We got back last Sunday night from a week in Phoenix. Stuff down there was mostly the same as it is here. Almost everybody is wearing masks indoors, and at least half wearing them outdoors in public areas. We had them along and wore them a few times, but mostly didn’t. No one said anything. Had to wear them the whole time on Southwest Airlines flights there and back.
My wife and I went to Home Depot last night with no masks. I had one in my pocket just in case. As soon as we walked through the door a masked employee was heading directly for us. I became immediately irritated and was getting ready to unload on him about muh rights, but he just asked if we wanted to get our furnace checked. I told him we didn’t, and we carried on. We were in the store for about 45 minutes as I selected shelving for a closet project I’m working on today. The other couple in the shelving aisle looked askance at us the whole time, but didn’t say anything. One employee quite obviously wanted to say something, but never did. I was a little surprised, this is about the longest I think I’ve been inside a store for a while, and I fully expected that someone was going to say something. We saw one other couple without masks, and I made a point of saying “it sure is nice to see someone else who isn’t wearing these stupid masks” to the husband. They both laughed and we joked around about it for a minute, they were definitely our people. I think interaction with like-minded folks over this is key; it makes everyone feel a little less weird about it. It is completely insane to think that after just a few short months of this “pandemic”, I am now looked at by many as some sort of psychopath/monster/grandma killer just for being in a store without wearing a cloth mask over my face. I know that a lot of other people think this whole thing is ridiculous, but just need a little encouragement.
I’m here to ask everyone reading this who feels that way to stop wearing masks. Just don’t do it. You don’t have to be ready to go to prison over it or anything, but just start walking in places without one on if you aren’t already. Act like you aren’t doing anything wrong, because you aren’t. It’s perfectly normal to be out in public without a mask on, it’s weird to be wearing one. In my experience, you aren’t likely to be confronted about it, but if you are, do whatever you feel is best. Using the “Ope sorry, forgot to put it on!” is a perfectly reasonable response, and you aren’t likely to even need it. If you go in a store and nobody says anything, all of the other people in the store will have seen a normal person without a mask doing normal stuff out in the world, just like what has always been normal in our country. It may give them cause to think that what’s going on now is actually not normal, and I think that’s worth something. I have noticed that when I’m going into a place, I usually have the thought in mind that if someone asks me to put one on, I’ll just put it on. After I’m inside for a minute or two, I start to get the feeling of “screw them, I’m not putting one on whether they ask me or not”. I’m not sure exactly why that is, or if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Both times I’ve been confronted I have not complied, so I think maybe I’m just tired of feeling like I’m living in clown world.