So yesterday I walked into the front of a large local pharmacy in a small town. Most of the customers were not wearing masks, nor were the cashiers. The manager was not wearing a mask, had a broad smile on her face, and welcomed me to the store. Everyone in the front of the store looked upbeat and happy to be mask free.

When I go to the back of the store, where the actual pharmacy is, the atmosphere was completely different. EVERYONE getting prescriptions is wearing a mask and waiting solemnly, including a woman with her young son. The pharmacist and the staff are all wearing masks. No one says a word, and no one looks happy.

It's the first time I ever noticed major differences in mask wearing with large groups of people IN THE SAME STORE. That's when it occurred to me - the people who wore the mask identify with being sick. Their self-perception is reinforced by the mask wearing, as well as a sense of compliance. The health care workers wear the mask out of a false sense of wanting to "be safe" around the patients, despite no logical reason to do so, other than habit. It's these last two groups that may be the toughest to convince that they don't have to carry the persona associated with illness with them.