Strangers in masks
Cloth masks may not be effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19, but our media, academia, and public health voices keep coming up with more reasons to wear masks: They're good for stopping the common cold, putting on a mask “reduces our anxiety” by giving us the illusion of control, masks “reduce or change interactions that might otherwise spark social anxiety,” and they “can keep that too-chatty neighbor at bay or help the introvert hide in plain sight.”