Three or four years ago during the pandemic, whenever I was out and about on public transport, I used to view anyone I saw who wasn’t wearing a mask with contempt: did these arrogant gits think the rules didn’t apply to them? Did they want the virus to spread? Did they think they were too special to catch it? These days, though, I’ve caught myself thinking similar things about anyone I see who is wearing a mask: I mean, do they think they’re too special to breathe the air the rest of us have to? How dare they be so pretentiously neurotic! Obviously, there could be all kinds of reasons why somebody might be wearing a mask on the bus or tube; I just can’t seem to help thinking that it says something about them.

Of course, I have no idea why such sights provoke such reactions from me, either way. It just amuses me how it has sort of come full circle: where not wearing a mask during the pandemic struck me as selfish, wearing one now seems like height of arrogance. Ultimately, though, I suppose both feed my concern for how self centred people are becoming.