was shopping yesteray and was at checkout. had noticed a gaggle of mask wearers besides me.

[AllaN01Bear]

lady pulls up to line wearing mask and i quipped im glad im not the only one . got into a nice disscussion and she said , because of the nature of her work and testing, it was found she had covid . she didnt realize that she was sick and she was caring for a 80ish lady who broke her back and she didnt want to give it to her i feel the same way.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

1. I still wear a mask when in public,

especially when I'm making a delivery to a business, no exceptions.

I've had a couple of run ins with MAGAt's confronting me on wearing a mask, I just look them in the eye, point to my US Marines Ret. ball cap and tell them that I earned the right to decide what's best for me and my clients and I do it respectfully.

Given my size and demeanor, they walked away muttering something about this and that.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. my body , my choice .im glad u can intimidate them w size.

even when at church, i still wear mask.almost all dont . and our deacon got covid and she had kemo last month. me , a number of undrlying conditons here . and thanks for your service .

[MarineCombatEngineer]

4. +100. nt

[wnylib]

28. I have avoided church in person

(they carry services online) for most of the pandemic due to underlying health issues, even though I am vaxxed and have had all the boosters. People there are back to hugging during the "peace."

But last week I went in person because they had a guest speaker who does aid work in Ukraine. I was the only mask wearer. Some people there know my health issues. Nobody questioned the mask, but I noticed a few condescending looks, as if they thought I was too traumatized by covid to give up my mask.

Same thing in stores. I am either the only mask wearer, or one of two or three people. Nobody says anything but since I am a regular at the stores I go to, I think they regard me as the eccentric little old gray haired lady.

[albacore]

15. Only run-in I had was in a grocery store some time ago....

Same background as you (MOS 0331) and size.

I just said ....in a voice-of-command... "Was I fucking talking to you?...Get the fuck away from me."

Worked well.

[mahina]

16. Lol

That’s perfect. I wish I could get away with that. It’s exactly what needs to be said. I have a feeling they wouldn’t take it from a woman

[albacore]

18. It's the voice-of-command.... nt

[MarineCombatEngineer]

19. Oh, I don't know about that,

a woman can be so much more assertive than a man, I can attest to that, my late wife could cower any man with just a look, I never told her this, but she scared the hell out of me a few times with her Irish/German temper.

[FoxNewsSucks]

33. absolutely, just ask MF45 about being intimidated by Pelosi

I never tire of seeing her put him in his place.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

17. +100.

A Machine Gunner.
Semper Fi.

Heavy Equipment Operator here.

Thank you for your service.

[wryter2000]

37. I still wear a mask

My church requires it. I sing in the choir, so you bet we wear masks. We couldn't sing for years because of COVID. We don't want to go back to that.

Occasionally, one of us has a difficult solo they can't sign while masked, and they remove it. Then, they stand away from the rest of us and face the congregation. The mask goes back on when they rejoin us. Our music director got COVID. So did the rector. The rest of us haven't. Knock on wood.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

2. I look them in the eye and say my oncologist recommended I wear it

If they don’t seem to understand what an oncologist is, I say cancer doctor.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. great response .

[3auld6phart]

30. Dollars to donuts

They did wonder what you were going on about. Both wife and I wear masks
when out. Shopping.At 70 & 86 you sure don’t want that damn COVID.Those
Antivzxers & anti maskers are prolonging this problemI believe.

[IronLionZion]

6. There are a lot of respiratory illnesses these days

masking is good to prevent flu, RSV, colds, etc. too.

[barbtries]

9. that's right.

here in NC we've already had a death from flu and it's early days.

[RussBLib]

22. I hear you can get RSV thru your eyes

It was a science discussion and I don't doubt it. Washing hands and not touching your eyes can keep you free of RSV.

What's the next virus to hit? Maybe this is nature's way of telling us, "Enough of your shit!"

[IronLionZion]

23. Transmitted the same as cold and flu

https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/transmission.html

So worry about droplets and touching surfaces. which are not as transmissible as aerosols like COVID.

Be clean and be safe out there. Mother Nature feels there are too many of us on this planet. She's not wrong.

[Trailrider1951]

32. That's why I keep a container of Lysol antimicrobial wipes in my car

After getting back to my parked car while out in public, I always wipe my hands thoroughly with one before I even take my mask off, to kill any germs I may have picked up. It may be overkill, but it works for me when in a circumstance where I cannot immediately wash my hands.

[MLAA]

7. I made husband an appointment at his primary doctor for a blood draw.

On the reminder call phone message they told me masks were optional. It isn’t a large waiting room and the examination rooms are small, this is crazy. Between Covid, flu and RSV I can’t imagine not wearing a mask.

[XanaDUer2]

11. I brought COVID home from a mask-optional

Eye doctor's office. Spread it at home. We're still dealing with after effects. Please be careful

[MLAA]

12. Thanks, XanaDUer2.

I’m going to wait in the car and husband will wear a mask and not arrive early

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. I take it a step further - no unecessary interaction..counterproductive

To test a mask's effectiveness

[barbtries]

10. that's me.

still getting my groceries delivered. my son picks up all my meds. I severely limit my going out.

But. then my son got married, and my former intern, whom I love dearly, got married, both in October. I did not mask. I had the mask, but never put it on. I skated through thankfully. Being fully vaccinated and cherishing the times, I took the risk and got lucky.

[IronLionZion]

24. Introverts have the advantage here

[ProudMNDemocrat]

13. Now COVID free, I too will wear a mask in close confined spaces.

At the Senior Living Center, at the stores where I shop, at the Gym, to be considerate of others as Cold and Flu season is here earlier than anticipated. Not everyone has had their Flu shots.

[RockCreek]

14. I mask in all public indoor spaces

I mask in all public indoor spaces. I also mask in private indoor ones unless alone or with others who I know take the same precautions measures that I do (husband and parents). Outdoor, I mask in crowded areas. And masking for me means N95 or better ONLY.

[tavernier]

20. I'm still of the opinion that keeping one's self completely isolated

from all germs and bacteria and viruses is not a healthy alternative either. Your body needs to develop its own resistance in small doses to invisible things that live in the world. Shots and pills are necessary but so is our body’s own immune system.

I have traveled by plane and car and bus and eaten in restaurants and shopped in stores since the second year of Covid. I was pretty isolated that first year. But I decided that if I masked in indoor crowded places, practiced good hand washing and common sense daily living (fist bumps instead of hugs etc.), I was slowly inoculating myself against some germs and bugs that flew my way. That added to the fact that I have had every Covid shot and booster, every flu shot, both pneumonia, shots, and the RSV shot (to protect my newborn, great granddaughter from me).

I have not had Covid, but I did get a two week run of the common cold, once I visited and slept in the same house with my daughter and son in law who were both like the ghost buster’s green slime monsters when I arrived. Couldn’t be avoided, but it ran its course as colds do.

I think complete isolation will land you hard on your behind once you decide to rejoin the real world. Anyway, its worked pretty well for me. So far no Covid or flu, and the cold didn’t turn into pneumonia.

[IronLionZion]

21. I masked in my condo building when I had a cold a few weeks ago

I tested negative for COVID but still didn't want to get anyone else sick.

[Bayard]

25. I still mask in public

Never had anyone accost me over it though, even in this little deep red town. The doctors offices I've been in lately are no longer masking.

Mr. Bayard has stopped wearing his, and I have to scold him for it. He got sick a few days ago--not Covid--and now I have the same sore throat and general malaise. Dammitt! Maybe I should test anyway, even double boosted.

[gratuitous]

26. I'm kind of forgetful sometimes

Wearing my mask helps me remember to mind my own business.

[Shrike47]

27. I still mask at stores. There are a few of us who mask around here, but not many.

I think if more people start getting sick this winter, we’ll see quick masking. People know the ropes now.

[Stuart G]

29. Covid Deaths. 97 million cases, 1 million deaths (numbers at link} Wear a mask, It's not over!

Repeat: Wear a mask, It is not over.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Number+of+deaths+from+Covid+in+U.S&sitesearch=

[Farmer-Rick]

31. Now, more white people are dying from COVID then other racial groups

"Whites now more likely to die from covid than Blacks: Why the pandemic shifted"

"Over time, the gap in deaths widened and narrowed but never disappeared — until mid-October 2021, when the nation’s pattern of covid mortality changed, with the rate of death among White Americans sometimes eclipsing other groups."

“We’re Republicans, and 100 percent believe that it’s each individual’s choice, their freedom,” when it comes to getting a coronavirus shot, Hollie said in January. “We decided to err on the side of not doing it and accept the consequences. And now, here we are in the middle of planning the funeral.”

"After delta’s peak in September 2021, the racial differences in covid deaths started eroding. The Post analysis found that Black deaths declined, while White deaths never eased, increasing slowly but steadily, until the mortality gap flipped. From the end of October through the end of December, White people died at a higher rate than Black people did, The Post found."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/19/covid-deaths-us-race/

So if the GOP plan was to kill off their own voters, they have succeeded.

[MurrayDelph]

35. I still wear a mask in public for three reasons:

1. Even though I am fully vaccinated and boosted, I still managed to get it. Thankfully, it was so minor a case that I only knew I had it because of testing, but I still don't want to risk getting it again.

2. I'm pretty-sure I don't have it, but don't want to risk giving it to anyone

3. I don't want anyone assuming I'm a Republican.

[skennis1]

36. Me too

I wear masks when I go shopping and to doctors' offices (still required there). I mask in stores because hardly anyone else does and I'd still like to prevent myself from getting infected with anything, Covid or flu or whatever. So far no one has commented to me about it.

[stage left]

38. No one

has ever said anything to me about masking. There must be something about my eyes.

[Larissa]

39. Do not let your guard down

New Jersey, my state, had the worst death rate of Covid-19 when the virus first appeared. I fear that the come back of this virus will be intense because people have become accustomed to not wearing a mask because of the waning death and infection rates. Also, folks are not getting their booster shots. Don't be fooled. Cases will spike as folks become enclosed in their homes again when the colder weather comes in.

Be mindful of the folks on the front lines in the health care systems. Folks died who were unable to get emergency care because of Covid-19 logjams created by un-vaccinated, mask-less patients.

[Tarheel_Dem]

40. I'm still masking as well, even though I'm fairly homebound these days. I don't allow anyone in...

my house if they don't mask. I don't know what I'd do if it weren't for delivery these days. My groceries are left in the garage, and everything else is left on my porch.

[Skittles]

41. I still mask, because I actually care about others besides myself

imagine that

it disappoints me that not all progressives feel this way

[Solly Mack]

42. I still wear one. My husband and I were the only ones wearing a mask while voting.

But when we went to a shop after to get a few things, we saw a few more people still wearing one. Most were not.

[bedazzled]

43. Was at courthouse as prospective juror ... no masks anywhere

In courtroom with 50 people I was the only one. Palm Beach County. Many people were coughing too