Masks - GET A GRIP.

[Changednamesorry]

Ok.

So. Lots of whinging about masks at the moment as BoJo finally hauls his arse into gear and says that you have to wear them in the shops and on public transport.

In Catalunya where I live masks are obligatory. Every time you are in public. Including in the street. Inside and out. The exceptions are

Medical conditions (you need a paper justifying this)
When playing sport
Children under the age of 6
If eating or drinking

If you don't comply - 100 euro fine. No arguments.

Most people here were already wearing masks anyway (because we saw the horror at the beginning of the pandemic here and we know what a real lockdown is like - not allowed out at all, children locked inside for nearly 3 months, etc)

People arent whining and complaining nor imagining how they can invent aome excuse to mean that the rules don't apply to them and the overwhelming majority of people are wearing them all the time.

Tourists not so much but they getting fined. Good.

So England. PLEASE. Stop with the selfishness. Literally dozens of countries have mandatory mask wearing and citizens comply because they care about each other and don't spend their time acting entitled and "I'm all right Jack"

There are articles in the European press about this. Literally "English people are selfish - is it any wonder they are so resistant to wear masks". It's embarrassing. As a nation, as a society, it's time to grow up and just put the mask on like everyone else.

English people. You aren't special. You are starting to look like the kid who gets thw whole class detention because they just keep on breaking the rules.

Wear the mask. Please. It's for the safety of everyone.

And if you ABSOLUTELY MUST come to Spain on holiday, even more so.

Fine for being drunk and disorderly...............£40 to £80
Fine for not wearing/being unable to wear a mask £100

Can TOTALLY see how this very intelligent virus chooses not to be passed between the pissheads who fight outside our Wetherspoons on a Friday night.

Offences where a penalty notice can be issued
You can get a penalty notice for certain offences.

Offencepenalty notice
indecent behaviour (only for urination in the street)£40.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
drunk in a public place£40.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
disorderly behaviour£80.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace£80.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
obstructing police£80.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
criminal damage (up to a value of £200)£80.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)
theft (shoplifting up to a value of £100)£80.00 (plus a £5.00 offender levy)

Some people are being particularly unpleasant and it doesn't matter how many times I mention that I have relatives working in the NHS nor that my neighbors here are being made to feel uncomfortable by UK tourists refusing to comply with local mask laws.... apparently I'm not allowed to think about or comment on the UK at all.

🙄 so don’t start goady threads berating a whole country because you’ve met one or two twats in the past week. And I would bet everyone who has commented on this thread knows people who work in the NHS, who are all individual people with their own experiences and opinions.

I can’t believe a bit of cotton is all that is needed to show how nasty and judgemental a lot of people are. But I’ll continue to choose my friends carefully and rock on with life.

However, if they try to mandate them outside in the UK as they have in parts of Spain (I read an article about having to wear them on the beach in Majorca) then I will refuse and they can arrest and fine me if they like. And I won’t be visiting Spain for the foreseeable future.

@Teateaandmoretea

The only reason I mentioned having relatives working in the NHS is because of the posters saying why do I care about what they are doing in the UK.

Why would you refuse though if they made it the law to wear a mask outside ?

Why would you refuse though if they made it the law to wear a mask outside ?

I cannot actually believe that you need to ask such a daft question. It is what a lot of people are worried about, an insidious creep once it starts. Why exactly do you think I should have to wear a mask outside?

Presumably I’ll now have a ‘you’re selfish’ pile on.

Yep, but we all are like it or not. Y’know including the ‘perfect’ mask wearers who won’t want to pay more tax to actually pay for this fiasco. Including the people who want to stay in till it’s 100% safe and safe and expect others to. Including those who want to suck all the joy out of life by thinking it’s reasonable to wear masks the whole time you are outside. It’s the same for everyone, if you want to see selfish look in the mirror frankly.

[quote Changednamesorry]@Facemasks
Thank you very much. Some people are being particularly unpleasant and it doesn't matter how many times I mention that I have relatives working in the NHS nor that my neighbors here are being made to feel uncomfortable by UK tourists refusing to comply with local mask laws.... apparently I'm not allowed to think about or comment on the UK at all.[/quote]
When you start a thread with GET A GRIP in capitals and then proceed to disparage and potentially offend an entire country of people, you will quite rightly not be met with pleasant responses. Perhaps think about how you come across as a person in your OP, before expecting pleasantness from strangers on the internet.

@saltycat as far as I know i still have a right to decide whether I want to wear a mask or not...and if I decide I do not want to then I know I canto go to certain places like shops or on public transport or to hairdresser.

Do you agree with me on that?
So therefore who are you to tell people they should stay indoors? We can walk outside and do plenty of other things without masks? Do you agree your wrong to tell people to stay at home then?

And why are you saying people are selfish or precious or a rebel because they as an adult choose not to wear one and therefore won't go to shops? I am not being a rebel, I'm not selfish or precious. When there is a choice for online delivery or going to shops and weading a mask whats your problem if i choose to never go to a shop?

A view from Spain from the Times...

I'm living in Cantabria, where the locals don't seem to have grasped the reason for wearing masks. They stroll around in the open air, wearing masks, then do into bars, approach the counter, take off the masks and stand chatting (loudly) to their mates.

@Changednamesorry it's the attitude of others, not you, on the subject of exemptions that I find, actually, upsetting. @saltycat for example, insisting that 'these people' (as if we have two heads or something) must stay at home until a vaccine is found or the pandemic is over, not accepting the fact that disabled people have jobs and must earn a living/go to hospital appointments/buy essentials also. It's dehumanising. What's more, the law states we are exempt - so we're following the rules they hold so dear anyway.

I'm sorry you have RA OP. I do too and it's a pile of shit. You'll know that the drugs I need to take, and the disease itself, makes us at higher risk of complications if we caught Covid (but we're not vulnerable enough to need to shield). As such I'm incredibly grateful to all the wonderful people who can and do wear masks and have little time for those who choose not to. Those who wear them protect us all and I wish I could, too.

DFOD

I am fully supportive of wearing masks in shops.

If it came to wearing one outside - nope!

Thankfully, I don't think that will ever happen here, even in Scotland.

Surely it should be anywhere inside then? So I need a mask for shopping, on public transport, where generally I would be for a max of a couple of hours, but it's not mandatory in my open plan office with over 1000 staff where I am for 8 plus hours a day?

I'm not whinging nor complaining rather struggling to understand the logic. It's either

I stole this but think it's relevant here;

This coronavirus is the strangest virus I've ever heard of. It's very dangerous the way it spreads.
It is so mysterious the way it lurks in schools, but then dies at Home Bargains.
It can wreak havoc in pubs and restaurants! Although it’s mind-boggling how it vanishes at the beach or in the park. Yet, standing to watch a marathon or at a gig or festival triggers its wrath.
It is sneaky. It can spread when buying clothes at Primark but not at Tesco or Asda.
It is non-alcoholic. It can't spread when you are buying beer.
It lives for 24 hours on Amazon boxes, you must wait 24 hours to touch them but it can't survive on takeaway coffee cups, so enjoying a hot latte is safe.
It is the most curious thing, how it lives on footballs, tennis rackets and ballet bars, but dies on shopping trolleys and food.
It is spread by hair stylists, dog groomers, and dentists, but not by bank machines, cashiers, and fast food workers.
It's so smart. It won’t bother the first 6 people that get together but it knows when the 7th person shows up so be careful if that’s you.
It even knows what you want vs what you need. If you want a massage or your nails done it is very actively on the prowl and not even a mask can stop it. If you need a plumber, it is weak, and a mask will keep it away.
It also seems to be most dangerous after 5:30pm so businesses must start to close before the virus comes out and wreaks havoc upon the populations.
Whoever heard of such a smart sneaky virus?!? 😂😂😂

YANBU OP
It's embarrassing

Are posters deliberately obtuse? No one has said that they won't wear one (if not exempt) just that they will avoid situations where they have to.

How on earth does that warrant all the name calling?

Oh and yes I would refuse outside when just walking, if it really was a major risk then we would have seen these much talked about massive spikes after the beach and protests etc.

Thankfully, I don't think that will ever happen here, even in Scotland.

Nor me, thank goodness. At least in part because the public wouldn’t stand for it.

Imo some of the things that have happened in Spain during this have been horrific. Particularly the keeping children completely locked up. At least I have the option not to visit so won’t be donning one on the beach anytime soon. They also have a per capita death rate not that far off the U.K. and have stopped actually counting historical deaths.

I will accept shops in England and avoid visiting them too much. I suspect I won’t be alone in that. Time will tell what the impact will be on footfall. But there needs to be sympathy and understanding for people who don’t feel able to wear them for whatever reason. We are all in this together.

I am English and i completely agree with you!! I have wore a mask from day one and will continue to do so.

People that say they won't go out if they have to wear one (on a different thread) are absolutely pathetic.

Well said OP 👏

@TheGreatWave

Are posters deliberately obtuse? No one has said that they won't wear one (if not exempt) just that they will avoid situations where they have to.

How on earth does that warrant all the name calling?

Oh and yes I would refuse outside when just walking, if it really was a major risk then we would have seen these much talked about massive spikes after the beach and protests etc.

This

I'm sick of scaremongering and doom merchants who won't be happy until we get the second wave.
Personally I think we have just finished the second wave anyway, the amount of locals to me who paid for private tests as they were unwell in December and have come up positive for antibodies.
Even WHO said recently we will probably have to live with it as it will become like a seasonal virus.
It's total OTT now to bring this in. It should have been instigated back in February and to my mind is Boris trying to look like he gives a shit and didn't fuck up afterall, when we know he clearly did fuck up totally.
Even lockdown instigated when it did did fuck all as we reached the peak far earlier then expected.
We have literally screwed the economy for the next 5 years at least and brought about the worst unemployment figures in decades.
I would get it if we were still back in February but we know so much more about the spread now than before and most of us won't be that ill if we do get it, and it's now thought far more of us have had it than previously thought anyway.
Pointless doing this now.

And what of people who are surviving on next to no money and relying on food banks? How will they afford these over priced masks because they cost a bomb right now due to this scaremongering. So they get denied the right to go out?

People that say they won't go out if they have to wear one (on a different thread) are absolutely pathetic.

People have the right to not go out 🙄

I haven't heard anyone complaining about it. Most people are saying it's too little, too late - particularly as the new rule doesn't come in for almost 2 weeks.

I tell you what has amazed me during this; the quickness with which many have literally given up their civil liberties and rights without a thought it question.
It's like so many are robots. No wonder we have such a shit government in place.

As for Spain, sorry OP but they're hardly to be held up as wonderful, their police are more violent and thuggish than ours are and that's saying something.

If people decide they don't want to comply with it then it's a guideline. The police have very little power as it's not been rubber stamped as a law.
I'm just waiting to see how many Tories this time ignore it when telling us not to.

Yes I don't have to go out if I don't want to, why does this bother you so much?

I'm not really looking forward to it, but on a superficial note (apologies) I thought good I can forget about concealer then.

I guess they feel like a foreign object so it'll just take some adapting.

Doesn't help that Gove was spotted in Pret without one, politicians should lead by example.

@TheGreatWave It doesn't bother me at all if you stay in it's one less whiney person out the way complaining about wearing a mask!!

YADNBU all these special snowflakes who can't wear one. I agree it's tough for people who lip read or if severely autistic but otherwise, get a grip. The trick is to relax, if you keep trying to take great gulps of air it sucks the mask to your face and it feels worse...just breathe normally and it's fine.

I agree it's tough for people who lip read or if severely autistic but otherwise, get a grip.

You really think these are the only people who can't wear a mask?

I can andnwill without issue.

But we need to understand that a number of people can't and respect that.

Its this attitude on both sides that really bugs me.