I went to Lowes and found some N95 partical masks. I wasn't entirely sure which kind to get and when I was asking the salestards there they looked at me like I was peeing on their shoes so I made the best decision I could. Now that I got the masks I am wondering the best way to carry it without damaging it. Can you fold them up? Should I leave it in the original package and go from there?

You might want to check out this thread.

Also, there are some N95 masks which are meant to be folded.

Edit:
example1
example2

-john