should I be wearing a mask?

[Miss Chatelaine]

so im asking, if the infection rate is low, if your outside, maybe its time to take the mask off.

This comes right back to the issue of JH, and NYC, being very densely populated. 37th Avenue for example is crowded a lot of the time and it’s impossible to keep any kind of distance from people, let alone the recommended 6 feet. Therefore masks are still important for keeping the  infection rate down.

I don’t think it’s a “cultural” thing so much as many New Yorkers don’t want to go through another shut down, or for this to drag on any longer than necessary, and want it gone for good.

There must be expertise available to advise you on how to handle it with your children.

[theplanesland]

But here, in JH for example, everyone is in  mask all the time.  Since its part of the culture or the norm now,  if you dont wear one, you get nasty looks.  Its hard on them, they see this and pick up on all of it.

Right, so they should wear masks, like everyone else. You are correct - people wear masks here. The children should wear masks. When my kid goes out, she wears a mask.

[JHResident]

fair points...

i personally dont mind it, but my concern is for my children.  When you leave NYC, some people wear a mask outside, but most dont.  it feels refreshing, they forgot about the "sickness" and a=it all seems a bit more normal.  a nice break

But here, in JH for example, everyone is in  mask all the time.  Since its part of the culture or the norm now,  if you dont wear one, you get nasty looks.  Its hard on them, they see this and pick up on all of it.  I would argue its creating very real psychological issues, or at the very least leaning issues.  They are supposed to be learning emotions and seeing and reading  face is a big part of it. 

so im asking, if the infection rate is low, if your outside, maybe its time to take the mask off.

I don't understand why you are trying to get other people not to wear masks? You're afraid of nasty looks so you'll feel better when everyone ignores public health advice?

And aside from the R0 factor, I suggest reading up on super-spreaders. 

Whether you wear a mask is up to you, but if you're a super-spreader, I hope for the rest of our sakes you wear one when in the presence of others (actually, if you're infected, you need to stay home, but unfortunately, super-spreaders don't know they're infected, which makes them so dangerous.)

Nasty looks? I have a close friend that died from this disease and many that we're very ill from it, and you're worried about nasty looks?

[CaptainFlannel]

When can NYC stop wearing them outside?

Now. You only need to wear a mask outside when you can't maintain social distance of 6 ft. from others.

But here, in JH for example, everyone is in  mask all the time....if you dont wear one, you get nasty looks.

I don't wear my mask outside when there's plenty of space for social distancing. I rarely get a nasty look or comment. When I do, it's usually completely over the top and seemingly fear driven, not based in any understanding of what we've learned about the virus in the past five months. The worst comment I got came only a few weeks after I lost a loved one to the disease and the person who made it was well over 20 feet from me, and that one really stung. Not because I felt I should be wearing a mask on a empty street in the morning on a rainy day, but because of the cruelty of the particular comment and how raw my emotions were at the time.

if the infection rate is low, if your outside, maybe its time to take the mask off.

You can already do that as long as you can maintain social distancing, and a lot of people do.

Look, there's lots of reasons to leave the mask on - you're on a crowded commercial street, you'll popping in and out of stores and it's just easier to leave it on, you're going from one building to another building and it's easier to leave it on than take it on and off and on again. But we can all take off the mask outside as long as we can maintain social distancing with one another. Off the commercial streets, that's pretty easy to do. When it's not, you put the mask on.

Why do you want to keep having this conversation? It's been going on since April, when the executive order came down about mask wearing and when you need one outside, which oh, how I wish it had been issued a month earlier. So many lives would have been saved.

[lalochezia]

+1 to CaptainFlannel's comment.

[80JHer]

I agree captain flannel. You said it more eloquently then I.  But I disagree based on the comments above and what I see In neighbored.  People expect you in a mask all the time.   I feel like the pro-maskers have completely forgot distance and  time of exposure are way more important than a mask. 

I don’t keep bringing it up.  I just asked the question 2 days ago.

I just think it’s funny that you u can pack like sardines at a street  restaurant and that’s considered fine.  However god forbid you walk down the street maskless.   I guess the solution is I need to walk around with a beer in hand at all times.   then it’s considered culturally safe. 

[lindsey]

At this point,  not wearing a mask while walking outside in a densely populated urban area puts you at the same level as dog walkers who leave their pet's poop on the sidewalk. You're showing a lack of concern for your neighbors and yes, forcing others to go out of their way to avoid you & your mess. I'm talking here about mask abstainers, not folks who lower their mask when no one is around and then pop it back on when nearing a crowd. 
And to everyone wearing a mask: keep lookin' good!

[JHResident]

We seem to be the only city wearing them outside all the time.  European cities that have also been hit very hard, they are not.

According to the AP today:
"Coronavirus is actively circulating in about 20% of France’s regions and masks will now be required for everyone in Paris"

[CaptainFlannel]

However god forbid you walk down the street maskless.

I do it all the time, and so do loads of other people. Nobody really says anything, except for keyboard cowboys with lots to say behind their keyboards, like the charming person I'm going to quote below.

At this point,  not wearing a mask while walking outside in a densely populated urban area puts you at the same level as dog walkers who leave their pet's poop on the sidewalk.

That's quite rude and unreasonable. I feel like people like you occupy a totally different reality than the rest of us, where our rather flat terrain and residential streets are perceived as obstacle courses with visibility at less than three feet.

This kind of language also isn't helpful when it comes to convincing anti-maskers to put a damn mask on. They see examples of the extreme on the other side, which is equally as unreasonable as their own position and helps solidify their belief that anyone who would wear a mask is an extremist who doesn't value personal liberty.

[jh35]

https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/masks-breathing-in-less-coronavirus-means-you-get-less-sick

Mask wearers are “dramatically less likely” to get a severe case of Covid-19