"Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker or maybe it’s because I always feel like I have to present my best self to the world, but it has been such a relief to feel anonymous. It’s like having a force field around me that says 'don’t see me.'"

Says Francesca, a 46-year-old professor, quoted in "The people who want to keep masking: ‘It’s like an invisibility cloak’/More than a year into the pandemic, some people prefer to keep wearing their face mask – even outdoors in public" (The Guardian). 

There's also this, from a 25-year-old bookstore worker near Chicago: "It’s a common consensus among my co-workers that we prefer not having customers see our faces. Oftentimes when a customer is being rude or saying off-color political things, I’m not allowed to grimace or ‘make a face’ because that will set them off. With a mask, I don’t have to smile at them or worry about keeping a neutral face. I have had customers get very upset when I don’t smile at them. I deal with anti-maskers constantly at work. They have threatened to hurt me, tried to get me fired, thrown things at me and yelled ‘fuck you’ in my face. If wearing a mask in the park separates me from them, I’m cool with that."

And from a 33-year-old tech worker in San Francisco: "I 10,000% plan on wearing it for the foreseeable future. After a full work day of worrying and not being able to focus on my actual job, it just feels nice to blend in. Simply put, I’m sick of being perceived."