There were plenty of people who wanted to be the mask enforcers and not just mind their own business.
People are just dying for a way to exercise power over others. That is the unfortunate reality.
If I had to guess, at least in mainland Europe, people tended to leave others alone.
At least in my experience, in 2020 nearly everyone followed the rules (as did I), though I didn't see any harassment of people who didn't.
I think the main difference is that the issue did not get politicized. Both left and right here dislike masks and dumped them the moment the government (and many even before) stopped forcing them (except for the odd Asian). You neither have the religious reverence for masks that the American left has, nor as much opposition as from Republicans.
People are just dying for a way to exercise power over others. That is the unfortunate reality.
At least in my experience, in 2020 nearly everyone followed the rules (as did I), though I didn't see any harassment of people who didn't.
I think the main difference is that the issue did not get politicized. Both left and right here dislike masks and dumped them the moment the government (and many even before) stopped forcing them (except for the odd Asian). You neither have the religious reverence for masks that the American left has, nor as much opposition as from Republicans.