A Non-Exhaustive List of Reasons to Wear a Mask

Once again a stranger confronted me for wearing a mask. From a far distance and not obviously talking to me, just kinda putting it out there while I was the only one in a mask. Loudly. For some reason this is how every confrontation I’ve had about masking has gone. It is a very strange, non-committal way to approach a social interaction. Anyways, without further ado:

• Habit
• You’re sick
• You don’t want to get sick
• You don’t want to get others around you sick
• You think it’s gross that we’re just exchanging mouth juice all the time
• It’s cold
• It’s cold and windy
• If your nose is exposed to the cold your snot will literally freeze inside of it and then thaw when you go inside and you would very much like to avoid that experience
• It’s comfy
• It’s a style statement
• Intrigue
• Hiding insecurities
• Hiding features you love but want to have all to yourself
• Hiding your shitty mustache you’re growing out
• Hiding the acne you have from wearing a mask all the time
• Hiding your runny nose
• Catching tears before they run down your face and it’s embarrassing and dramatic
• Dealing with dysphoria about the shape of your face
• Dealing with dysphoria about being perceived
• Dealing with dysphoria about existing
• Anonymity in a political way
• Anonymity in a security way
• Anonymity in a generally concerned way
• Anonymity in a fun game way
• The Clark Kent effect
• Making people earn seeing your face
• Showing you care about health and sanitation
• Showing you care about the people around you (by actually caring for them)
• Showing you care about disabled/immunocompromised/generally vulnerable people (by actually caring for them)
• Your dad had a condition where masking around him could literally save his life
• Acknowledging that Covid never went away
• Testing how many things your ears can hold at once
• Wearing masks that give your face different shapes like snout or beak or whatever
• Wearing cool masks to show off cool stuff you or someone you know made
• Grounding exercise of feeling the vibrations of your voice as you speak
• Preventing random shit from floating into your mouth
• Keeping dust out of your lungs when you’re dealing with it
• Avoiding bad smells
• Putting teabags or herbs in them so you smell nice things as you’re cleaning gross things
• Putting snacks in there
• Storing things in there
• Hiding your reactions
• Preventing people from seeing your non-reactions
• Hiding stims you’re doing with your mouth
• Not having to mask with the bottom half of your face
• Keeping sensory sensitivities away from your nose or mouth
• Preventing you from skin picking
• Preventing you from biting nails
• Preventing you from touching your face with your dirty hands
• Annoying people who are anti-mask for harmful reasons
• Normalizing it for other people
• You’ve wanted masks to go mainstream for so so many years and are clinging to them so hard
• Your patron saint is Saint Rosalia
• A man in a bar dressed as a pirate once complimented you for wearing a mask and you must mask in his honor
• Kissing your friends without getting wet