In Asia (China and Japan), it is polite for people with colds to wear a gauze mask in public to avoid spreading germs to others on crowded trains or in stores.
Ah, thanks for the explanation.
I see this at flea markets where Asians are selling goods.
And this has been going on for quite sometime. I remember seeing it in Japan in the early '90s.
And yet Asians are still getting sick. If the masks worked they’d have made the common cold extinct by now.
The air quality in China is very bad. China doesn’t have an EPA cracking down on polluters.
The cities in Asia are very densely populated. Personal space is very constricted. Contagion is a real threat.
I’m glad you posted that. Up until now I just assumed they were ashamed of their teeth. :-P
That is what I understand as well, from someone that lived in Japan.
They consider it courtesy to not spread germs if you suspect you may have a cold.
The funny thing is those masks do NOTHING to stop the spread of germs. They are totally ineffective for such small particles.