Should a Person Coughing in a Crowded Train Put on a Mask?

My millennial nieces argued that personal comfort is more important than the comfort of strangers

We live in a world still struggling to shake the nagging remnants of the COVID-19 pandemic. In some parts of the world, St. Petersburg, Russia, COVID is killing more people today than at the peak of the pandemic.

Mandatory masking in most countries around the world ended less than a year ago. This past winter has been one of the most brutal on record in terms of the flu, respiratory ailments, and COVID. The world is still fragile emotionally, physically, and mentally so it seems that if you are coughing in public, you should take precautions.

Not true, say my nieces. They recently visited me in Portugal and while riding in a packed train, a man near us was struggling not to cough. It seemed like he was suffering from a major respiratory infection as he was not just lapsing into spasms of cough but also hacking up phlegm into tissues.

The train had yet just set out from the station and it was going to be an hour’s journey. The man was trying to cough down into his shirt so as not to spray the whole crowded car but quite often he didn’t make it in time. He seemed bothered by the disturbance he was causing.

Reaching into my black magic bag — it really is black and it is magical because anything can be found in it — I removed a mask and offered it to him. He was so grateful and also apologetic. I told him nonsense, we all get sick and handed him a couple of cough drops.

The problem was sort of solved. Whether or not the mask actually stopped the airborne germs is now a point of controversy as experts are saying that masking did nothing to slow the spread of COVID. I don’t believe that. It just makes sense that the masks would offer some protection.

As we rode along, my niece commented that what I did was quite rude. I thought she was joking until my other niece told me that she agreed that my action was impolite. I was sure it was an age thing but then another American woman, middle-aged, sitting near us chimed in:

“You would never get away with that in the States,” she said with a look that…

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