Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think mask wearing is going to wear thin before long ?

655 replies

Boogiewoogiebugleboy · 25/07/2020 15:26

I’ve already noticed people starting to flag in Scotland. In Tesco today I was bored shitless doing the weekly shop and counting 20 people with masks on Chins and under noses. Kids using them as hankies 🤢. I heard also the government might be advising glove wearing. I imagine this is going to start to become very impractical for some people and they’ll just not bother / or bother going out. My DH is exempt from mask wearing and he went out without today expecting some comments but not a peep from anyone! Also the one way aisles have been removed too meaning more folk all crammed in to a small space not socially distant. I overheard a couple saying “ what’s the point wearing masks when we are so close anyway?”

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
Jossen · 27/07/2020 06:37

It’s already wore thin for me and it’s only been a few days. I don’t usually throw my toys out of the pram but I really can’t help feeling resentful that I’m effectively being forced to wear something over my face when I really don’t want to.

A99Sing · 27/07/2020 08:11

I live in a very hot humid country where we’ve had to wear masks outside for over 12 weeks with no end in sight including the children have worn them all day to school. I was very hacked off about it at first but I’m used to it now. Do we like them? Nope. Am I sick of it? Oh yes, so sick of masks. But I have got used to it. We all have ones/styles that suit us more or less. We can go out and do things and have some semblance of normal life. And if it helps reduce cases and get us back to proper normal one day then I can live with the mask for a while

AlternativePerspective · 27/07/2020 08:13

Article today saying that the research on masks has shown that if 95% of people wear masks the infection rate will be reduced by 30% over a course of five days....

labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 08:15

@AlternativePerspective

Article today saying that the research on masks has shown that if 95% of people wear masks the infection rate will be reduced by 30% over a course of five days....
Yeah, but my face gets hot, which I think is a bigger priority Hmm
Theworldisfullofgs · 27/07/2020 08:24

I don't get what the fuss is about.

In the southern hemisphere, where its flu season as well as covid, it's appears to have suppressed the flu as well as positive impact on covid.

It's just a mask.

fran245 · 27/07/2020 08:40

@NameChange84

I’ve been wearing them for months now. I forget I’m wearing it to be honest and really don’t personally find it a big deal. I realise I’m in the minority, at least on here, though!
I agree , I am happy to protect retail staff, I wouldn’t like to do their job . Some people are just selfish...
MsMonkey · 27/07/2020 09:05

Everyone got over it already. People are just wearing them

No they aren't. Lots of people are not wearing them in shops.

MinnieMousse · 27/07/2020 09:22

Resistance to mask-wearing does seem to be a peculiarly English thing. I'm in France at the moment and everyone is wearing a mask indoors. The retail staff are all wearing them. Most people are also wearing them in places where it isn't compulsory, for example I went to an open-air historical site yesterday and many people were wearing them there. Not sure why we have to make a bigger deal out of it than other countries 🤷.

Vynalbob · 27/07/2020 09:27

Now that it's the rules...which it should have been ages ago, people are nearly all wearing them... Only one dipstick who wore it at the door so he wouldn't be asked to leave then pulled it down to around his neck.
Face coverings not masks.
It's not hard to protect other
We wear them and a couple of us are exempt..
Lots of things = face coverings
A little fairy liquid (a spot) on your glasses then wiped with a fine cloth stops steaming.

Not hard, not difficult for 99.9%

lifeafter50 · 27/07/2020 09:31

I'm in France at the moment and everyone is wearing a mask indoors. The retail staff are all wearing them.
No doing much good then; cases are rising and your PM is warning of a potential second lockdown.

TheGreatWave · 27/07/2020 09:31

@MinnieMousse

Resistance to mask-wearing does seem to be a peculiarly English thing. I'm in France at the moment and everyone is wearing a mask indoors. The retail staff are all wearing them. Most people are also wearing them in places where it isn't compulsory, for example I went to an open-air historical site yesterday and many people were wearing them there. Not sure why we have to make a bigger deal out of it than other countries 🤷.
People are wearing them in the UK where mandated to though, so I am not quite sure of the point you are trying to make. I'm sure people in France do moan too.

Honestly from the way some people go on on these threads you'd think no one was wearing a mask.

And my objection with shopping and masks, is that shopping already was a rubbish experience, mask wearing would just make it even less enjoyable.

TheGreatWave · 27/07/2020 09:32

A little fairy liquid (a spot) on your glasses then wiped with a fine cloth stops steaming.

Don't do this, apparently if you have any coatings this can damage it.

MinnieMousse · 27/07/2020 09:42

Maybe there is moaning in France too, I'm just visiting so I don't hear that. I can only observe that mask-wearing seems much more prevalent here and a lot of people are voluntarily wearing them in outdoor places where they don't have to. Many children were also wearing them, even though they aren't compulsory for under-11s. Perhaps the fact that the R-rate has been creeping up has made people more cautious.

missclimpson · 27/07/2020 10:45

I think people do moan here MinnieMousse, but we know that the gendarmes will crack down with fines very quickly. The lockdown was successful because you knew you had to carry your declaration and you stood a good chance of being stopped and fined.
I have just been reading about one of the spikes in Brittany being tracked to bars and a group of young people meeting on the beach late at night. Bars now have to close at 7pm there and late-night gatherings are banned.
These spikes are going to happen. The important thing is to track, trace and act.
I don't understand the people who don't want to wear masks (I am not including those who can't). I protect you and you protect me. This is citizenship in action.

Ilovemypantry · 27/07/2020 11:00

@Jossen

It’s already wore thin for me and it’s only been a few days. I don’t usually throw my toys out of the pram but I really can’t help feeling resentful that I’m effectively being forced to wear something over my face when I really don’t want to.
None of us want to wear a mask, I don’t know anyone who is exactly happy wearing one but if it helps stop the spread of the virus and ultimately saves lives, it’s a no brainer for me.
Scruffyoak · 27/07/2020 11:07

I hate it but have got on with it
I brought a portablw hands free fan which helps the trapped feeling anxietya

lifeafter50 · 27/07/2020 11:16

portablw hands free fan
Won't that just waft the non/existent virus around more widely?

Ilovemypantry · 27/07/2020 11:27

@lifeafter50

portablw hands free fan Won't that just waft the non/existent virus around more widely?
If you really think the virus is non-existent why type it and the cross it through? If that is your opinion, at least have the confidence to say so. Have you been living under a rock for the past 5 months? Do you ever watch the news or not know anyone who has had the virus or lost a loved one from it? How do you explain the high numbers of deaths in just a few months if you do not believe we are in the middle of a pandemic?
SecretSpAD · 27/07/2020 11:43

When I was a child I dreamed of being a surgeon. I went to medical school. I started working as a junior doctor and developed asthma. Due to having asthma (my asthma no one else's) meant that when I tried to wear a mask I had asthma attacks. One was so bad that I ended up in ICU. To avoid that - or worse, dying, my respiratory consultant told me that I should look for a specialism where I wouldn't have to wear a mask. So I did.

People who are asthmatic, or have other respiratory problems and who can wear a mask should do so.
Others, like me, know that wearing a mask will provoke an attack so serious that we may well end up on one of your precious ventilators.

I won't risk that. I am not wearing a mask in shops. Or won't when i actually feel confident enough to go to the shops because at the moment I'm scared of the reactions of ignorant arseholes who lack the understanding and empathy that not everyone is like them.

And yes, I will also be avoiding healthcare settings. Let's hope neither I, nor the kids get ill then.

SilhouetteOfAHead · 27/07/2020 11:55

DH works in retail and he's been told not to bother if customers aren't wearing a mask. They'd rather have people in spending money.

Tottie · 27/07/2020 12:13

It's a sad state of affairs(and quite pathetic) when so many grown adults are sulking and moaning about having to wear a face mask to go shopping or to get their nails and hair done. Such a hardship!! Confused It's a very small sacrifice to make, to stay safe, during a global pandemic! People are quite happy to wear face masks for Halloween and other costume wearing occasions. Lots of adults manage with minor inconveniences when it's a choice they've made but when it's something that is enforced by government or the law, suddenly it's a huge struggle! What about all the workers that prepare sandwiches and other food stuffs on a grand scale? Many of them have to wear masks, gloves and hairnets etc to reduce contamination whilst they're at work. If they don't, they can't do their job and I'm sure everyone would much prefer that they did wear such things whilst prepping the next batch of Marks and Spencer sandwiches for us all!
Sadly yes I do think it will wear thin but it should remain mandatory to wear them whilst in public places for everyone's sake.

Alsohuman · 27/07/2020 12:23

it should remain mandatory to wear them whilst in public places for everyone's sake

For how long? This might have got a far better reception if

a. It had been done three months ago when the infection rate was at its peak

b. Conditions for stopping it had been part of the message, eg weekly infection rates are under 1,000 or the weekly death rate is under 100.

The entire thing, like everything else, has been botched. To get willing compliance you need compelling evidence it’s the right thing. There isn’t any.

SeaSandandSun · 27/07/2020 12:51

I live in a hot and humid country. We’ve been wearing them since March. We just got on with it. I don’t like it, especially outside in 44 degree heat, but it’s just a mask.

bemusedmoose · 27/07/2020 13:30

If you don't like the face mask, you arent going to like getting covid! I spent weeks feeling like my lungs and throat were filled with cottton wool, bags of the stuff. Every breath an epic task, then came the coughing up cups of fuid at a time that made you choke between gasps. I won't lie - I thought I was a gonna. Suffocating in my own lungs.
I didn't get as far as as a ventilator but that is even worse. So a stuffy mask to grab some food is really no biggie. If what ever you wanted in a shop isn't worth putting a mask on for - you don't need to buy it.

How the hell do you think people cope with gas masks, oxygen masks full time... Seriously - get a grip. People had to put up with rationing, air raids, gas masks and worse without bloody moaning. Its a tiny face mask that could save you or someone else. Stop moaning and get on with it. Have we become so spoilt we can't just put up with something we aren't keen on for a bit for the greater good of everyone?

Discobay · 27/07/2020 13:31

Here here!