Funny to watch the Atlantic change directions on COVID over the last few months. I go back and forth on masks. In general I find them to be a minor inconvenience, although I believe they're more inconvenient for me than most because I'm blind and no matter what I do they always fog up my glasses.
But while masks themselves are mildly inconvenient, harsh mask mandates and restrictions become much more of an annoyance quickly. Try taking a 6 hour flight with a 2 year old that's required to keep his mask on the entire flight, and when he takes it off (because he's 2, of course he's going to take it off) the flight attendants threaten to turn the plane around and ban you permanently. That gets old quick.
I was in a coffee shop the other day and my mask broke. Everyone takes their mask off to sip their drink or eat their pastries, but I was immediately asked to leave when the functional mask I walked in with broke. They didn't have any extras, I wasn't carrying around more than one mask. It was embarrassing. It's pretty easy to grow tired of these mandates when your situation deviates slightly from the norm.
At this point, I'm in favor of a "protect yourself" direction. If you're concerned, put on an N95 and a face shield and sanitize your hands often. It's clear that shutting down society to the point necessary to restrict the spread of COVID is not feasible, and all the halfway measures we've taken haven't achieved their stated goals. It's just a nuisance at this point.
But while masks themselves are mildly inconvenient, harsh mask mandates and restrictions become much more of an annoyance quickly. Try taking a 6 hour flight with a 2 year old that's required to keep his mask on the entire flight, and when he takes it off (because he's 2, of course he's going to take it off) the flight attendants threaten to turn the plane around and ban you permanently. That gets old quick.
I was in a coffee shop the other day and my mask broke. Everyone takes their mask off to sip their drink or eat their pastries, but I was immediately asked to leave when the functional mask I walked in with broke. They didn't have any extras, I wasn't carrying around more than one mask. It was embarrassing. It's pretty easy to grow tired of these mandates when your situation deviates slightly from the norm.
At this point, I'm in favor of a "protect yourself" direction. If you're concerned, put on an N95 and a face shield and sanitize your hands often. It's clear that shutting down society to the point necessary to restrict the spread of COVID is not feasible, and all the halfway measures we've taken haven't achieved their stated goals. It's just a nuisance at this point.