Face masks. To feel that we have all been through enough....

[NiknicK]

And shouldn’t have to wear face masks if we don’t want to. I know it’s not officially been confirmed yet, but it’s expected to be today, and I don’t get it. If face masks truly help prevent the spreading of the virus, then why on earth wasn’t it made compulsory at the beginning of this pandemic, why now? I know you’ll all likely call me selfish but I can’t do it. I have to wear a mask for ten minutes once or twice month to collect mine and dh’s medication and I find it unbearable even for that small amount of time. They make my face itch and make me want to touch my face more, I can’t breathe properly and get panicky, they slide up as they’re too big for my face and hit my eye lids. My ds is autistic and I suspect I have some traits eg sensory issues, and the thought of having to wear these masks when I find shopping stressful enough as it is, fills me with dread. AIBU?

Yes face masks are too uncomfortable and may stop some people shopping so let’s not wear them and fuck the lives of those people who are vulnerable and the hospital staff who care for them.

How have we gone from clap for key workers, they are heroes to fuck them I can’t be arsed to wear a mask?

No one LIKES wearing a mask.
I've been wearing one in shops since mid May (not the same mask all thr time!) when it was first recommended.
Felt weird at first but honestly, for most people it gets easier.
For a lot of people the difficulty is not a physical one, it's a psychological reaction to the mask.
The important thing is getting one that fits.
Suggestion above of tying the elastic loop close to the mask does give a better fit.

It's only in busy places where distancing is difficult

What... Like schools?

@NiknicK

I have to go to different shops to buy certain brands of food as my autistic son will only eat certain foods so this will be a nightmare. Sorry if no one understands that and just feels I’m being selfish.

I am sure you could get 90% of those food from a large online supermarket, or even manage to change your son's behaviour. And surely there is no need t a) take your son with you and b) if he's under 11 he won't need to wear and mask and c) be back at school in 6 weeks.

You are making a fuss.

How long are people browsing in shops for that wearing a masks for that time elicits such hyperbole? And the pp complaining about the mask taking off their make-up - jesus

@BuzzButterfly7

Yanbu I dont want to wear a muzzle. FU Boris.

I dont want to catch or spread covid. So FU too

Disability horizons have a really good mask exemption lanyard + card. It can be seen at a distance & is really clear. I keep it in my bag & while we do try to mask up, if my ASD son starts having issues I can quickly whip his mask off & put that round his neck.

shop.disabilityhorizons.com/products/ppe/mask-exemption-travel-card-lanyard-or-clip-badge/

Well those ten days are fine with me as it’ll give me chance to go and spend a shed load of money on bulk buying foods my ds will need do that I don’t have to go out

Well... you see... that's the difference between being selfish and not being selfish. I'm wearing one from now. In fact, I've been wearing one in the supermarket since March.

OP I
Would suggest experimenting to find a face Covering that you find tolerable and then wean yourself on to wearing it with incremental increases in wear time. Your tolerance will improve. Also have
Your DH shop and make use of online shopping

Change my sons behaviour, can you elaborate on that? Do you mean change his diet and what he’ll actually eat? If so you haven’t a clue about autism.

What COVID has highlighted to me is.... there's a lot of selfish entitled people who live in this country, very me me me. Luckily there's also a lot of sensible selfless people who want to protect their fellow human beings.

Exactly that - well said.

@NameChange84

The reason why people are being told what to do is because of people like you who think they should be able to do what they want, be exempt from this and allowed to go there and so on.

This.

No one likes wearing a mask but it’s the right thing to do, along with social distancing.

These threads really leave me shaking my head and wondering how the people of today would have coped in WW2 or modern day Syria, the Yemen etc.

Yes we are being told what to do. Because we need to. To save lives. To save the economy. To start on the trajectory to getting back to not being told what to do.

Everyone finds wearing a mask uncomfortable. Yes, I do understand the health aspect (I have chronic health problems myself) but the fact that hardly any one is wearing a mask when I’m out in public makes me think it’s not about health for the vast majority of the public. So what is it...vanity? Rebellion? Downright selfishness?

I often see comments on here along the lines of “I won’t wear them to the supermarket, bank etc but I do wear them when visiting my PIL”...so it’s ok to infect someone else’s parents or a young immunocompromised mother but not your loved ones?

There are lots of options when it comes to face coverings. I’m sure if people try they could find something.

Why would you not want to protect people and decrease the time it will take to get back to normal?

I know people comment constantly on war, syria, ww2 etc. But if you go and read or research this, actually people commit/ed suicide a lot rather than live through those kinds of situations.

In terms of compliance, Plenty of people did not comply with the home restrictions in ww2, did not wear masks, didn't evacuate, didn't use bunkers.

It's an aside, but it's always cropping up on here. The whole 'oh you can't cope with lockdown what would Anne Frank say' attitude dismisses the huge numbers who killed themselves rather than live for years in the genuinely awful situations they were forced into.

Many people might not cope if they lived in Yemen or Syria. Neither are the people of Yemen or Syria coping. Complex ptsd might ruin their entire lives from now on. Or they might choose suicide.

It's all quite shit but there are ways you can make it easier for yourself. It is quite tiring to say the least. I'm totally fed up with it. But just because we've "been good" and put up with the shit for a long time doesn't mean we don't need to adhere to public health regulations that will make a difference

Shop online
Fashion a
Covering from a scarf

Jesus Christ. You're being asked to cover your mouth and nose, not donate a fucking kidney.

All this "I'm fed up of being told what to do" makes you sound like a petulant child.

If you think you struggle to breathe with a mask on, you do not want to catch covid!

Goodness it’s lucky that all of these people who feel faint with ‘air hunger’ when wearing a mask for ten minutes didn’t go into healthcare. You’d all be entirely useless and, frankly, unemployable.

I’ve been selfless throughout this pandemic and protected people the best I can. So don’t assume, just because i don’t like the idea of wearing a mask that I’ve been like the idiots refusing to socially distance on beaches and previously in pubs.

@NiknicK

I know I’m coming across as selfish but aren’t we all completely fed up with this now?

Yes, completely. But it's not over, not by a long shot unfortunately.

It sounds to me like you're really struggling and this compulsory mask wearing was the last straw for you. I don’t think this is about mask wearing for you, you've just had enough and hit the Coronavirus wall.

@NicnicK the fact that they aren’t mandatory yet doesn’t mean you should go into shops without a mask NOW either. It’s about acting responsibly. You can be carrying COVID-19 and passing it to other people and not know it. From the way you’re complaining, anyone would think you were the only person in the world having to wear a mask. Nobody enjoys wearing one, but most people are responsible enjoy to get on with it and not whine.

Why are Brits so weird about this? Just do your bit, wear a damn mask, bear the (minimal) discomfort and make it part of life. It’s 43c here today and I’ve worn one walking the dog for 45mins (It was 8am (and 36c) and she is a desert dog before anyway says it’s too hot - she loves the heat) You just get used to it🙄

The science has been around to support the wearing of face masks a long time, look at Asia. The West has been too arrogant to listen.
Since January this year Chinese scientists have been advising this and since February most Asian countries insisted on wearing them outside the home.
I have just come from an Asian country back to the U.K.
You can't enter any shop/restaurant etc without having a mask on there, and it's up to the shop to enforce it. Socially though, no one would object.
At school, all students from Reception up wear one to protect each other's families and the teaching staff. I am sure come September all English schools will be asking the same.
It is a matter of having a selection of masks and knowing which ones suit which situation.

Get used to it, my prediction is that masks are going to be around for a long time to come.

*enough

Not wearing a mask is like drink driving in so many ways. Not being allowed to do it infringes your personal freedom and, 99% of the time, you are absolutely fine and accident free. There is even research that suggest some might actually drive better with limited amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. In addition, drink driving used to be socially acceptable and people were considered a bit wimpy if they refused to drink because they were driving.

I wonder how many who refuse to wear ‘a muzzle’ would condone drink driving, especially if only marginally over the limit and fully compos mentis?

Many people might not cope if they lived in Yemen or Syria. Neither are the people of Yemen or Syria coping. Complex ptsd might ruin their entire lives from now on. Or they might choose suicide.

Are we seeing high numbers of suicides in Germany on account of wearing a mask?

I’ve been selfless throughout this pandemic and protected people the best I can

So have I. Unbelievably so. But I'm wearing a mask. So how does that work then? What makes you different?