this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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It’s 2026 and I still wear a mask when I’m out. I don’t know why people act like COVID is gone and somehow long COVID isn’t a thing anymore. It’s still mutating, and endemic now, and there are a ton of health consequences to catching it that may not be immediately obvious, including organ damage.
I don’t wear one, it’s nice to see people's faces. And sure it still exists, but we’re past the point of it being a big scary virus anymore, I don’t want to act like it’s 2020 and stunt my social growth.
I’m surprised how many people say they still wear masks, I feel like it’s 1 in 50 people at most, but these comments make me think it’s 1 in 2 people.
Just in the last 28 days, nearly 1000 people died of Covid in the US, and there have been over 7 million deaths from it over the last 6 years. And that’s only the deaths that have been reported. Doesn’t account for people who’s lives were cut short due or other complications in relation to the virus. There’s been way too many sentiments of “many of you will die, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take” around COVID-19.
My spouse and I have high risk conditions. Like, the flu nearly killed U.S. back in 2018, no way I’m risking COVID-19. Even just getting vaccinated gave me a bout of laryngitis and messed up my throat and voice for nearly two years. And my wife had worse side effects to the Moderna vaccine, to the point I was worried about potential hospitalization.
Also, I’m an IT Engineer and literally use my brain to make my living, and I’ve seen a massive drop in logical skills over the years among peers, it’s definitely affected people mentally to varying degrees.
As for social growth, I don’t care about that. I’m in my 40s and long past giving shit what random people who see me think about me. My wife is the one person who matters to me more than anyone, and I’m not putting her or us at risk for social cred.
I still wear a mask too. But mainly for privacy reasons.
Nord sells masks now?
Funny. Nord has a bit of a tainted reputation though. I wouldn't touch them with a 10ft pole.
I wouldn't fucking trust any of them, since they literally get to see ALL your data, ALL the time. You as a pleb and not 733t h4x0r will literally never know if they launder your data and all they have to do is know whom not to bother as there are very, very few of such people as a whole.
You clearly haven't done a lot of research then. Lots of VPNs have no logs policies, those VPN providers have been audited, and their claims of no logs hold up.
Take Proton VPN for example. They're based in Switzerland. According to Swiss law, If you collect data, you must justify it, protect it, and be transparent about it. Proton wouldn't risk their entire business on the assumption that they won't be caught lying. Why do you think so many companies set up their headquarters in Switzerland?
most people already had it and assess the risk accordingly
the great danger of covid came from the fact that we had neither herd immunity or vaccines in the past. shielding the vulnerable was never a real priority but a convenient side quest
now it's comparable to the "regular" flu
the brain damage is already done too
Oh yeah, that part is clear.
As far as it being like regular flu… well I don’t want that either. It nearly killed my wife and I some years back a bit before the pandemic. We both have high risk conditions.
That's true, but for good or ill, it's uncommon to see both a customer and an employee wearing masks nowadays.
I just wear a mask by default. It saves social energy for me, offers modest protection from whatever is out there, and keeps my face warm during chilly weather. Aside from fogging, there are no real downsides for me.