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On April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) began recommending that people wear face masks, and I wrote my first article about masks a few days later. At the time, it seemed like an odd one-off article—a brief distraction before I could get back to writing about Rage Against the Machine concerts—but we’re coming up on a year of masks being essentially the only topic I consistently write about.

As I’ve covered before, the more people wear masks incorrectly, the longer I’m going to need to write about them. I’m happy to do this, of course, because the opportunity to contribute in this small way during a pandemic has done more to keep me sane than anything else. But I’m sure you’d rather be reading an article about Rage Against the Machine concerts right now. The stakes would certainly be lower.

To be clear, this article isn’t about the simple stuff. Most of us know that your mask should cover your nose, that masks aren’t a substitute for social distancing, and that masks with vents don’t work. This is about the small things that have caused confusion, or made you feel like everything is hopeless. I promise we get to end on an uplifting note today.

Check here for more information on the best masks available, and how to make the safest decision on how to wear them.

A familiar refrain during this pandemic has been that the CDC’s guidelines keep shifting. NBC reported on it, CNN reported that the CDC was pressured to change guidance arbitrarily during the Trump administration, and I wrote about every tiny change or breakthrough that happened right here on SFGATE.

No one can be blamed for not knowing how to behave in a pandemic. After all, official advice keeps changing, right?

Not really. The truth is that while there were constant breakthroughs in understanding how this particular coronavirus works, the guidelines have remained virtually the same:

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, you could closely follow which masks were considered the best, or get into the debate between experts and government officials about whether people outside the healthcare industry should be wearing N95 masks, but none of that is strictly necessary. Doing your best is all any of us can do.

This isn’t to downplay confusion, or to let the CDC off the hook. Messaging needs to improve. But the actual instructions are, and have always been, pretty straightforward.

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One of 2020's standout pandemic headlines was the claim that wearing a neck gaiter could be worse than no mask at all. I’m linking to the Washington Post, but don’t mean to call them out specifically: Everyone reported this particular factoid. I’m calling it a “factoid” because, according to the authors of the reported study on neck gaiters, it isn’t true.

The truth behind the study is that particularly thin fabrics, in particular situations, can increase transmission of airborne fluids that might carry a virus. But the situation is specific and more of an exception. Framing it as a general warning erodes the confidence in all mask precautions. And most people only read headlines (according to The Washington Post), so the nuance of the study's findings is then lost. People miss out on the truth not because they’re stupid or lazy, but because they’re busy—probably because we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

Ever since mask wearing became the subject of partisan political controversy, one of the most common strategies for convincing anti-maskers is to downplay how difficult it is. The NYTimes published an opinion piece that said “This isn’t hard,” and a hilarious PSA featuring Paul Rudd ended with him ranting “Just wear a mask! This isn’t hard! I shouldn’t have to make this fun!” The overall vibe is that only an idiot or a coward would have a problem with pandemic precautions.

Except… okay, let’s put aside the outlandish overreactions that get endlessly mocked on YouTube, and just admit that this does, in fact, suck? I don’t think I’m being a baby when I admit that it’s been hard to avoid my friends and wear uncomfortable face masks for a year. It took me a long time to find one that didn’t tug uncomfortably at my ears or make my glasses fog up, and I don’t even suffer from the very real sensation that makes people think their masks are suffocating them. And for the record: No, masks don’t actually inhibit your breathing at all, but it still feels like they do for some people. If you're one of them, a mask frame can help.

None of this is an excuse to stop wearing masks or social distancing, and I understand being angry at people who resist or think the rules don’t apply to them, but let’s not downplay the sacrifices we’re all making.

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Everybody reading this has messed up during this pandemic. They’ve taken an unnecessary risk because they were lonely, or bored, or because they just plum forgot. Nobody has been perfectly cautious, 100% of the time. And even if they were, things can still go wrong if someone in your bubble screws up and doesn't tell you–or just doesn't realize it.

You know what else doesn't work 100% of the time? Face masks. And social distancing. Even the best COVID tests have not insignificant rates of false negatives, and when you get vaccinated, you’re still only looking at 79% effectiveness. That doesn't mean science should be ignored or discarded, but even the best precautions and medicines aren't infallible.

Furthermore, pandemics exacerbate inequalities, according to anthropologist Shanti Parikh, and the ability to engage in social distancing, acquire a steady supply of masks, and maintain an income vary widely by geography and economic status. The more people you have to be around—whether to buy groceries or to continue earning a paycheck—the more you're at risk.

On top of all that, I can admit that I’m not 100% sure what masks everyone should be wearing, and it’s my job to research that. When a Harvard Health professor disagrees with the CDC about whether or not we  should be wearing N95s, who am I to decide which side is right? Nobody knows the best answer, and there is no perfect solution. It’s infuriating, but that’s life.

Fortunately, there is a more optimistic flipside. While there’s no silver bullet to ending the pandemic, there's ample evidence that every precaution you take helps. If you've worn masks, social distanced and made any other number of small or huge sacrifices over the past year, then you've absolutely saved someone’s life. You’ll never know whose life, or how many, but people in your community will get to wake up a few more times, maybe get a tattoo, or fall in love with a tap dancer, or see Rage Against the Machine. And it’s thanks to you, and you’re allowed to be proud of that.

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Joshua Sargent is the Senior News Editor, Commerce, for Hearst Newspapers. Before this job he wrote video games and comedy, which probably just made you say "ah, yeah, that makes sense."

Josh can play the guitar solo from Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" almost exactly right and lives in Brooklyn, NY with a cat that "belongs" to him according to the "law."

Email him at josh.sargent@hearst.com.