I got the jabs, but I still wear a mask when indoors with other people whose immunization status I don't know.

The jabs are for me, but the mask is for everybody else. I have no way of knowing whether I'm shedding the virus, and I don't wish to find out that I am through contact tracing.

Also, the mask makes parents of small children feel safer.

I'm cool with that.

And when the boosters are available, I'll be right there at the front of the line. With a mask in my pocket, if not on my face.

Here in lovely, leafy Stratford, Ontario, the mask is now something of a fashion statement. I have a purple one from the University of Western Ontario, and two made up in tartan: Perth County, which is green, and Maple Leaf, which is red. (I also have plain white and black ones for when I don't want to attract attention.) Big chain stores such as Canadian Tire and Sobey's issue their staff with trademarked masks. The Bank of Montreal not only put all its staff in blue masks with the bank logo, it also required them to think of an alternative "thanks for doing business with us" gesture so they don't have to shake hands. The young fella who handled my husband's estate account does the namaste thing; I saw another do an "air dap" with a customer. And it's now the polite thing to swing wide when you meet people on the street; nod, smile and wave when you do it, and they nod, smile and wave back.