Meat department employee Jersey Niedzwiecki hands a weighed package across the counter at Newport Avenue Market in Bend on Dec. 12, 2022.

BEND — Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most people never even considered wearing a mask on a daily basis. But as a new reality settled in, wearing masks at work for some has become part of the new normal.

At Newport Avenue Market in Bend, masks are not officially required, and most employees ditched them after the state mask mandate was lifted in Oregon on March 11. But some employees chose to continue wearing them to work. While wearing a mask at work is now based on personal preference, Newport Avenue Market employees had more than one reason for doing so.

Sophia Aquarius of Bend started working at Newport Avenue Market in mid-October. She chooses to wear a mask every day at work even though she is not required to. She said she wears a mask at work because her store regularly gets crowded, and she said masks are a good way to prevent the transmission of disease.

“I pretty much wore it as a courtesy to other people, if they are sick, or if I am not feeling well, but pretty much to protect myself from everyone else,” Aquarius said. “I just think people need to look out for each other and be a little more compassionate for their neighbor.”

Prior to the pandemic, she rarely considered masks, Aquarius said. Except perhaps during hospital visits.

When she would get sick prior to the pandemic, the thought of wearing a mask had crossed her mind, but at the time masks were not widely available or utilized like they are now.

Aquarius said she’d hope her coworkers would consider wearing a mask if they are exhibiting symptoms, like coughing or sneezing.

“You don’t know what it is, so, be prepared, that is how I feel,” she said. “You look at other countries and they wear them if they are not feeling well, so why are they doing that? To protect their neighbors and their friends as well as themselves.”

She said she only wears a mask when she is at work or if she is in an area with a whole bunch of people, like Newport Avenue Market on a Friday afternoon before the holidays.

“I just think it is a common courtesy, and a lot of people don’t share that same thought. Maybe if more of us wore masks, it would prevent some of the illnesses spreading,” Aquarius said.

Jersey Niedzwiecki, of Bend, has worked at the market for 23 years at the meat and seafood counter. His reason for wearing a mask is primarily to keep from getting sick.

“I choose to wear the mask for health reasons. I have a lower immune system due to allergies and stuff like that, and I feel more comfortable wearing it in large groups and in everyday situations like this,” Niedzwiecki said. “In small settings I might let it go. Here, there are too many people around and I don’t want to get sick.”

Niedzwiecki tries to wear a mask to work every day and if he does forget to bring one he will do his best to find one, he said. He also has a beard, and working at the meat and seafood counter requires him to cover his beard while he works.

“I’m not sick or anything, I just want to be cautious for myself,” Niedzwiecki said. “My immune system is shot, so I am protecting it any which way I can.”

Jody Warrick, of Bend, is the head of the housewares department at Newport Avenue Market, and has worked at the store for 35 years. Like Niedzwiecki, she also wears a mask to work everyday, mainly to protect herself from catching something. For Warrick, the pandemic has made her more aware of how easily germs can spread from person to person, and avoiding getting sick means less days off work recovering.

“It makes me feel more comfortable,” Warrick added of her mask. “A lot of our customers still do too (wear masks). I don’t want to catch anything.”