I have a mask that I asked for from the dentist office after an extraction. Never wore it. It's here somewhere with the gauze and after care instructions.
I have one that I was given by someone who made a bunch of them to give away, but I don't see myself wearing it. I don't think I'd want to shop in a store that required customers to wear masks, particularly since I can get pretty much everything I need online.
It wouldn't surprise me if ta certain type of mask would be required instead of wearing scarves or bandanas.
We have them, but haven't taken a selfie with them on...…..yet. Always wear them when going to either Safeway or Walmart. Don't wear them when getting our mail or going to our boat. We ordered, from Amazon, a pack of ten, dental type masks and got them yesterday in the mail. And, btw, even though ours is the "disposable" type, after we wear them the first time, we wipe both sides down with a Clorox Disinfectant Wipe. We do this twice to perhaps three times, then throw the mask away.
Disposable masks, used properly, will provide some protection. Most often, people get sloppy with them, though. That's why doctors and nurses are often victims of the diseases they are treating. Since we transported tuberculosis patients from the INS facility in Bayview to the TB hospital in Harlingen, Texas, about a one-hour ride, we use hepa-filter masks which, at that time, cost the ambulance company about $10 apiece, had to be fitted to the person who was going to wear it, and was disposable. They did such a good job of filtering the air that they seemed to filter the oxygen out too because it was hard to breathe with those things on. I could hardly wait to rip that thing off after transferring patient care to the receiving hospital. Still, I ended up testing positive for TB. Of course, it's possible that I came into contact with tuberculosis from someone who hadn't been diagnosed because there were a lot of third-world diseases floating around. Still, I've seen nurses at the TB hospital, knowing that their patients had TB, pulling their masks down improperly after leaving the room, in order to talk, then pulling the same mask back up again before reentering the room. Thus, I have little confidence that people wearing masks are going to actually do themselves any good with them. I think I'll do better by building up my immune system to survive if I should come across it.
Ken, that "some protection" has proved pretty good for us. However, at Walmart, we can pick up something, like stomach ache, from someone there. While in cashier line there, a man in front of my wife (6' away) to her "I'd step back a little more. I'm just getting over the virus." She had on a mask, but did step back a little.
I totally believe in the 2-way protection of a well-fitted face mask. I even wear mine in the shower. Hal