‘Masks reduce both the volume and range of the respiratory droplets that enable transmission of SARS-CoV-2...’
has it been common in your former experience, when going about your daily activities, that people have a tendency to eject ‘respiratory droplets’ from their mouths and noses on any sort of regular basis...? do people spit at you when they talk, or cough or wheeze or sneeze in your general vicinity on a continuous basis that would render a face covering necessary to control their emissions...?
after all, virii are not rare occurrences, they are in fact with us always, many of which are transmissible to humans and come in a variety of contagious intensities...are we to mask up forever to prevent the minimal chance someone near us happens to eject virulent air our way...?
Every time you speak water droplets come out of you.
If you really want to be grossed out, you should watch the videos (pre Covid) about droplets coming out of people....and those of the droplets that come out of the toilet when flushed.
I don’t care if you wear a mask or not.
All human beings do this all day every day while breathing, talking, singing, coughing, or sneezing. Basically any time exhalation occurs. Your eyes are only capable of detecting droplets larger than 50 μm in diameter. Respiratory droplets are typically defined as being larger than 5-10 μm in diameter. So most of them your eyes can't see. You get larger droplets when coughing or sneezing. These are quite heavy and fall immediately to the ground. Smaller droplets go further.
They can be detected in a number of ways, including with the use of high precision cameras. That's how we know to what extent various masks can work to reduce the volume and range of respiratory droplets.
virii are not rare occurrences, they are in fact with us always, many of which are transmissible to humans and come in a variety of contagious intensities
The vast majority of virii are incapable of infecting humans. They exist in our environment harmless to us. In fact, quite a lot of them are very helpful as they control the populations of other organisms which might otherwise create problems. Bacteriophages are likely the deadliest thing in the history of the planet. They obliterate massive numbers of bacteria around the globe every second. But they're harmless to humans.
"are we to mask up forever to prevent the minimal chance someone near us happens to eject virulent air our way"
I would say under normal conditions that doesn't make any sense. During a pandemic, it does, yes. But only in the places where it's actually useful. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, masks are useful while indoors in public places to help control the transmission. There is virtually no transmission outdoors (unless you're shoulder-to-shoulder with others outside your household like at an Antifa riot), so wearing a mask is useless there. Same goes for while you're driving in your car or in your own home. But in the grocery store? Walmart? The mall? Absolutely helpful during this pandemic to reduce the risk of transmission. The fewer transmissions happen, the fewer people are infected, and the less chance the virus can locate and infect someone who is particularly susceptible to it who will die. This is clearly not indefinite as we have multiple vaccine candidates wrapping up testing and ready for deployment. Once the public is inoculated, the pandemic (and the need for masks) goes away.
Wearing a mask for the short period of time you're indoors in a public place during a pandemic is a low-effort, minimal-cost, zero-risk way to reduce transmission and save lives. While I am always and forever against government mandates, rules, and requirements (I don't even like seat belt or helmet laws), I do recognize that choosing to wear a mask when it makes sense will save lives, and so I choose to do so. At the same time, I'm not hassling anyone I see who isn't making the same choice. That's on them.