Asklemmy

Sister's vet office is now offline again for COVID. Docs sick, most of the tech staff, most of the admin staff. When it hits, it runs through like a forest fire. One vet left because F the angry pet owners who think it's a personal insult they can't get special treatment, and he replaced one of the two who killed themselves (stress) last year.

They may institute a mask mandate again

• to keep the remaining staff healthy on return
• to filter their customers further because of high correlation of shitbaggery
• because docs are always masked so lower risk is now a work perq for them.

Me, I quit my job when they mandated return to work and I joined a union shop with 100% remote in the contract. I should mask up when I go to the store but I'm a dumb boy and always forget. I'm so vaxed it's like a bad hangover, but I don't have time for even that mess.

Yes, but only in closed spaces (i.e. subway, stores)

I wear them at the doctor because they require it still. I pretty much don't wear one anywhere else. I wore one on the plane on the flight to my destination to not get sick and ruin the trip but I didn't wear one on the way home because I wasn't as concerned at ruining a week of work. (This was in early 2023.) I will probably wear one in crowded areas in the week before DragonCon (a big convention in Atlanta) to not get sick and miss it.

Every time I go to my doctor's appointments I still do. Especially when it's the anticoagulation clinic I go to since there are a lot of elderly patients who go there.

I don't really wear one much outside of those times, though.

I wear one in public when I'm sick, or when someone in the family is sick. I just assume that whatever they have is something I'll catch sooner or later.

When I'm sick, or even when I am suffering from airborn allergens. I always bring one to social events, in case the host asks us to wear one.

If I'm indoors outside my apartment I put one on. Once or twice I got caught without and I don't worry about it then. I sometimes see people wearing masks. Honestly, I just wear it as a political statement: try to help each other. Before that it was for the benefit of others. It was never for my benefit, I don't give a fuck.

I was in China last month where mask-wearing is frequent and not stigmatized. They had a surge of Covid cases, so I wore a mask on public transport. It's a total no-brainer there.

Back in Canada, I don't wear it as much because I'd be in much less trouble if I caught it here. Still wore one when visiting an aging relative in a medical facility.

In closed spaces of close quarters with other people. Over a million Americans aren't here anymore, I'll take a lesson from that.

I work in a hospital where they are still required in some areas, so I always have way least one on me, and I'll wear it in some other situations was well.

I do whenever I'm indoors somewhere with a lot of people. Both my wife and I are immunocompromised. I hate being told the masks don't work and I hate even more explaining that I'm immunocompromised. People just need to mind their own business.

Me. My mode of transport is usually open-air, so I dislike breathing in dust and smoke. And I hate the idea of people potentially judging my face and facial expressions.

I've been using it when going to the supermarket. I hate it because my glasses get all foggy, but I hate getting colds even more, so...

At planes and airports because I get sick every time I come back from a trip. I'm so tired of bringing back a souvenir cold from every trip.

I am going to a concert at a small venue and the band has asked people attending to wear masks. I will and won't complain about it. Ever complained about it when they were required to be worn all day at work, even when I primarily work outside and alone.

When I’m sick and sneezing or coughing.

Also, when someone else wears a mask anywhere for any reason, I always ask “oh, would you like me to wear a mask?” I never ask why they do, I assume they have a good reason.

I wrote it reularly for 2 years because my job required is to wear them.

I got COVID anyway despite that. It wasn't that bad. I felt like I had a flu. No appetite, sore, tired, and shivering for almost a week. It sucked, but I don't feel like I needed medical attention, or anything that laying in bed couldn't fix.

After I was no longer required to wear it, i stopped.

I live in California and it's fire season; I might have to bust out the mask if there are any fires. I wore it more when my mom was still alive and had doctor's appointments and such, since they are still required in places like hospitals and dialysis clinics. I have ADHD and am triggered by textures; I really don't like anything on my face. Masks, creams, glasses, etc. I only wear it when absolutely necessary.

Only when I am go into public bathrooms.

At least my Minecraft skin does. I don't.

I wear them only if I have a cold or a cough myself now, or if I am traveling on a plane. I still carry a mask with me at all times though.

N95 mask with headstraps whenever I'm inside anywhere or in a crowded outdoor area. If I'm only going to be outside I'll carry an earloop n95 mask with me just in case i come across a large group or need to pop in real quick to grab takeout

I wear one indoors or at the drive thru. I'm considering dropping the mask, but the last time I researched it, the recommendation was doing what I was already doing.

Yeah, in public indoor spaces and I avoid prolonged exposure like movie theaters. I've avoided it so far. I also have some friends that are especially worried about it, so I maintain my masking so they aren't uncomfortable being around me. It seems like about 10% of people in this area of the PNW still mask, people working in retail closer to 20%. It's barely an inconvenience, so why not avoid sickness in general.

Inside with other people around, sure.

I do, but i really should upgrade to an N95 like mask.

Mostly when I feel unwell, but not enough to call in sick at work or at the store. Also at home when I share a room with somebody while I'm ill.

I have barely seen any masks in the Benelux area since summer 2022. Haven't worn one myself since spring 2022 I think.

I'll gladly wear one if asked to, but the last time I did so out of my own volition was probably a few months back.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'd rather not deal with angry anti-vaxxers in public, who are seemingly still mad that some people want to wear masks occasionally in order to protect others.

I do, see https://www.covidisairborne.org/ for tons of info on why we all should.

We stopped recently, and plan on wearing them again during flu season, or any other outbreaks going on. I'd have been fine with wearing them indefinitely, but we were in the minority even when there were mandates in our area.