Look! That guy is wearing a mask.

I bought my first batch of N-95 masks on e-bay on February 26th,2020. After recovering them a few days later, I wore one while shopping at our local grocery store.

A man shopping with his wife tugged at his wife’s sleeve.

“Look... that guy is wearing a mask.”, he said. No one else was masked.

I felt slightly embarrassed but trusted my assessment of what I had heard about this “new virus”. When I went to the check out line, I received a few looks from fellow shoppers. At the register, the young cashier looked at me and exclaimed, “Wow... you are prepared for anything.” I responded by telling him he should mask up if he wanted to stay safe and that this “new” virus, was more than just a flu. President Trump was saying , what he called “The China Virus”, was nothing serious.

A few days later I went to run some errands with my mask on. While turning into a parking lot to get a pizza, a car load of teenagers passed me.

The driver looked at me and did a double take. His window was down and I heard him say to his passengers, “Look... that f-ing guy has a mask on!”

I continued to get similar reactions for a couple of weeks.... after that.... I wasn’t so unusual. More and more people joined me until it became the norm and nobody said anything!