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Comment by seibelj | Hacker News Reader

In Boston the majority of everyone I saw wore a mask before it was mandatory. The shame was (and still is) very strong for those who don’t wear one. I see junkies (drug addicts) who don’t give a fuck but I assume that’s because they have given up on life. All normal people are wearing masks that I can see.

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And for a counter observation I saw lines out of nail/hair salons and bars in Atlanta the day Kemp dropped shelter in place at the beginning of May. I'd say I see 1 in 8 people wearing a mask anywhere that doesn't explicitly require it, and then people mostly wearing them improperly otherwise.

I live in a place where mask rules are not enforced. There is a growing split between places people gather without masks and places people gather with masks. Unless completely unavoidable I only go to places where everyone is wearing a mask. I think there is a similar filtering mechanism happening with everyone that prefers being around mask wearers, and those that prefer not wearing masks.

Seeing one place where people are not wearing masks is not a reasonable sample, and doesn’t show a complex story that is happening.

In the south, at some chains, even grocery store employees weren't allowed to wear them until the day after Trump said a mask or even a scarf would be ok:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96408t-Xb4

I think that was March 31st or so. Up until then, the owners were worried it would drive customers away to let employees wear them.

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