I just read another smarmy think piece about how at-risk people like me should be grateful that some people mask some of the time. That I am being unreasonable to want all people to mask all of the time in public spaces.
People choose to mask for different reasons, they said.
If you’re not masking all of the time, then one of those reasons isn’t to protect others. Being at-risk isn’t something I chose. I can’t decide not to protect myself sometimes if brunch would be more fun.
I have to protect myself ALL of the time. That means if you don’t mask all of the time, then you are not protecting me and others like me all of the time.
But isn’t it better that people mask sometimes? Frankly, no. If I can’t trust you to protect me all of the time, then I just can’t trust you at all. If you’re not masking all of the time, then you’re a ticking time bomb for me.