CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The CDC does not recommend face masks for people who are well, but that hasn't stopped some people from wearing them.
This includes one Chicago college student who has a mask that's not quite like the others.
If you saw 21-year-old Ben Lee on the street, as WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller did Wednesday, you’d do a double-take.
Lee said a lot people have commented.
"They said they thought it was a joke."
It’s no joke. What he's wearing is a 3M filtering respirator, a kind of out-of-place-looking gas mask.
Lee says he's been wearing it to classes for a week. He'll take it off if his school is receptive to a letter he wrote them, asking to complete his studies online, at home.
"I already store a lot of food at home. If the letter is effective, I think next week I'm not going out anymore."
WBBM: Do people generally understand why you're wearing it? Or do they make snide comments?