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

[Boogiewoogiebugleboy]

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?”

happydinosaur

I know what you mean, we practised thumbs up/down signals, I struggle to hear DC when they wear masks.

Not for me.

I want to get this pandemic over and done with and with the least hassle as possible. Wearing a mask for a year or so is a pretty easy thing to do.

This should've been the rule back in March, I've had my masks since then waiting for it to be mandatory to wear. It just seems too little, too late now.

[quote labyrinthloafer]@Oaktree55 thanks for cheering me up there [/quote]
Ha sorry! I’m a realist though and unfortunately we don’t have the systems in place to stop this. Europe already seeing increases. As soon as we’re all inside it’ll grow exponentially again.

All you need to convince people is to impose fines high enough. The disagreements and feeling of inconvenience will soon disappear if the choice is wear one or pay.

If the government doesn't care enough, then obviously people won't bother. It was the same with the lockdown: countries with heavy fines had a strict lockdown, countries like England casual about it didn't.

Well, no one enjoys wearing a mask (or if they do, that's the subject of another thread and probably involving activities not usually partaken in at a supermarket), they're sweaty, make communication more challenging, can steam up your specs etc. However, wearing one & seeing almost all others wearing them reassures me. In fact, I found this Saturday the most pleasant shopping experience since lockdown as people were socially distancing and wearing their masks correctly. Unlike those that seem like a majority on MN, the mandatory wearing of masks actually makes me more likely to go to the shops.

I lived in Japan. It was utterly normal. Funny how westerners are unable to cope, but other countries have managed efficiently for decades.

99% of people dont wear them properly, fiddling with them,I said to my friends relatives back in February, they would eventually become manditory. Maybe then these people will feel sympathy for the health workers wearing full PPE for an average of 12 hours a day. After many years of looking at viruses and bacteria under a micrscope, have been wearing gloves and masks all along. My youngest DS (disabled) on lousy benefits, and bought his own, said to me he was happy to wear one out so as to protect everyone else, proud of him!!

I live in Spain, it's 40ºC at the moment. We've had to wear them for a few months and since July 15 they've been mandatory everywhere public, even walking along the beach.
I still haven't got used to them, I still feel hot and horrible wearing them, but I don't have any choice unless I want to be fined (and general social opprobrium as EVERYONE wears them).
I really really really don't understand how it's uneforceable though. People keep saying that, but I don't understand. It's the law? So shops can refuse you entry? Here, you don't get in the shop without one, if it's a big superstore and you walk in, you'll be told to put one on by security guards at the door and if you won't you'll be refused entry.
If you're walking along the street without one and the police pass by they will tell you to wear one or fine you €100 (I realise they aren't mandatory in the open air in the UK but I expect the police would say the same thing and again I don't really understand)

So many people not wearing them in England already. It’s impossible to enforce.

It's very easy to enforce where I am. There's someone at the door of each shop, and if you're not wearing a mask or have a valid excuse, you're not getting in! Supermarkets, sports shops, Argos, were all the same yesterday.

@HappyDinosaur

I've been wearing mine but I'm finding it really hard to communicate normally with my toddler when wearing it. I know that sounds strange, but it just feels wrong not to be able to smile at her etc. Obviously I will wear it when I have to, but it will definitely stop me going to the shops. They are actually harder to wear than I was expecting.

You can smile at her and a genuine smile will reach your eyes.

Maybe I breathe weird, but it doesn't make me sweaty and my masks don't get damp.

News link for those thinking about visors. www.thelocal.ch/20200715/only-those-with-plastic-visors-were-infected-swiss-government-warns-against-face-shields

We have worn masks when shopping since March. It took some practice to get used to it but we ended up wearing them around the house and building up the time spent in them that way.

People are going to moan about them. Let them get on with it.

I've been wearing mine but I'm finding it really hard to communicate normally with my toddler when wearing it.

are you spending hours and hours in a mask? You slip it on when you go in a shop, then you shop, then you take it off. We've had to wear them for a few months now and i think i average a couple of hours a week. Went Shopping for clothes for one of the DC last week and it was a bit weird wearing one in a shopping mall - but it was fine. Most people were fine. Everyone was wearing them. If you don't wear one you get asked to leave the shop.

For buses you can only get on here on the centre doors, and the driver area is taped off. Tickets have to be bought online. Inspectors can and do throw people off for not wearing masks, and the police have fined people. But generally I'm not seeing the whining and moaning that I'm seeing coming from England.

I have yet to see any argument in a shop about who's wearing a mask and who isn't. In Scotland so mandatory for a few weeks now. If I notice someone isn't wearing one it's not my business is it? Seems to me most people feel that way. I've worm masks for longer. The one I wore yesterday was annoying and steamed up my glasses but I have others that are fine. Try different styles to find one that suits (I make my own so easy for me to say, understand financial implications for others. Should larger shops/supermarkets provide disposables ones?)

Funny how westerners are unable to cope, but other countries have managed efficiently for decades.

so true. People allegedly "exempt" could perfectly wear a face shield instead, they just chose not to (and apparently some are looking for arguments with strangers too. Not sure why? It makes them feel special and superior maybe?)

Just been shopping in my local town and it was busy. Spent 2 hours shopping, went in around 12 shops and stopped for coffee, mask round wrist outside and on face inside. Really no big deal and I think it's given people confidence to browse and shop for longer. Not sure why people are moaning about something so minor, seems a bit pathetic.

I cannot conceive of any reason a person would be exempt from wearing a mask. If it's a health reason, as a surgeon said, they shouldn't be venturing outside in public then anyway.

Respect to all those surgeons, surgical assistants and surgical nurses who wear masks for hours on end. It brings to mind a neurosurgeon who sometimes operates for 10 hours straight, no break, on a person's brain and wears the mask for that long. Wearing a mask is as natural to these people as wearing a tie or wearing shoes. When did the general public become so weak and so selfish?

Sadly all of this will damage high streets and retail much more.

I have avoided going to shops since it took over an hour to get into one shop the whole experience was frustrating and just made me more adamant to shop online instead.

I don't mind wearing a mask when inside I kind of get the need for that but it's the queueing and limited people in that is driving me insane.

I really just miss the days when you could just aimlessly head into the supermarket get what you need and out just as quick.

I miss being able to go to the shops to buy or browse and now that's all gone it's a nightmare and I won't be going back to the shops now which is good for some as it means one less person stood in a long queue waiting to get in

scones I don't think this should surprise us to be honest, i thought the shields were to reduce droplet spatter into your eyes/onto the face, and would need to be worn with masks.

I think you will find they are not managing just fine in other countries the complaints re mask wearing are the same in Italy Span and France and you see the same not wearing them properly too
I wore them for years professionally without my glasses steaming up but it is hard to wear masks hearing aids and glasses all behind your ears, as I wore a new one per patient I wore 20+ clean masks per day
masks muffle sound for sure so you need to speak louder and slower
these things go one way or another either they are gradually adopted and become main stream or they are abandoned
in reality masks ( standard medical ones) last 30-60 minutes before becoming damp inside
gloves have to be changed every time you touch something as otherwise you just transfer virues etc with gloved fingers rather than naked fingers but it doesn't stop transfer and while most people can remove one glove without touching clean hand they can't remove second dirty glove wthout using the clean hand

Photo didn't go through.

Unfortunately though we used up our entire national stock of fortitude during the blitz, whereas other countries have some left over for mask wearing.

Agreed, we are such a nation of whingers. I'm in the vulnerable category and mask-wearing has allowed me to go shopping for the first time in four months, so I welcome it. Yes, they are a bit uncomfortable but anything that will help to stop the spread of this disease is surely a good thing.

If I notice someone isn't wearing one it's not my business is it?

Actually, it is. Wearing (most) masks is protection others, not yourself. People who refuse to wear masks are basically giving the finger to everybody else, it's not about them.

I feel so sorry for usually elderly people or people at risk who feel they have to accept a mask when it's the refusal of others who actually put them at risk.