I faced an exemplary situation of mindless bureaucracy just recently, when I insisted I could not wear a mask in a government office that insisted I wear a mask. The clerk I was speaking with allowed I could accomplish my business there if I just held a mask in the vicinity of my face.

They were visibly startled when I pointed out that doing so was absolutely incapable of hindering the spread of viruses, and just as effective as actually wearing it would be. They recited a mantra that their office served people with compromised immune systems so they just had to require me to wave a mask in the vicinity of my face. You could practically see the cognitive dissonance in their eyes.

Thanks!