I've been seeing a steady rise of posts talking about their experiences going into an establishment like a grocery store without a mask. First of all, congrats to you for taking the big step into liberating yourself from fascism!

I'm well aware that it's hard on everyone because it's socially devoid and we are accustomed to seeing people's face; eyes, ears, nose, mouth and the general movement on their face (expression) as they talk to you. We're seeing just the eyes part, forehead and their head along with that ugly material they have covering half of their face, as if we're in a dystopian world (Mad Max, anyone?), and it makes us feel like they're hiding their appearance from everyone. It's an ugly sight to see and we need to stop reinforcing this kind of action.

The main reason for this post is because I wanted to share my facemask experience to you all. Before I proceed with my experience, some of you know me as the deaf GAW user here (I was also a r/T_D and TDW user), but for those who don't know me, if you haven't noticed my username, I'm deaf and have been a huge Trump supporter since he won the election. Because of him, I learned a lot, and I do mean A LOT, about politics, perspectives and many more. I'm grateful for President Trump, otherwise I'd continue to be in the dark on many subjects.

Prior to him, I'm well aware of everything that went on but it's like I'm partially awake, partially sleeping but I've always been wary toward everything as if I feel like I'm being tested so I had to analyze the situation first before making my first step. This is my nature because of my deafness, I have to be careful around people because I can't trust them 100% easily. They have to earn my trust first because I've been in situations where they think that because I'm deaf, I'm not fully aware of what's going on so they'd talk over me or cover their mouth so I don't see what they're saying. I don't see this as a negative experience, but a positive one because it helped me better myself and be more conscious with everything.

Now onto the facemask situation. I have not wore a mask ever since the whole shit went down, not even once. This is because of the governor in Ohio who said that people with disabilities are exempted from wearing a mask, including the deaf people because we rely on lip reading so people who talk to us, need to lower their mask for us to read their lips.

Armed with this knowledge, I went out and didn't even have an emergency mask in case if someone told me to put one on. Instead, I had this picture as well as the article where the governor mentioned about the disabled being exempted on my phone, so I can provide proof. I went literally everywhere in this town I live in; Kroger's, Walmart, Meijer's, some Mom and Pop stores, Speedway, Circle K, etc. I've been asked on a very few occasions to put a mask on then I showed them the governor's exemption and they complied. They allowed me in just like that.

There were only two stores that refused to allow me in, despite me telling them that they're violating the ADA law. "I don't care about the ADA law because we are a PRIVATE COMPANY! PUT YOUR MASK ON OR GET OUT OF HERE!" is what the supervisor told me before I left the store with my family. Wrote a negative review on their store location on Gulag (Google) but I know that didn't do much. I've tried contacting that store on Twatter as well as emailing the home office but to no avail. I'm not going to let that worry me because the best course of action for me now is to not go there ever again.

At some point, maybe around fall time, I've stopped using the proof of exemption. Instead, I started doing this one simple trick the Fake News hate so much! (Sorry if that joke was in poor taste) I walked in, smiled at the person patrolling the door and when they asked me to put a mask on, I simply said, "No thanks", waved and walked past them. I was prepared to show them the proof of exemption, but I found myself not having to use it at all.

One year has passed and I still have yet to put the fascist moist snotrag on my face and I continued to frequent the same stores as I have since Day One. There are a few workers who know who I am and they'd say, "Hi! How are you?!" with their mask pulled down. But there are a lot of people who have just started working at these stores so they'd not be aware of my exemption. I've been asked a few times, still, to put one up and all I did was, "No thanks" while smiling, waving and walking away. They stayed at the same spot they were as I did my best to keep an eye in their direction, in case they chase me down to continue asking me to put a mask on. They didn't budge. They just stood there looking confused. I'm aware of the possibility that they could have kept on trying to tell me to put a mask on, like "B-but you have to put a mask on b-before entering the store!" behind my back as I walked on, but I didn't stop to look back at them. I marched forth into the store. The farther I walked into the store, no one walked up to me to prevent me from going any further. I went on normally around the store, got what I needed and checked out. That was easy.

So with that said, if I can just go in a store without being told to put a mask on, you can too! I'm not saying for you guys to pretend to have a medical condition or a disability but I'm saying I'm noticing that I rarely get stopped at the door to be told to put a mask on. If you ever walked into a store and you don't see anyone patrolling the doors, don't put one on, just go in and do your business there. If someone is patrolling the doors and you walk in, then they ask you to put one on, just be polite and smile then say, "No thank you" and continue walking into the store. If they shout at you (i.e. "Sir/Ma'am wait! You need to mask up!") as you walk away, my recommendation is to just ignore them.

You have to remember there are cameras on many people's smartphones nowadays and for those who are working at the stores or places, they hate confrontation. They are simply doing their job and they know that if they get into a confrontation, there's a good chance it will be recorded on someone's phone, or yours, then uploaded to YouTube, Tik Tok, or whatever social media for the world to see. Yes, the WORLD. They do not want that to happen.

Remember: The store employees are just as afraid of you as you are of them and I'm not saying you are, I'm saying that it's their job to tell customers to do stuff that the customers would be uncomfortable doing, when it's actually the workers who are uncomfortable doing the "commanding" part. If they get a customer irate, they'd be shitting in their pants, yearning for the day to be over so they can go home and get into their bed and cry. So if you just smile and say, "No thanks" then walk away, they will most likely not try to confront you or do anything. Matter of fact, they'd be relieved for not getting into a confrontation. They can tell their supervisor they did their job and you didn't comply so it's now on the supervisor to do their job. Most of the time, the supervisor don't want to confront the customers so they will just ignore you.

I know wearing a mask is disheartening and devastating because of the devoid in seeing someone's face without a mask on and the lack of normalcy, so don't let it get the best of you, by turning into a rude, crude person. Just be polite as often as possible and remember that if you were polite to start with as you decline their "command", they'd feel uncomfortable having to confront a polite person like you.

Of course, we do know there's a good share of assholes who don't give a fuck what you think or what you want to do so they'd go gung-ho on you. That would be the best time for you to start recording so you can hold the company liable for the employee's rampaging attack on you as well as on humanity. Just continue to be civil and kind the whole time during the confrontation. If necessary, just leave the store before it escalate into something worse then post the video online if you are willing to. Contact the store or include the store's info in the video description/post, so they're aware of what's going on at one of their locations.

I am aware that this is one state (Ohio) and I have not done this in any other states, but I'm pretty sure it will be the same in any red state. I do not know if it will work in any blue states but won't hurt to try.

The bottom line is: Just don't put that damned mask on as soon as you walk in. Look ahead and see if you can spot a door lurker, which usually mean they will try to stop you and tell you to do the Nazi salut-- er, put a mask on. Don't bend the knee. Stand your ground and smile at them, to remind them of what they've been missing the whole time -- the sight of a stranger's smile. Say "No thanks" while walking forward into the store. If they try to say something more to you behind your back, just ignore them and keep on going. They won't try to stop you as they have no choice but to let you go do your business.

If you think about it, if several states like Ohio are allowing disabled people to be exempted from wearing a facemask -- even though they, including myself, can get the virus -- this should be your clue that the whole situation is BS. If it's SO LETHAL as they claim it to be, we will either be forced to wear one no matter what, or we'd be dead by now.

To sum this up (or rather TL;DR): I'm deaf and have not wore an asbestos rag the whole time since the pandemic started and I do not plan on starting anytime soon, due to the disability exemption I have in Ohio. Because of my deafness, I've observed a lot of things and provided my findings in detail. I've gone into many stores over one year and have only been stopped twice to be persistently told to put a mask on or get out of the store. Have been asked a few times (maybe ~10-15 times over one year) and at first I showed them the proof of exemption and that evolved into me smiling to them, said, "No thanks", waved as I walked past them into the store and I've yet to be kicked out of the store.

Remember to be polite all the time while declining their fascist request because they hate confrontation from customers. They are fully aware that any confrontations can be recorded and broadcast worldwide so they don't want to be painted as the villain. Don't need to pretend to have a medical condition or a disability, but as Nike (fuck Nike) say, "Just Do It!" Don't be afraid because they are really afraid of you while thinking that you are afraid of them. Take that huge step toward liberation from facemasks! It begins with YOU!