Personal Masking Rules
Apr. 29th, 2023 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetI shared this on Tumblr, so I thought I'd put it here as well. These are my personal rules for wearing a mask.
If I am in an indoor space that is not my home, I will wear a mask if:
- There are more than five people in the room, including me, for longer than five minutes at a time
- It is an area with high traffic
- Any of the other people there are wearing a mask
- I am not confident that every other person there has been fully vaccinated for Covid (minimum full original course, one or more boosters preferred)
This means I do sometimes take my mask off at work, and might if I'm visiting someone's house. Not that I've had much occasion to visit anywhere but my brother's family these days. It's reasonably close to the first "Yes, you can visit other people" guidelines that the CDC announced after the vaccine became more publicly available, just plus one extra person.
This also means that there are some people at work that I don't unmask around, because I have asked and they've flat-out told me that they haven't gotten vaccinated. At this point, I figure that if they've decided not to vaccinate, I'm not going to be able to change their minds by confronting them about it. If they decide that they're curious later, I can share my own reasons for getting the vaccine, and they can have another chance to decide if those reasons are good enough for them personally; otherwise, I'll keep my mouth shut. I also don't ask about their reasons for not vaccinating, because I don't want to be any angrier than I already am, either at them (more likely) or at The System (forcing people who cannot get vaccinated back into the workforce/public/etc).
If I am in an indoor space that is not my home, I will wear a mask if:
- There are more than five people in the room, including me, for longer than five minutes at a time
- It is an area with high traffic
- Any of the other people there are wearing a mask
- I am not confident that every other person there has been fully vaccinated for Covid (minimum full original course, one or more boosters preferred)
This means I do sometimes take my mask off at work, and might if I'm visiting someone's house. Not that I've had much occasion to visit anywhere but my brother's family these days. It's reasonably close to the first "Yes, you can visit other people" guidelines that the CDC announced after the vaccine became more publicly available, just plus one extra person.
This also means that there are some people at work that I don't unmask around, because I have asked and they've flat-out told me that they haven't gotten vaccinated. At this point, I figure that if they've decided not to vaccinate, I'm not going to be able to change their minds by confronting them about it. If they decide that they're curious later, I can share my own reasons for getting the vaccine, and they can have another chance to decide if those reasons are good enough for them personally; otherwise, I'll keep my mouth shut. I also don't ask about their reasons for not vaccinating, because I don't want to be any angrier than I already am, either at them (more likely) or at The System (forcing people who cannot get vaccinated back into the workforce/public/etc).
no subject
Date: 2023-05-05 07:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-07 03:24 am (UTC)Honestly, I wouldn't even take my mask off at work, except it's also kinda like wearing a scarf, and I work in a kitchen. And even then I might still power through it, except I'm a naturally damp person and have no idea how long I can sweat into a mask before it becomes unusable. Wet masks don't work, after all, but how damp can one get before it's no good? Unfortunately, my PCP didn't have an answer when I asked her, and I think there might not be an answer to find just now.
Also I'm now pissed off all over again over last year's AnimeIowa debacle. I should go read something comforting to distract myself.
Three thousand people in one hotel over three days! With the horrible stereotype about otaku bathing habits! And you're not requiring masks?! GRAAAARGH!