Back when the pandemic started, and people thought the disease was spread by contact with surfaces and through respiratory droplets, simple cloth masks and obsessive hand washing / sanitizing made good sense. The purpose of a cloth mask was to intercept the droplets that the wearer was exhaling - and so protect everyone else from them. Today, we understand it's an aerosol, not droplets or surface contact and both N95 and KN94 masks are effective and quite available, so masks are more for self-protection - and there's no longer a good reason for mandates.

When the pandemic started, I mostly wore a P100 respirator (with added filtration on exhaust). and always wore eyeglasses. I did not care if someone without a mask wanted to interact with me as I was protected from whatever they were exhaling. Now the situation is the same for everyone; they can wear a N95/KN94 for their own protection, and it doesn't matter if everyone else wears a mask - or goes without. Personally, I'm going back to unrestricted exhaust valves as they're a good bit cooler - and anyone concerned about what I'm exhaling can wear a mask...