants of an illness, allergies, anxiety. WHATEVER. I took a flight to Denver last week and wore a mask. I paid a lot of money to take the trip and wanted to reduce the chance of getting something on the plane. Almost everyone I know who traveled on a place for longer than an hour has gotten sick (mostly Covid). I wanted to enjoy my trip. There were other people wearing masks too and no one looked at any of us like we had a third eye. STOP ALREADY with these idiotic questions.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t give it a lot of thought. But if I did, I’d assume they have ptsd/security blanket issues or they were social signaling or they were irrationally afraid of a virus that is endemic. Is it for the flu? COVID? Rhinovirus? Whatever the reasons are - it’s not consistent with current public health guidance, so I’d mostly assume they’re anti-science for some reason.

Some people really latch on to doing difficult things for perceived health reaons and also get a psychological boost from believing they are among the special few who are knowledgeable enough or dedicated enough to do the right thing. Eg strict vegans, “clean” eaters, ultramarathoners … mask wearing could be the same.

It's almost a shame that everyone is unmasked now. It used to be fun going to the store when I was the only one there unmasked. The looks of horror.

Covid pandemic has made more people with health issues comfortable wearing a mask

I assume nothing about the person. Maybe they are sick, maybe they are immunocompromised, maybe they are very cautious, maybe a family member is immunocompromised... it could be anything so why bother thinking about it. I don't care if others wear masks.

I will admit that especially when I am going somewhere for the first time, if the first or one of the first people I encounter there is wearing a mask, I do wonder if it bothers them that I am not wearing a mask. Once I've been somewhere enough times to see plenty of people there without masks (at this point, I can't think of anywhere I go where the majority of people are in masks except the doctor's office, where I also wear a mask as requested), I don't think about this anymore. But if I go to a new exercise class or a new store, and the front desk clerk or the first customer I see is masked, I will have a fleeting thought of "Is this okay?" I might even look around for a sign to see if I'm supposed to be masked. But then once I confirm it's fine, I move on and don't think about it anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for continuing to work in the healthcare field. I think it's one of a number of things when I still see people wearing them.
1. They are recovering from Covid but are now out and about
2. They or someone in their household has a medical condition and they want to minimize chance of getting Covid
3. They are prepping for a vacation or trip or other event and don't want to get Covid.
4. They have a particularly high level of anxiety and have been unable to re-baseline Covid-related risk in comparison to most of the population.
5. They work in an industry with high levels of exposure to others (healthcare, food service) and are trying to minimize catching Covid from the hundreds of people they come in contact with daily

If I am being perfectly honest, this is what I think. Though I've been trying to battle that assumption and remember that the other 4 reasons you listed do exist too.

I have generalized anxiety order (really bad) and I took the mask off as soon as I could. It’s not just anxiety - it’s conspiracy-theory level misunderstanding of the risks.

Anonymous wrote:You maybe one of them.

I am a healthcare worker and I still wear my mask wherever I go. I'm glad a few others do as well, so I won't stand out so much.

I assume the person wearing the mask is sick.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for continuing to work in the healthcare field. I think it's one of a number of things when I still see people wearing them.
1. They are recovering from Covid but are now out and about
2. They or someone in their household has a medical condition and they want to minimize chance of getting Covid
3. They are prepping for a vacation or trip or other event and don't want to get Covid.
4. They have a particularly high level of anxiety and have been unable to re-baseline Covid-related risk in comparison to most of the population.
5. They work in an industry with high levels of exposure to others (healthcare, food service) and are trying to minimize catching Covid from the hundreds of people they come in contact with daily

If I am being perfectly honest, this is what I think. Though I've been trying to battle that assumption and remember that the other 4 reasons you listed do exist too.

Anonymous wrote:You maybe one of them.

I am a healthcare worker and I still wear my mask wherever I go. I'm glad a few others do as well, so I won't stand out so much.

I never wear a mask, even during a pandemic, unless I was on the flight. I am not vaccinated and still never had covid. I don't care what you do.

I assume they have covid, an anxiety disorder, or they are immuno-compromised.

That said - I am going on an airplane trip soon and I'm probably going to wear a mask at the airport and on the plane only. I've had covid one time and I got it on a trip. I just don't want it to ruin my trip and I really don't care what anyone else thinks.

Nothing. I think nothing. And, I don't care. None of my business.

The only thing I think is that I’m going to give that person extra space because they’re really trying to avoid swapping germs. I don’t always follow the 6 foot rule anymore, but if you’re in a mask, I’ll give you 6 feet.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for continuing to work in the healthcare field. I think it's one of a number of things when I still see people wearing them.
1. They are recovering from Covid but are now out and about
2. They or someone in their household has a medical condition and they want to minimize chance of getting Covid
3. They are prepping for a vacation or trip or other event and don't want to get Covid.
4. They have a particularly high level of anxiety and have been unable to re-baseline Covid-related risk in comparison to most of the population.
5. They work in an industry with high levels of exposure to others (healthcare, food service) and are trying to minimize catching Covid from the hundreds of people they come in contact with daily

Agree with all of the above. And it's totally fine whichever of those reasons it is. What others do in this regard has no impact on my rights.

Anonymous wrote:I think that they are wearing a mask for reasons known to them that aren't any of my business.

+1 Why would I care. Its like asking "What do you think of someone who dyes their hair red?" I think they have red hair.