You've already answered your own question: "some (many) people give me a weird look". That's what's going to happen. You may get slightly more and forceful comments in the US because of the small number of people who think Covid is a conspiracy.

@DJClayworth Yes, why is that? I prefer wearing a mask to protect myself from common cold, which has nothing to do with them actually or disturb them at the slightest, lol.

Lots of people react when people do unusual things in public.

Do what you want and ignore their looks.

@WeatherVane In Germany it is the same (both before and after). Juli, don't bother yourself about peaple who think that their own opinion is far more important than someone else's.

@MarkJohnson Thanks. I will do just that (btw, I live in Germany most of the times) :-).

Answers are good - yes to some people it is "weird" and to a few it may bother/irritate them, and yet it is totally your right to wear a mask and not breath air full of coughing people's airborne virus-containing droplets. Better you are in Germany than Florida for example! On the biological side, a healthy person being exposed to the ever-evolving cold viruses regularly does have an up side, the more your immune system is exposed to, the more it learns. It's a complicated topic. Influenza (flu) is a very different story - make sure to get your flu shot every year!

Cough at them under your mask and hope they get the hint :P

Unfortunately mask wearing has become a political statement in some places. That's absolutely stupid, but it is the reality and you have to make your peace with it. In Germany you should be mostly fine and can simply ignore the weird looks. However in some of the more conservative places in the US you may encounter actual harassment. Don't try to argue with these type of people: logic is not their strong side. Just walk away if you can.

Which kind of mask?

"I feel it's unfair that people can smoke without being considered weird" - smoking on public transport would definitely get you dirty looks...

It probably got worth with Covid. Before, a mask was just odd. Now, too many people associate too many things with masks, many negative. You're not wrong, everyone else is - but I'm afraid that doesn't really help you.

@StrangerToKindness - in the UK, smoking on public transport would get you ejected and possibly prosecuted.

Smoking affects the people next to the smoker, although many smokers deny that. Mask wearing doesn't. In NYC, smoking in a public park, or beach, or within some feet from a building entrance is likely to esult in an arrest and/or fine.

Mask wearing became a huge political statement, and another way for people to show their ignorance of other cultures, overnight in 2020. It happened when the government got involved in it. What did we expect?