# Are you wearing a mask if you go out in public? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 23, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448 "2020-04-23T16:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/323 "2021-09-20T03:32:42Z")
I think that’s a phrase that can be taken either way. That’s why i tried to be clear. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/324 "2021-09-20T03:43:53Z")
I believe it can be taken either way when it comes from someone like yourself. Did you get the impression that the poster I responded to was genuinely curious as to why @Czarcasm chooses to wear a mask outside? Let me remind you: > Now that the CDC guidelines say that masks aren’t (generally) necessary for fully-vaccinated people, some no longer want to “follow the science”. > So “follow the science”, unless (generic) you disagree with it? That’s not rational. > I just think it’s odd that now some people think they know better than the CDC. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/325 "2021-09-20T03:51:58Z")
Sigh. I didn’t say that the CDC advocates _against_ wearing one. Just that it’s probably not necessary. I would venture to say that the majority of Americans can walk out their front door, without coming within six feet of a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/326 "2021-09-20T03:53:52Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > I would venture to say that the majority of Americans can walk out their front door, without coming within six feet of a stranger. I would venture to say that @Czarcasm is easily as versed in the CDC recommendations as yourself and definitely knows his personal situation better than yourself. I’m pretty sure he’s capable of “following the science.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/327 "2021-09-20T04:02:17Z")
If strangers are congregating within six feet of one’s front door, one ought to consult the local constabulary. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/328 "2021-09-20T05:12:58Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > I would venture to say that the majority of Americans can walk out their front door, without coming within six feet of a stranger. Must be nice to have been born with that silver spoon in your mouth. Many of us have or are living in apartments. Apartments don’t usually come with nice yards, they often come with narrow hallways or outside walkways. Hive dwellers don’t have the option to peek out their doors to be sure the halls are empty before scurrying to the stairway and hoping that is empty. I don’t mask up to get the mail now because I have a yard, not a shared hallway. If I was an apartment dweller, I most certainly would mask up before touching the door. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/329 "2021-09-20T11:55:04Z")
Yeah, back when i lived in NYC, i routinely came within 6’ of another person as i walked out my front door. If i were still there, I’d be routinely putting one on every time i stepped out. It’s not like it costs a lot to put on a mask. Why not? 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/330 "2021-09-20T11:57:06Z")
Not outdoors, but I put it on when I enter a store. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/331 "2021-09-20T12:11:49Z")
See, if I’m heading to the store, i put it on before i leave the house. I don’t like carrying masks around. Easier to just wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/332 "2021-09-20T12:20:40Z")
Well, at least you can’t forget it! LOL I keep a couple of clean ones hanging from my turn signal lever just in case I don’t have one on my person, I swap them out once a week when I do laundry. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/333 "2021-09-22T00:27:34Z")
They are; they overall fit around the entirety of the mask’s rim is better. The fit of the whole mask is critical to getting maximum protection and benefit of the mask. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448/334 "2021-10-19T16:44:41Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > I don’t mask up to get the mail now because I have a yard, not a shared hallway. If I was an apartment dweller, I most certainly would mask up before touching the door. Exactly. When an apartment dweller leaves their front door, they are automatically entering an enclosed public space, and wearing a mask is quite important in such a place. Someone may have just walked by and coughed freely into the air - you might leave your front door and walk straight into a cloud of Covid droplets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-wearing-a-mask-if-you-go-out-in-public/852448.md?page=16)