Covid mask, for me or for you?

I saw a post here about eye disease recently, and it reminded me of an incident a few years ago when a rando made some stupid comments because I was wearing a COVID mask on the train.

"Heh, look at you. Why don’t you stand up for yourself? Wearing that ugly mask. COVID is a lie!"

I moved really close to him—close enough that I could have kissed him—pulled down my mask, and whispered, "Dude, I work in the COVID ward. I’m trying my best not to spread anything in case I’m infected."

His face turned bright red as I stood there with my mask down, letting the reality sink in. He quickly walked away to the other end of the carriage.

For the record, I don’t actually work in a COVID ward or anything like that. I just had a normal cough at the time.