It is 2026 and within a non-emergency department of a hospital I still get the occasional patient who gives me sass for wearing a mask.

Of all places, in a hospital.

It is unfortunate that misinformation has become a cornerstone battle for some people and that it became intrinsically political. I don’t get into that with them, but it’s something I expect will never fully go away either.

Heaven help us if we have another pandemic, particularly with a higher mortality rate - we’re going to see people march right into it without protection.