Masks on public transport. Since the early stages of the pandemic there has been a consistent mandate that all riders of trains and buses must have their ‘nose and mouth covered for the duration of the trip.’ At the height of the pandemic during the spring of 2020, when New York was the epicenter of infections in the U.S., this mandate was followed almost universally, and even those who were skeptical bowed to social pressure. People were scared – rates of sickness and hospitalization were soaring, and the protection offered by masks was seen to work both ways. But as time passed and the waves of infection fell and rose with each passing variant, people adhered less stringently to the mandate. Understandable: masks are uncomfortable and unnatural. Still, the fact remains that people who choose not to wear a mask on public transit are making a choice that endangers both their own and others’ health. It’s hard not to interpret this refusal as anything other than pure selfishness, prioritizing one’s own comfort over others’ safety. My gut tells me that these people should feel shame, at least on some level, but their behavior suggests the opposite – an absolute lack of regard or self-consciousness. The non-masked are, in fact, making what amounts to an exhibitionist gesture, literally exposing themselves as rebels amongst the masked. Their choice to refuse to put on a mask is also a choice to stand out, to be literally seen as non-compliant, to eschew anonymity in favor of reckless self-interest. I’ve found myself struggling to account for this: how is it that the typical social pressures that normalize peoples’ behavior on public transit are inadequate to this potentially life-or-death choice? And what is the correct emotion I, a dutiful mask-wearer, should feel with regard to the non-masked? Anger? Judgment? Indifference?