Should surgical masks be allowed in public?

I hope you realize that's a ridiculous question, because it is, but I've actually seen it pop up before.

So people have a tendancy to think about two things when they see a disposable mask. A surgeon covered in blood while hot nurses hand him sharp tools and tell him how good he is with his hands, or a sick person who clearly needs to be inspected for a bomb threat or at least drilled "nicely" on why they're wearing it.

Ok maybe that's not exactly accurate for most people but I can explain my sarcasm later.

The discussion was that people in masks scare people who aren't wearing the mask. You can argue that little human brians naturally think hiding your face is creepy. You can argue that they're paranoid and just want to know what's going on and if they're at risk. You can also argue that most people don't know how to mind their own damn business. Etc.

Either way, apparently disposable face shields are scary if your aren't hacking someone up with nurses wearing garter belted scrubs. So I ask you this, do you think that people who can't prove that they are sick should wear masks in public because it might just make someone a tad nervious?