I’ve never worn a surgical mask on a plane. I really ought to, and I’ve actually thought about it in the past, but I’ve usually been ok on planes. I’m more concerned about people coughing and wiping their germs all over everything than coughing in the air and it spreading to my lungs. I feel that “germ wiping” is what usually gets me sick, not the airborne stuff. There seem to be more germs when someone wipes their runny nose on something than when they cough/exhale. Like, someone’s boogers are a giant yellow BLOB of pure disease, while germs in the air are spread out and not as dense. So I think you intake less disease when you inhale than when you touch someone’s giant booger blob. But I’ve also been known to put blankets over my head on planes when people cough too much. So I guess that’s like a surgical mask in a way?

I don’t do planes nowadays though. They terrify me. I’ve been on one in the past year, but only for my grandmother’s funeral and burial. I’m more afraid of crashing and burning than catching an airborne disease.

I don’t do subways/trains either. Those are the worst with people literally breathing directly in your face, unlike on a plane. Basically giving you mouth to mouth at that point! I walk everywhere in the city and stand back from people who are breathing. I try not to inhale air when I walk by someone in general.