I agree with every point you're making, so I wonder if it isn't just one big factor: lots of people routinely put on masks at the first suspicion that they might be sick, even before they're sure. They just go ahead and do it just in case. And they do this all the time, so there's no delay due to self-consciousness or unfamiliarity or having to go buy a mask. It's just ordinary life.
Like taking shoes off in the house and making high school a college-admissions death march, maybe this widespread East Asian custom will spread in the West as well.
Like taking shoes off in the house and making high school a college-admissions death march, maybe this widespread East Asian custom will spread in the West as well.