Am I the asshole?

It’s weird these days going inside shops. The mask mandate is gone practically everywhere in the Bay Area. Therefore, often times I choose to not wear one when I go the mall or the grocery store. Not because I am anti-mask or anything. Where I work - San Francisco State University - there still an indoor mask mandate, so I wear one at least 40 hours every single week. You can see why I try not to wear them outside of work.

The problem is: mask wearing causes my face to break out in acne (yes, still getting acne at age 34). During the weekend when I don’t wear one constantly, my face is noticeably less inflamed. So if I can avoid it, I don’t mask up.

Which makes for an awkward situation, because usually I would be the only one not wearing a mask. So I end up looking like one of those crazy anti-maskers who only got vaccinated to keep my job, and most likely voted for Donald Trump. It’s good to see people around here are still masking up indoors, but the bottom line is it’s no longer mandatory. Some days I simply don’t feel like wearing it. Sorry.

At least no one has hassled me for it thus far. And I do feel bad when I have to interact with a store clerk who is masked up. Massive apologies for spewing my droplets onto you so carelessly.

What I never understood is the mask mandate for indoor dinning. As far as I am concerned, that is pure theatre. What difference does it make against an airborne illness to only wear the mask when I’m walking to and from the restaurant table? Are we suddenly in some protected bubble once we’re all seated? Of course, rules are rules: I abide by the mandates just as most everybody else do. However, nowadays I don’t bother with masks when I go to a restaurant. It makes zero sense.

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We’re going home.

Masks are back, baby

An indoor mask mandate is back in San Francisco and seven other counties in the Bay Area. Not that residents here ever really took their masks off while out in public. I can remember going into the local Target after California fully reopened last month, and practically everybody still had a mask on. My workplace - San Francisco State University - never got rid of its indoor mask requirement. The only time I was cavalier with not masking properly is at restaurants. Soon as I sit down, the mask comes off.

What I am trying to say is: San Francisco has some of the highest vaccination rates in the world, plus a robust masking culture. Despite that, the highly contagious delta variant of COVID is forcing City Hall to reenact safety measures officially. I shudder to think what other locales are like right now in areas of the country where vaccines are seen as the devil.

The whole point of this latest exercise is to curb the spread of the delta variant. Even though vaccinated people are super protected against it - breakthrough COVID case rates are infinitesimal- I guess we still make good carriers? It’s truly a pandemic of the unvaccinated now, but that’s the not the point. What we don’t want is for this COVID variant to mutate into something that will do things previously unseen: affect children, and render current vaccines ineffective.

To that end I have no issues with masking up again while indoors in public. I never stopped! I’ve had a habit of masking way before this whole pandemic (I’m Asian, after all). Often times you don’t want to make yourself up to go outside. A mask and a hat solves all the facial and follicle presentation worries. Real shame that masks have turned into such a hugely bitter partisan symbolism.

Let’s hope this delta variant wave will subside relatively quickly, with little damage.

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Unnatural habitat.

Chad driver

A few weeks ago in Portland, my friend and I hailed a LYFT car to take us to the airport. The name of the driver who accepted our ride request was Chad. Immediately I thought to myself: this can’t be good! The name Chad carries all sorts of negative connotation these days, and we waited to find out what kind of douchebag is going to show up.

Turns out my gut feeling was correct. Soon as we enter the car we notice Chad was unmasked. While indeed the States have largely opened up completely from pandemic restrictions, federal law still dictates a mask requirement when traveling on public transportation, including taxis and ride-share. Of course, we were ready and masked up.

A small sticker on the window claims masks are not required inside the car, which is rather false. Nevertheless, we didn’t mind that Chad lacked facial covering because we were both vaccinated (with the best vaccine Pfizer has to offer). Chat did asked whether we would like for him to put on a mask, to which we declined, not wanting to risk any anti-mask tirade coming back our way.

Right on cue, Chad then started ranting about the sorry state of Portland and how the mayor has been doing such a shitty job of it. He’s not wrong: we stayed in the Chinatown area of Portland, and practically every block was littered with homeless tents. A stark contrast to the bougie apartments in the area, and the long line at Voodoo doughnuts. No wonder Portland Chinatown has a somewhat deserted feel. Who would want to come here to hangout amongst so many homeless on the streets?

To this point, we agreed with Chad. The ride to the airport was uneventful after that. He realized we were not hostile to his believed ideologies. I’m sick of mask wearing as much as Chad is, though he probably was so from the very beginning.

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Portland:

It's going to take a while

As of two days ago, California has fully opened back up from the pandemic. That means no masking practically everywhere, and zero capacity restrictions. Yesterday after work I went to the local Target to re-up on mouthwash, and everyone inside was still masked - even me! I guess returning to our formerly maskless lives is going to take some adjusting.

I am very happy to stop wearing masks, but my workplace still requires it as of this writing. And since I walk to work, I put on a mask before I leave the house. It makes no sense for me to wait until I get to the office to put the mask on because I hate touching my face with unclean hands. At the ripe old age of 33, I am still prone to acne breakouts for some inexplicable reason.

So if you encounter me on the sidewalks and I have a mask on, it’s not because I am fanatical about mask-wearing and don’t trust the science. I am merely following the rules of my workplace! Hopefully things will change soon. The governor has signaled that he will sign an executive order to fast-track the relaxation of workplace COVID restrictions. I suspect once I return from vacation in a fortnight’s time, I can freely enter the office without face covering.

That’s right: to perfectly coincide with the state opening back up, I am taking a two week vacation from work. Indeed it’s the first proper time-off since the start of the pandemic. Time to load up the Kindle… app on the iPad!

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Lanes.

Keep wearing masks

It’s been about a week since the CDC said you no longer have to wear a mask outdoors if you are fully vaccinated. I did that to full effect this past weekend visiting Fresno. The only time I wore a mask on that trip was when I had to enter indoors into establishments. A few times I even I forgot I had to, so freeing it is to be finally without masks when walking around.

Back home in San Francisco, I find myself still wearing a mask when I am outdoors. It’s purely for convenience: since I need to wear a mask when I go to campus, it’s less hassle to just have it on already. The less chance my hands touch my face, the better. The same goes when I go grocery shopping, or visiting the local shops. When I know I’ll be indoors soon enough, I keep my mask on at all times - even when I am outside.

Obviously, if I’m just going out on a hike, that’s different.

I’ve been seeing on twitter people wondering why folks are still wearing masks outdoors, especially those who are vaccinated. Don’t these people trust the science of very low risk of outside transmission in the open air? Why the performative mask wearing still, even after the vaccine?

And I thought we are a country of live and let live! Who gives a crap if someone is still wearing a masks outdoors even after the CDC dropped the mandate? Is it bothering you? So long as they are not in turn hassling people for not wearing a mask, then who the heck cares? I’m sure that like me, these people have their own reasons. Perhaps they live with people who are vulnerable, or perhaps they themselves have respiratory issues that are totally unrelated to COVID-19.

Something tells me people are going to make fun of Asians for our habitual mask wearing that long predates the coronavirus. I hope I am wrong on this, of course. I still plan to wear masks - though not nearly as often - long after this pandemic is over: it’s something I’ve done for awhile (especially when I travel). Masks are quite handy in area of huge crowds, or at work when a coworker is sick during flu season.

One more benefit to mask wearing: no more chapped lips!

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Cultural clues.