If you are like most people, you are wearing a face mask much less of the time, if at all, than you did at this time back in 2020. According to a New York Times story, around Christmas time two years ago, more than 90% of Americans stated they were wearing masks, which was a good thing because, well, COVID.

Recently, the Times asked folks if they are wearing masks, at least some of the time, now and the response showed that there had been a 30% drop in those saying they did wear masks some of the time, with only 69% saying yes.

And I certainly understand the drop in usage. As I am fully vaxxed, to include the latest booster with the omicron strain protection and I was zapped with the flu shot, I’m comfortable forgoing a mask in places where people tend to be farther apart (like a grocery store) though I am yet to return to movie theaters and such, where you would be quite close to people, whose vaccination status is unknown to you. Oh, and restaurants: my wife and I go out to eat sometimes, but again, not in elbow-to-elbow types of places.

Overall, we have made amazing progress on limiting COVID, though recent months have shown an uptick in cases (along with the flu, RSV and other respiratory illnesses) as some folks have become cavalier toward a virus that killed millions. And we have received mixed messages. President Joe Biden unfortunately stated the pandemic was over, which may technically be true in terms of scale, but which conveyed to some a false impression things are all back to normal, with no virus out there to catch. Sadly, only about a third of Americans have gotten fully vaxxed, and some age and ethnic groups lag far behind.

And so, yes, I do wear a mask in some places. There are not that many places that still require masks all the time for everyone. The senior living center where my mother-in-law lives requires masks, and so do (as of my last visit) the medical offices of the Air Force Academy. But most businesses have dropped the mask rule. Costco removed the big plastic sheets that once separated the check-out lines and other public and private organizations have removed the once-ever-present bottles of hand sanitizer.

Yet, I still do wear a mask in some places. But my decision on where and when to wear a mask is, frankly, more based on politics than it is on science, so to speak. I live in Colorado Springs, a dark-red, hard-right town, where, like many pro-Trumper types of places, masks became a political issue because, well, I have no idea. Oh, and I always wear a mask when I fly.

One place I still wear a mask is a government office I frequent. Having seen at least one of the employees, and several customers, engage in rank political pro-Trump rants, while wearing the smallest plastic sheet of a mask, tipped up over their mouths. My theory is that folks who vent like that are less likely to be vaccinated at all, and thus are more likely to be virus spreaders.

Now, all the above actions are outrageous for a governmental office, and had they been spouting far left Dem stuff, I’m sure they would have gotten reprimanded. But I live where I live, and so I wear a mask when I suspect I’ll be surrounded by anti-vaxxers.

It’s a shame mask wearing became, and often still remains, a political statement rather than an acceptance of actual medical fact. I suspect the folks who yelp about the tyranny of the mask often are the same folks who claim the confederate battle flag isn’t about slavery, and the insurrection at the Capitol was actually a bunch of lefties, faking everyone out, but I digress…

Sadly, this insistence on a false freedom may end up taking more lives. Data from England (which we are connected to by dozens of flights and thousands of passengers per day, all living and breathing potential virus hosts) suggests there has been a tenfold increase in unreported COVID cases compared to just one year ago. And the risks fall disproportionately on the elderly, those who are immunocompromised, and those who (due to socio-economic status) have less access to health care and are more unable to take time off work due to illness. Yes, COVID is down, but it most certainly isn’t out.

And so, if you want to wear a mask some or all the time, I say good on ya. I often find myself the only mask-wearer in many locations, but not always. COVID is still killing about 400 people per day and remains the nation’s third leading cause of death. So, wear your mask proudly and don’t give in to peer pressure. The life you save may be your own.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.