Remember, that if you're still masking, you really are often offering some hope in a very "be the change you want to see" type way! A bit of story time on that:

I went to get my phone battery replaced yesterday, and the person at the front desk was wearing an okayish-fitting black surgical mask. I didn't say anything at that time, despite striking up a nice little conversation about the endless ads they had on the TV behind him.

When I went back to pick my phone up, I brought an extra 3M Aura, and broached the topic lightly, with a "It's really nice to still see someone else masking! That's pretty rare today", and he talked a bit about how he agrees, and really can't afford to get #COVID again - and mentioned his sense of smell still hasn't fully returned since the first time when a customer infected him. That seemed like enough of an opening - I brought the Aura out and offered it to him, asking if he'd be interested in an upgrade.

He was clearly curious and asked about it more - after I (very) briefly explained why it would be so much more protective, he was delighted! Like, his eyes legit lit up, and he even talked about how now his ears wouldn't be sore anymore, and how much more comfortable it looked.

I mentioned that the model info was on the front of the mask, and told him where he could get more of them dirt cheap - he said he was going to pitch that to his boss, and otherwise buy them himself

He was trying! He just had no reason to know there was anything better out there - after all: how often do you see someone masking at all these days in the wild, much less with a quality respirator?

It felt really good :>