Shithole Cities

[mtnbkr]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

Asians were doing that before Covid.

Chris

[Joe S]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

NYC:

We have a good amount of people who mask up. Certainly not a majority, but I see some everyday.

On mass transit, and sometimes in businesses, it is mostly older folks, more women than men.

On the street, I see more young people (college age and just above). A lot not wearing properly. Young men of color are often doing it in certain neighborhoods, or wearing lightweight balaclavas in cooler weather. My take on this is that it's a "thug" look, maybe sometimes to make people uncomfortable/making it harder to ID them.

I had a few 20-young 30 year old staff that masked all the time or some of the time after it no longer was required/not as common. In the case of one, it was germophobia/hypochondria. For at least two of the gals, it was related to how they were feeling that day, in a social anxiety kind of way. They were "hiding" on bad days.

East Asian immigrants masking up because THEY are sick or maybe in crowds during flu/cold season seems about the same level as always.

[45dotACP]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

COVID masks? It's just a mask dude. Probably because the person wearing it has a cold or feels sick.

In several Asian cultures it is felt to be inconsiderate to get other people sick by not wearing a mask. I'd expect something similar in any large metropolitan area with a concentrated population of Asian people. Those cultures often tend to not believe in sick leave either so wearing a mask is also an expression that they are a hard working and productive part of society, but also respectful of other people's health.

People from that part of the world also tend to live in areas that have extremely poor air quality and a mask is their way of trying to mitigate the effects.

[Clusterfrack]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

It's not just the Bay Area. We have a decent number of full-time maskers here in the Porthole, and they aren't sick--at least not with a physical disease. I've noticed that transexual people tend to mask more frequently--especially the ones trying to look like females.

[TGS]

Not east asian, but south asian as well. My fiance and her family will wear masks outside if the pollen is bad outside. They've been doing that long before covid was a thing.

"Covid masks" (but rather just "masks" as pointed out by @45dotACP) are not the ideologically divisive identity-stamp in the rest of the world that they are here with the lefties and righties.

[Lex Luthier]

Not east asian, but south asian as well. My fiance and her family will wear masks outside if the pollen is bad outside. They've been doing that long before covid was a thing.

"Covid masks" (but rather just "masks" as pointed out by @45dotACP) are not the ideologically divisive identity-stamp in the rest of the world that they are here with the lefties and righties.

It’s true. We saw a bunch in Seoul, Hanoi, and a fair bit in the northeastern part of Vietnam in 10/2010; the city folks wear them mostly because of particulates, while the more rural folks (mostly women) wear them to protect their complexion from the sun.

It wasn’t uncommon to see them during cold season in San Francisco in the 80s-90s-2000s.

[modrecoil]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

I'm guessing it's a combination of regional preferences, cultural conformity, and a high percentage of FOB Chinese in the Bay Area. There are a lot of Asians in my area (and in my house) but relatively few maskers. Most in our social group are Chinese, some of whom are in the US for just a few years, but nobody wears masks anymore.

By contrast, I was in Bangkok a few months ago and for some idiotic reason voluntary masking was still universal, indoors and out.

[Clusterfrack]

I'm heading to Costco today, and just saw this:

https://www.koin.com/news/portland/m...stco-shoppers/
‘Makes me sick:’ Detectives search for crime syndicate pickpocketing Costco shoppers

[HeavyDuty]

I'm heading to Costco today, and just saw this:

https://www.koin.com/news/portland/m...stco-shoppers/
‘Makes me sick:’ Detectives search for crime syndicate pickpocketing Costco shoppers

They’re experts!

[AMC]

The last couple trips to the Bay Area (SF, Sunnyvale, Oakland,…) I’ve noticed a flabbergasting number of Asians that are still wearing COVID masks. On buses in SF I could understand a little, but a fair number were outside! Not positive since they had masks on, but based on dress and other cues I’d guess most of them were not born in the US and were probably Chinese.

What’s up with that? Any other cities seeing this, or is it just the Bay Area?

Like others have said, very much an Asian cultural influence. Not just due to illness and disease, but pollution and contaminants. Folks were wearing surgical masks in public around SF Chinatown for over 20 years.