There are many different reasons people wear masks in the drive-thru. Some people wear them because they want to be cautious about COVID-19. Some wear it as a courtesy for the workers in the drive-thru, to keep them safe. Some choose not to wear a mask because they are in their own car. Some don’t think it is necessary at all, no matter where they are. But some don’t even know wearing a mask in a drive-thru is a thing.

But should you wear a mask in the drive-thru? That is the big question.

As a person who works at a drive-thru, I see a mixture of masks, no masks and wearing masks around the chin, for some reason.

There is a lot of negative connotation around not wearing masks in public places. I have had nice customers who wear masks, I have had troublesome customers who wear masks. I have also had nice customers who don’t wear masks and troublesome customers who don’t wear masks.

I don't believe that wearing a mask or not makes you a good or bad person, but I do believe that it's a courteous thing to do. But I do believe that wearing a mask in a drive-thru is the courteous thing to do.

Drive-thru workers have to deal with some really stressful and negative situations — and that’s putting it lightly. Restaurant work is hard, sweaty and stressful. We have to wear masks at all times, for upward to eight hours a day multiple days a week. It’s refreshing to see customers show respect for us by wearing masks.

By wearing a mask in the drive-thru, it makes me feel the customer cares about protecting my coworkers and I from the virus, even if it’s unlikely to contract it through the drive-thru. A lot of the time, I feel like customers treat me like I’m a robot just there to give them their food.

Yet, I don’t judge someone whether they wear a mask in the drive-thru or not. Some of my favorite customers don’t wear masks — and they’re great! Wearing a mask isn’t a judge of character, it’s just a nice thing to do in the drive thru. I understand why people don’t want to wear a mask in a drive thru, it’s your car.

But a drive-thru is a public place, a lot of the time you’re not six feet away. With a deadly pandemic, you should always err on the side of caution, and it’s cautious to wear a mask in the drive-thru.

I decided to ask my followers on social media what they thought. I posted polls on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. On all platforms I got a resounding “yes” to my question — nearly 80%.

One follower responded to my question with a good point, “people who work in drive-thrus are just like any other service worker you come in contact with throughout your day and you should wear a mask,” she said. “A one foot slice of outside air does not change anything, and is certainly not social distancing. Food workers in drive-thrus are human just as much as the rest of them so we should treat them the same.”

This perfectly explains how I feel in my drive-thru. Drive-thru workers are human, working for a living, coming in contact with hundreds of people a day, we deserve to be protected too. Just like everyone else in the world during this pandemic.

Should you wear masks in a drive-thru?