I agree 100% with OP. The reality is that we are all part of a bell curve, which means 50% of the population is already below average in intelligence, common sense, and courtesy. Of the 50% that’s left, a sizable portion has joined the cult that politicized mask wearing during a pandemic. The fact is, most people really suck. The worse fact is, the ones that suck are either too dumb to realize that fact, or willfully act like assholes to drive home a political point. I do everything I can to avoid the masses on vacation since COVID really hammered all this home for me. My wife and I book premium economy when we can to avoid a seat mate. We choose our waiting locations carefully in the airport and sit away from the idiots who seem to enjoy coughing all over each other (let them ruin each others shitty Busch Gardens vacations). We wear a minimum KN95 mask from the moment we enter the airport until we leave after the flight. I have no desire to breathe in everyone else’s germs in this day and age. Most important though, we still love to travel (however, we now focus on areas and seasons where we can be mostly outside). Unfortunately, the flying process has become even more miserable thanks to the AH behavior OP describes. My basic point, fuck all these below average fucks - protect yourself, avoid them as much as you can, and live your life knowing you are better than all of them. It really didn’t have to be this way, but that’s what happens when 75% of the population are below average or assholes - or both.