I get it, but for me I'm in a different mode/mindset while commuting. I'm wearing my commuting stuff, I got my commuting bucket, I'm dealing with auto-commuting traffic, etc.

I very rarely ride recreationally on the road. Always in a group. So we do what we do together.

For errands around town (1mi or less) I'll enjoy the casual ride, with no helmet.

The vast majority of my recreational riding is trail, on my MTB. Always a helmet for that (always a nontrivial chance of crashing, at speed), but no traffic to worry about, except maybe a little bit before or after if riding to nearby trails directly from the house.