If I could jump in. If you look at the places where this has been under control pretty well, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and S Korea...the reason is strict adherence to masks, social distancing, and aggressive contact tracing.
My guess is you don’t want to do any of those things. And that is the reason the government is “making” you do it. Generally, Americans don’t like being told what to do. Many Americans are stubborn for no apparent reason. Many are just stupid.
Just wear the mask in the store. Then take it off when you leave. Why is that so difficult. Do you wear a seatbelt? Probably not.
Actually, I do... always.
My issue with the masks is that it is being used to convince everyone that everyone is either at deathly risk of spreading, or catching, COVID, everywhere, all the time. But more than that, the fear of COVID is being used by our government to do things that they should never, ever be allowed to do. Completely arbitrary dictates (weed stores essential, church not essential), moronic (one-way arrows in store aisles, because apparently, COVID can only move in the same direction as the person who has it...), and just plain stupid (you can be in a liquor store with 20 other people in aisles 4’ wide, but parks and hiking trails were closed because that was just too dangerous).
The masks are the most visible, dehumanizing dictate that has been forced on everyone... well, apart from denying them the right/ability to earn a living.
If you can’t see how the government is going to continue to use COVID as justification for ongoing intrusion in and control of our lives, you really haven’t been paying attention. Combine this with the absolute mountain of flawed models, fear-mongering reporting, conflicting and/or inaccurate information, and you have a big huge steaming pile of dubiousness, being pushed by a crowd (politicians and leftists) that have a long history of being wrong, dishonest, disingenuous, and absolutely power mad. Any capitulation to their inane dictates is just asking for them to hit you with even more.
More than anything though, the problem I have with the masks is that unless and until we STOP wearing them, the government can and will continue to hold fear of COVID over our heads. Only when we are “allowed” to lose the masks, to be within 6’ of one another, to gather in crowds, will we be able to say that this is over, and/or that it was mostly b.s. to begin with. How much destruction, how much loss of freedom, are you willing to endure, trusting that what the entirely discredited “experts” are saying? You are all far too willing to give politicians far too much power over you. It’s frightening.
If you wish to live in fear, if you want to wear a mask, gloves, a full-body gimp suit, stay 6’ away from relatives, don’t have or go to parties, go right ahead. But I have a serious problem with being told I can’t do something, or that I have to do something, simply because “experts” and politicians who have been wrong far more often that they’ve been right, tell me I have to.