Ran some errands at a couple stores today, and am happy to say about 98% of people were wearing masks.

And then something dawned on me...

Obviously the point of the masks is health and safety and preventing further spread.

But it almost completely relieved the stress I now feel when going anywhere public.

Prior to the mandate, I was constantly scoping out who wasn& #39;t wearing one. And keeping a good distance.

It also made me forget the fact I was wearing mine (maybe I& #39;m just used to it by now), but knowing virtually everyone else had one made it feel extremely normal and not a big deal .

It& #39;s such an easy thing to do, and really made a big difference in ways I didn& #39;t expect it would.

Here& #39;s where I& #39;m required to say we should have been doing this from the start FOUR DAMN MONTHS AGO, but we& #39;re here now, so hopefully this is the first step toward the other side.

So there& #39;s the extent of my optimism for who knows how long.