“Man, why you have a mask on?!”
That’s a typical question I get (expletives deleted) when I use common sense and wear a mask in public to keep myself and others safe from the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
Let me break it down a little deeper.
Think of a mask as a face condom. With effective condom usage, you avoid STDs and have a 98% chance of preventing pregnancy. With a mask, you have a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and harming other people when you cough, sneeze, talk, or raise your voice. It’s not 100% effective in the spread of the virus, but it blocks 95% of particles, 0.3 microns or larger, which spread COVID-19, livescience.com says.
So why wouldn’t you wear a mask? The reasons I hear are usually selfish.
“I didn’t feel like it.”
“It makes me look weak.”
“I don’t think the virus is real.”
“The mask makes me uncomfortable; I can’t breathe in it.”
Being uncomfortable is a legitimate excuse, but it’s a better trade-off than being forced to quarantine for two weeks and/or having symptoms that seriously suck like extreme coughing, fever or chills, sore throat, muscle or body aches, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. And no, it’s not likely, but yes, you could die.
All the other responses are all about you. Don’t be so concerned with how “lame” your friends say you look that you’d rather harm or potentially kill other people.
Don’t become a story that’s part of the statistics. From one real friend to another: mask up.