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

No difference on the whole. I don’t spend enough time in shops to really care whether I have to cover my face or not. I suppose it might put me off doing something like a long train journey but will cross that bridge etc.

And yes I ve been wearing a mask from early on- scarf first, now have a cotton one that became soft and comfortable after a few washes. All my household do in public places like shops etc.

They are helpful because they catch a high proportion of the invisible droplets you breathe out, and they divert the 'plume' of air and droplets from your mouth when you're talking so they don't go straight at the person you're talking to. They aren't 100% effective otcourse, nothing is, but if we take 5 precautions simultaneously that each halve the risk me in mask, you in mask, we both wash our hands,we stand 2 m apart), that's half of a half of a half of a half of a half which is making us both 32 times safer.

I wouldn’t bother a nice leisurely shop in a department store. Or a day shipping on the high street. And I was just getting back to doing that.
Just pop in and pop out now.

I’m in Scotland, so have been wearing them to shop for a few days now. I honestly don’t see why people are objecting to it - I’m not trying to stir here, I’d genuinely like to know.

Yes, they feel weird at first, but after a while you hardly notice they are there. I went round IKEA yesterday - which takes ages, even when you’re trying to be quick - and I didnt feel like I was suffering or uncomfortable.

Having read this thread, it makes me worry that this country is going to have a similar reaction to the US, where it’s become this massive issue.

I used to live in China, where it wasn’t unusual to see someone wearing a mask on a plane or train, or in a crowded place, so maybe it is normalised for me. But I am surprised by the reaction here.

No difference.

I have no intention of going shopping or eating out. Rarely did either pre-pandemic and definitely not starting now! But if I did masks wouldn’t put me off, they’d probably make me feel slightly better.

But I think compulsory masks are good and have worn one on the single shop visit I have made since March.

I will wear one to go to the supermarket when I have to, but I will avoid shops wherever possible and buy online instead.

I have asthma, I find the masks very uncomfortable, they make it hard to breathe and steam up my glasses. I will abide by the rules but avoid going to places where I need a mask wherever I am able.

More likely to go into shops. Still wont be going to restaurants.

We’ve been wearing masks in enclosed public spaces for weeks in Portugal. There are more people out and about and things are almost back to normal.

No moaning and whingeing.

I’d rather wear a mask and go about our normal business than have lockdown

I don't think it'll make much difference to my habits. I only shop once a week and maybe do a very small additional shop if there's something I need I couldn't find. I miss going out for a meal with friends but there's no way I'm doing so in the present climate and maybe not for a very long time.

@Valkadin A like minded thinker! Like so much it's just a mindset shift of 'get over it'. Normally wear a standard surgical mask at work, it's really not a hardship. Wearing an FFP3 for 6hrs plus is exhausting but I get over it. Not wasting money on things I don't need which end up in landfill, not really a hardship. Queues and inconvenience when trying to find new trainers, I'll get over it. (Blisters from old trainers though, can't get over that! 😉)

I'm a retired dentist so have worn masks for ages, I only wore them while actually treating patients, I didn't wear one when discussing treatment or once treatment finished and discussing after care more appointments etc for the simple reason that masks greatly inhibit communication. Patients need to see your face 16% of the population ( not a tiny minority) have some hearing loss, speaking face to face is best for hearing, any barrier inhibits sounds and muffles it, masks perspex sheeting visors but you can lip read through perspex, most partially deaf people rely on a degree of lip reading. Sound travels best forwards, this is why you are less likely to hear someone calling you from behind, if you want someone with their back towards you to hear you need to shout. People automatically turn towards sound so if sitting side by side they turn their heads.

As masks muffle sound it requires people to do one of two things

1. speak louder this means air is expelled faster from lungs and travels further, the reason singing is discouraged
2. they come closer in order to hear better, no one has ever said that being closer with masks is better than social distancing

Already I have seen numerous shop assistant step around perspex screens so client can hear them and they can hear client,
Deafness is already an ignored and forgotten disability and this just makes it even worse,
Dolls are already frazzled bycovid and the stresses and making extra effort for the deaf just doesn't happen, I kind of understand but it makes a socially inhibiting disability even worse, partial deafness often starts around 50 so they don't do sign language as they hear most things if speaker is plain and in front of them with no background music

@Bumshkawahwah I don't like wearing one as I'm claustrophobic and I hate the way it feels. Also I'm always having to adjust it. I will wear one in places I have to but I just don't like it.

Our restaurants are open and we’ve eaten out at least once a week since we’ve been able to. I don’t get the weeping and wailing unless you have a good reason to avoid masks

I have been out shopping and wearing a mask inside - it simply is a courtesy to those around me. I don't wear one to protect me - I am not scared of the virus as I am not likely to suffer greatly from the virus (data show that my characteristics are associated with the lowest risk of morbidity from the virus), it is simply out of consideration for the general public.

The level of selfishness from those refusing to wear masks is baffling.

The high street won’t suffer because of compulsory masks UNLESS those of you complaining keep complaining, YOU are the problem! The people having tantrums because they “don’t like masks”.

I didn’t like catching covid from one trip to a Tesco metro, but I did. If I was wearing a mask at the time would I still be taking daily steroids 3 months later?

Grow the fuck up.

Yes for short trips for something specific or supermarket. No for a day out shopping or in hot weather it makes me feel hot and bothered at the best of times.

I think it's hypocritical to complain about having to wear masks to shops while the nation has been clapping for NHS staff for months who, because of the continued risk, literally have to work covered in PPE even in non-COVID wards.

Poor eyesight and hearing will make it a misery, so I'll quietly shop online instead.

Dare say somebody will take issue with that too!

I thought it was just for shops - how do you wear a masks for eating and drinking out?!

I probably will turn to online shopping once again, as I have a two year old who is quite scared by them. He had a bit of meltdown in the shop last week and I found it difficult to reassure him and comfort him whilst I too was wearing a mask. We had practiced at home and I've got a fun foxy design on mine which he liked but I think because he's smiley and chatty and he couldn't read other peoples reactions he was scared.

I understand why they're becoming compulsory and I understand why people want them to be a requirement. But for me with a toddler and a baby, I feel that I need my whole face to effectively interact with them and so I'll just shop online. I don't go onto the high street anyway so it's just the big shop I'll have to forego.

This thread isn’t about whether you will or won’t wear a mask- I’m assuming everyone will follow the rules.
It’s about whether it will change your shopping/ eating out behaviour from what it would have been.

More than anything I want my children to go to school in September. If masks help keep levels low, I'm all for it. Compared to some of the other restrictions, this is minor.

@HandsOffMyRights

Poor eyesight and hearing will make it a misery, so I'll quietly shop online instead.

Dare say somebody will take issue with that too!

No, because that’s a valid reason not to wear a mask. Not being able to lip read when you depend on it to get by day to day is a reason that exempts you from wearing one. But I understand if you can not communicate with people when in shops you may feel more comfortable shopping online.

But that’s not why the majority of people on here are complaining. They are just being bloody minded.

They are mandatory here in scotland since last week. I'm not doing my usual browsing or going to the shops unless I absolutely have to now, online shopping for me. Just because I find them warm and uncomfortable and "feel" like I cant breathe. I know I absolutely can breathe and others wear them all the time though so just me being awkward.

Could the last person to leave the high street please remember to switch off the light and lock the door.

I will be avoiding anywhere a mask is mandatory. It's down to personal comfort more than anything else.

I wear glasses and the masks I've tried (granted it is just a few styles) fog my glasses up. It is unpleasant and disorienting for me. I need a blood test every few months so I'll suck it up then but I have no intention to hit the shops right now.