Besides using extremely high grade HEPA filters, they also have downward airflow that reduces inhalation and pull ambient air from the outside to reduce the amount of cabin air that is recirculated. Unless one of the people immediately by your side is sick, you have very little to worry about on a plane.

Not a bad safety record for US airlines.

• Click here for link at https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-airline-safety-revolution-1

I may not use it, but circumstances of those around me may dictate my action. If it keeps someone from talking to me, it might just be worth it.

Pre-Covid, in America, you would be looked at (at best...) oddly if you wore a mask anywhere not in a hospital. Today, you are often looked at (rightfully, if indoors and/or not socially distanced) as inconsiderate (at best...) if you don't wear a mask.

I hope once we get herd immunity and this is done, nobody will care what anyone else does. You want to wear a mask on the subway? Great! You don't want to wear a mask on the subway? Great! But I've seen some people advocating for a sort of "this should be the new norm for everyone" during cold/flu season. Yeah... no thanks.

My biggest hope going forward is that those who are most susceptible to something "routine" for many of us (like the flu) becoming serious and/or life-threatening will be able to shed any self-consciousness that might've prevented them from taking the very easy step of masking up to add a little shield of protection.

I remember how personally awkward is was for me last April the first time I donned a gaiter and ducked my way into the super market. I try to feel comfortable in my own skin, but that was nerve-wracking. It was shades up showing up to middle school with a dorky shirt my mom picked out. And I can remember the moment it all flipped and suddenly the majority of the people in the store were now wearing masks. And the sense of calm and comfort that being back and safe in the majority brought.

It should not be lost on anyone how our measures this past year decimated common seasonal illness. While it will be optimal for the vast majority to return to a non-distanced, non-masked existence, those who choose not to should not be subjected to any societal mockery.

(going on a rafting trip and stopped over for food)

My friend and I paused at the door like we were walking into Bob's Country Bunker. "Nobody else does...should we?"

"Man we're getting weird looks"

"F*** them, it's what the guidance says to do."

As silly as it sounds, I honestly wasn't relishing having that discussion with some rando at the time. We ate outside anyhow, because it was a lovely day.

I remember vehemently whining that "ugh, we're not asia" last year. Now I don't care if we are or aren't - there are some good demonstrable results we can definitely borrow out of this that don't involve mandating it.

I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.

For example, I might continue to wear a mask on public transportation because in retrospect cramming into an L car during rush hour with a hundred gross Chicagoans was probably a Petri dish before all this.

I expect to see lots of masks on the L for years to come.

Not that I think we'll ever be Asia, it's not exactly the end of the world when they do it on public transport, and what a world if people actually wore masks when they themselves were sick.

However, I have friends, relatives, and co-workers who have latched on to every "CDC: people still dying with vaccine!" article out there as proof they'll never have to go out again. I get it, we're all a little scared, but dammit, risk elimination is not going to be a thing.

For my .02, ideally I'd love to see rates of infection fall along with increased vaccinations for some period before declaring the all clear, but that's a hell of a hard call.