Will face masks make you more likely to shop and eat out?

[CamDram]

I understand the reasons for making face masks compulsory. But I’m not sure whether I’ll want to go out into the shops or restaurants and spend money on the high streets unless I really need something specific once everyone’s faces are covered.

Will compulsory face mask make you:

YES - MORE likely to go out shopping/ eating out on the high street

NO- LESS likely to go out shopping

W

I think it's hilarious how many people are whining about wearing a mask. It's pathetic! Just wear one ffs it's a scrap of fabric across your face. The people we've been clapping for the last 4 months wear one for 13 hours straight!

And for all the "I can't wear one because I have anxiety/depression/asthma/insert medical condition here" I'm sure you can tie a scarf over your face, pull a hoody up a little higher. It's really a small ask.

My issue is not wearing a mask. It’s the government attempting to sell It to us as a health based decision. COVID apparently understands not to enter a bar, restaurant or gym where there is far more risk of transfer as those places do not need the extra safety measures .Yeah right

Ssshhhhhh the mask wearers will be soon campaigning for us to be masked with a straw hole to suck the food and drink through.

No change at all.

Less likely

I don't think I'll feel safer because all I'm picturing is germ ridden face masks being re-used, not washed enough/changed enough and people touching their faces more than normal to adjust/take masks on and off.

I know lots of people won't be like this but many many will.

Another who will only do food and essential shopping now. This is a ploy to get people out to spend. Used to enjoy the odd expensive dinner or fancy hotel as a treat, but all enjoyment vanishes with these measures. People really seem to believe the government can confer immortality!

Yes. I might actually consider going out if everyone around me has made at least some efforts to not potentially infect me.

@ButterMeCrumpets

My issue is not wearing a mask. It’s the government attempting to sell It to us as a health based decision. COVID apparently understands not to enter a bar, restaurant or gym where there is far more risk of transfer as those places do not need the extra safety measures .Yeah right

Ssshhhhhh the mask wearers will be soon campaigning for us to be masked with a straw hole to suck the food and drink through.

Mitigation apparently so when we’re catching the virus in bars and restaurants were not able to spread it quite so much

Agree that shopping isn't going to be the fun leisure experience it once was, not for a long time. Also, shops don't want you browsing. They want you buying. They don't want you wandering around touching stuff, taking up space they're paying to keep open for you and wandering out again possibly infecting their staff and customers in the process. They want you to go in, spend money, be on your way and let someone else get in who is also going to spend money. Cafés ditto. They're not interested in you having a leisurely natter over a an hour and a half long cup of coffee and taking up one of the four tables they have due to the need for your to be at a distance from their other customers. If all you do in your high street is stroll around looking at stuff, you're not doing much to help anyway.

But I just don't find shopping a pleasure when On the off chance I'm going to be breathing in virus droplets? Why on earth is that better than a mask. Ultimately neither is pleasurable but one is surely better than the other.

Sorry don’t know how to bold but in response to this comment. You could say the same thing about any contagious illness or indeed getting in your car to go shopping and having a fatal accident. Life is full of risks. We have to risk assess activities on a daily basis. Maybe my risk assessment of the situation is different to yours but if I want to go shopping I want it to be fun and enjoyable and I just won’t find it fun or enjoyable with a mask on soo won’t go. I assess the risk of catching COVID as very low at the moment so want to go about life as normal as possible which means not wearing a mask. I will not get on a plane to go on holiday for the same reason. Not because I am scared of the virus but because it would not be an enjoyable experience whilst having to wear a mask.

What are people doing with their masks in between times that it's needed e.g. on the street in between shops or in a restaurant when food is there etc? Are they being shoved in a pocket? Fabric bag for washing etc? I'm trying to think of the best way to be super hygienic with fabric masks. In hospital I wear surgical masks and have to discard and wash hands, would never put it down and put back on again.

Mitigation apparently so when we’re catching the virus in bars and restaurants were not able to spread it quite so much

Excellent. So in one seemless move BoJo has pissed off the proportion of the public currently feeling safe enough to go out enough that they down tools in specific locations (shops) while spreading the virus vigorously in the pubs. Which will in turn make those who only feel safe in a mask more wary as the infection rate rises. So they stay in too.

Not really a thought through plan is it?

More likely, and I already wear a mask when I go out for groceries. But saying that I'm not a big fan of leisure shopping and get pretty much everything I want online because I usually can't find what I want on the high street. So it's probably not going to make much difference to me one way of the other.

Ssshhhhhh the mask wearers will be soon campaigning for us to be masked with a straw hole to suck the food and drink through.

No way. Full gorilla or chicken suit. Might as well have something to laugh about.

@LinemanForTheCounty

Agree that shopping isn't going to be the fun leisure experience it once was, not for a long time. Also, shops don't want you browsing. They want you buying. They don't want you wandering around touching stuff, taking up space they're paying to keep open for you and wandering out again possibly infecting their staff and customers in the process. They want you to go in, spend money, be on your way and let someone else get in who is also going to spend money. Cafés ditto. They're not interested in you having a leisurely natter over a an hour and a half long cup of coffee and taking up one of the four tables they have due to the need for your to be at a distance from their other customers. If all you do in your high street is stroll around looking at stuff, you're not doing much to help anyway.

But then shops will find that you can browse and impulse purchase far more easily at home. It's a pain in the arse to get in the car and park, queue, don face mask, be shunted round a shop quickly.

Shops have spent years making shopping an 'experience' so that people spend more money so it doesn't stack up to make it unpleasant.

How many times have you wandered around a shop for something and then found you saw lots of other things that you just fancied and bought. Without the browse factor then shops will lose out in the long run.

@hayfeverhellish

What are people doing with their masks in between times that it's needed e.g. on the street in between shops or in a restaurant when food is there etc? Are they being shoved in a pocket? Fabric bag for washing etc? I'm trying to think of the best way to be super hygienic with fabric masks. In hospital I wear surgical masks and have to discard and wash hands, would never put it down and put back on again.

And that’s the issue, isn’t it? Masks will be left in the car between shopping trips, rarely if ever washed, reused countless times. There’s no way they’ll be hygienic.

Less likely to shop

@hayfeverhellish that's the problem. In a hospital setting the masks are worn then discarded with hands washed afterwards.

Regular joe public will be taking the same mask on and off during the day and storing it in a bag/pocket, won't be washing hands after touching the mask and potentially keeping the same mask in their car to take with them without it being washed between uses.

The whole situation just sounds really germ ridden. Not just for COVID either but all sorts of lovely viruses and bacteria's.

But then shops will find that you can browse and impulse purchase far more easily at home. It's a pain in the arse to get in the car and park, queue, don face mask, be shunted round a shop quickly.

Yep. And it's not really about the mask. . It's because we're coming out of lockdown from a pandemic that's really making shops unappealing.

I've been wearing something over my face since it became compulsory on public transport and therefore seemed a bit more acceptable. I rarely see anyone else in one but if I do they are invariably not young.

Since social distancing seems to have disappeared where I live I wont be going in shops again if I can avoid it until face coverings are compulsory.

You can make a good clear plastic face shield from a lemonade bottle, I assume that will be acceptable, will be less claustrophobic for those who hate masks and probably provides better protection for you and others.

Definitely less likely. Wearing a mask and others wearing masks is a strong deterrent for me. I could do it but it would have to be worth it.

@hayfeverhellish

What are people doing with their masks in between times that it's needed e.g. on the street in between shops or in a restaurant when food is there etc? Are they being shoved in a pocket? Fabric bag for washing etc? I'm trying to think of the best way to be super hygienic with fabric masks. In hospital I wear surgical masks and have to discard and wash hands, would never put it down and put back on again.

I'm retired now but was working at the beginning of lockdown and we all had one disposable mask a day so sometimes they would just hang from one ear while people drank coffee or ate or you could have them under your chin and hope that no coffee spilt on them. some people left them on the table in the tea room but I tended to hang mine from one ear which seemed the safest option. If one was to leave one in the car you could hang it on the rear view mirror like fluffy dice.

Nope like hell will I wear one .

And I certainly wont be more likely to go shopping quite the opposite in fact !
They can shove it

This really will be the death of the high street

I'm retired now but was working at the beginning of lockdown and we all had one disposable mask a day so sometimes they would just hang from one ear while people drank coffee or ate or you could have them under your chin and hope that no coffee spilt on them. some people left them on the table in the tea room but I tended to hang mine from one ear which seemed the safest option. If one was to leave one in the car you could hang it on the rear view mirror like fluffy dice.

Urgh - really? Not seen than in my hospital!

Sorry I wasn’t clear, I didn’t work in a hospital or any medical setting, I worked in a office and the masks were provided for Covid protection as part of the social distancing measures