MonoMonday: Candid Portrait

I decided on a street shot for today's "Candid" MonoMonday challenge, hosted by Carolina. By definition one can't ask permission for a candid shot which means that I'm always wary of taking such shots with a big camera, so I just used my phone - hence the grainy quality of the photo as I had to crop it quite a bit.

I thought these three guys emerging from a shop exemplified the different attitudes to mask wearing which we currently see (for non-UK blippers: we don't currently have a legal requirement to wear them but we're asked to do so whilst in indoor environments). The chap on the left has clearly worn his mask in the shop and doesn't seem bothered by it; the next one has worn it but it looks as if he was eager to tear it off as soon as he emerged, and the guy on the right (probably the youngest one) hasn't worn one at all.

As far as I know (having just read the latest issue of the British Medical Journal) , the evidence for the moderate effectiveness of masks is reasonably strong from observational studies but remains to be confirmed by randomised trials which are currently in progress. Personally I'm happy to wear one, but having spent lots of time in operating theatres I'm so used to them that they don't really bother me except when my glasses steam up! It'll be interesting to see how general attitudes develop once the results of the trials are available.