Wearing masks everywhere indoors is so depressing

[Sossen]

AIBU to feel frustrated and, at times, a bit upset that I can’t really do anything indoors now, either on my own or with my kids, without wearing a god damn face mask? I’ve just about been able to tolerate wearing them whilst food shopping but that’s because I now take a lot of time to write out a list and meal plan beforehand and I get in and get out, as opposed to before, when I took the time to browse, picked out what I fancied, and maybe tried on some clothes whilst there. I can cope with this ok but what is depressing me is that my ds is desperate to go to a few indoor places like the trampoline park (our local one has strict guidelines in hygiene social distancing and staggering sessions) and I’ll take him but the thought of sitting there for an hour and a half opposite my dh trying to talk to him with a mask on or watching my ds play and he can’t hear me because of the mask, well it fills me with dread. I had a cinema pass which i’ve has for years but I’ve already cancelled It as there is no way I can sit for up to 3 hours with a mask on, it would be unbearable. Every day out we go on that is predominantly outdoors but have some indoor areas I’ll have to remember to take masks with me. If I nip to post a letter, pick up my medication, go into a public car park to get my car after work I have to wear a mask. I expect to be told I’m moaning but I can’t help it. I fully resent the fact that I am being told to cover my face and I have no choice in the matter. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

@Sossen

Yes my ds will not be wearing one and god help anyone if they dare question this. Yesterday I seen a toddler around 2/2 and a half walking round with one on and I thought omg poor child.

We are in France. I've seen many children, even very little ones, wearing masks. I've never thought OMG poor child, but I have thought 'great, sensible parents, trying to minimise the risk to their child and others'.

I get that some people are shopping more as they feel safer now that people are wearing masks but I don’t feel safer. I felt safer when we all had to queue outside and staff limited the number of people in store at any one time. Now that people have to wear masks my local Asda and Tesco are all free for all. Numbers aren’t limited, one way marks Ed have been removed and I’ve actually had people leaning over me to reach items which is no one would have dared to have done four months ago.

@countrygirl99

Honestly if people are wearing masks but saying they don't like it, so fucking what. Why do some people think it's compulsory to be happy about it too? And why can't people have a moan about something they find unpleasant? Why can't people who don't like people moaning about facemasks just keep off a thread that is clearly about just that? After all keeping off a thread is easier than avoiding going food shopping which too many people are quick to tell those who can't wear masks they should do.

I agree. Why should I be happy about wearing something over my mouth? It's OK to not like this and to say so. In fact, I find that more genuine.

@Sossen

I get what you’re saying but you chose to work for the Nhs. Lots of of Nhs professionals have been wearing masks for years anyway ie surgeons and ODPs. You know what you’re getting into when you work in close contact with patients.

And the majority of medical professionals haven't needed to wear masks but do now and they've had to accept it.

I was a nurse and only wore a mask when I worked in theatres or if we had a patient in isolation on the ward which wasn't often. For the vast majority of my career I didn't wear a mask. When did GPs need to wear masks, or physios? They all do now though. My physio treats me wearing full PPE and that's not normal for him.

IMO every person who believes that masks are “muzzles” and have absolutely no effect in reducing transmission and that the whole thing is an insidious government plot to turn us into drones or something should have to volunteer to spend an entire shift on a COVID ward in a hospital, without a mask on.

Put your money where your mouth is.

If as these posters claim masks don’t do anything at all and Covid is all a big hoax/mass hysteria, they should be more than happy to do so!

My thread is a ruse? No it is not!

@Cornettoninja totally agree that those who took it seriously have done better.

Mass hysteria? 45,000 have died in the UK. 70,000 Brits died in the second world war, was that mass hysteria too?

@blurpityblurp

It’s a tiny bit of cotton. Less restrictive than wearing a scarf over your face in winter. Most people don’t even notice they’re wearing one. I feel sorry for people who suffer claustrophobia, etc. but we aren’t talking about being the man in the iron mask here.

MN has a high proportion of extremist conspiracy theorists (people who genuinely believe that Washington DC pizza parlours are selling kidnapped child sex slaves, etc.) The semi-regular conspiracy theory threads are disturbing. The mask threads often degenerate into conspiracy theorists using far right wing buzzwords like “muzzles” and “attacks on our freedom” attempting to weaponise legitimate anxieties over masks in order to groom ordinary people to “the cause.” It’s deeply, deeply frightening.

It’s also worrying how many people are dismissing or denying medical and scientific evidence in order to promote their political agenda. It’s not a million miles away from all the conspiracy theories about 5G and COVID being a hoax.

Well said.

@SockYarn

That poster didn't say she lives elsewhere though, *@Lockheart*. 99% of of us posting on here are posting from a British perspective. 3 year olds wearing masks is horrendous.

Why?

Ok, so if going forward Mumsnet can’t be used as a safe space for people to vent or “moan” then admin will have a lot less work to do. We all moan about stupid stuff at least I’m being honest.

I have a mild hearing impairment. I manage day to day by an element of lipreading as well as asking people to repeat themselves. Noisy, busy locations are the most difficult because all the sounds blend into one.

I find it much harder to understand anyone wearing a face covering. I can't see their face. The covering distorts the sound. Plus everyone around is now shouting to be heard clearly. It's another reason why I am staying out of shops and I will be WFH until the restriction stops because I can't do daily face covering on public transport and there is nowhere to park at or near my workplace.

I do feel muzzled by a face covering. I find conversation and interaction very difficult. I end up having to point at things like I might in a country where I can't speak the language. It is unpleasant.

Fwiw I met someone recently who'd survived the virus. Was close to death at one point. Is pragmatic about it all and not a fan of masks or additional restrictions because of the long term social and societal effects.

I don't go anywhere they are required. It makes life a lot simpler and our spending has drastically reduced. Average spending on food and treats has dropped from over a 1000 pounds a month to under 300 pounds (mostly on meals out, cinema, museums, shopping, parks and other activities for the kids).

I have ptsd and can't function in a mask, my attempts at trying nearly got me sectioned earlier this year but because I look physically fit and healthy, I'm not comfortable going anywhere as I have no desire to explain to anyone my reasons. I would not consent to a ventilator (have put it in writing).

Has anyone said Covid is a hoax? Nobody on this thread.

Personally I think they probably do have a very minor effect - as long as they are worn properly and removed and cleaned properly. I think that measures such as social distancing are far more important, along with basic hand hygiene, catching coughs and sneezes etc.

The problem with masks is that they are the visible measure - everyone can see. Nobody notices people keeping their distance, washing their hands, considering general hygiene. People default to the ignorant position of "people who are not wearing masks are selfish/stupid" rather than "most people not wearing masks are exempt".

Also your comparison with a Covid is patently daft. It's hardly the same level of potential infection risk as a supermarket trip.

Unfortunately that extra breathability is because they don't do the job anywhere near as well as masks. If you can breathe easily, either the holes in the fabric are too large to be any use, or you're only using one layer of fabric.

I'm really not bothered. The law says face coverings. It's a face covering.

@Sossen

I get that some people are shopping more as they feel safer now that people are wearing masks but I don’t feel safer. I felt safer when we all had to queue outside and staff limited the number of people in store at any one time. Now that people have to wear masks my local Asda and Tesco are all free for all. Numbers aren’t limited, one way marks Ed have been removed and I’ve actually had people leaning over me to reach items which is no one would have dared to have done four months ago.

OP I entirely agree with this. I don't really like people, so social distancing has been lovely. Now people are as you say reaching past you (a guy the other day reached over my shoulder to get something off a shelf, he has a mask and gloves on so clearly felt entitled to! Someone else moved my trolley out of the way) Supermarkets let far more in now and as a result there are huge queues at checkouts. I felt safer pre masks to be honest!

I don't like wearing them either and in fact I will avoid going to places where I need to wear them especially as I live in an area where the last death of Coronavirus in the whole of the area (Devon and Cornwall) was almost two months ago. A massive over reaction. There will be an ongoing knock on effect of people avoiding shops etc and that will have an impact on businesses. In high infection rates they would do better to have the masks and enforce the social distancing but as we have seen from beaches and supermarkets the masks are making people complacent.

It would be interesting for someone to do a study on the genuine motivations for people in wearing masks.

Is it really because they 100% believe that they are doing the right thing and protecting everyone else from a rapidly reducing risk?

Or is it really because they don't want a fine?

As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m autistic and cannot cope with masks.
As such, I wouldn’t be in a profession that required them. I don’t get why that’s hard to work out.

I work in scientific fields, and my inability to cope with anything on my face, neck, throat or head has hampered the choice of jobs I have. I also struggle with goggles and glasses (even though I could do with them!). I can’t wear hats or scarves, or have my hair cut.

So the whole “well I have to wear a mask for 8 hours a day” really isn’t comparable. Because you can do it. And you’re likely in a field where it’s not an extraordinary request to do so.

And for all the people who always say that you just need to try different types of masks, you just haven’t found the right one yet - yes that may be true for some people, but for many others it just doesn’t matter. You think we haven’t tried?! It’s infantilising. Anything is awful. Most of us who are technically “exempt” have genuinely tried. We don’t like being singled out in public, we don’t like confrontation at the best of times. The world has already changed so much, routines I’ve spent years putting into place on order to live semi-independently are now destroyed.

As for the people who ‘just don’t like them’ - what’s wrong with that? If they wear them, why do they have to like them?

Conversely, if you don’t wear them simply because you don’t like them - well, fuck you. You’re making this situation impossible for people who actually cannot wear them.

That’s sounds really hard. My DM has a medical issue which means she could get away with not wearing one but she does. Not because she feels they do much to reduce the virus but because she’s terrified of being called names and given a load of abuse.

I’ve just come back from Butlins, I would have cancelled if I’d had to wear a mask in all the indoor areas. I’m happy to wear a mask but it makes things (for me) not fun anymore, so I’m only going to do essential things and I’ll choose not to do things that I feel will be not fun while wearing a mask - especially if I have to pay for the privilege! I’ll rent a film rather than sit in the cinema, will shop for clothes online rather than in store.

Other people will make different choices, and time will tell whether there are more people who it makes feel safer (so they go out more/spend money) or more people who it makes stay away/spend less.

Put your mask on or stay at home.

Nice bit of disability discrimination from @NHSHero - let's hope their username doesn't reflect their job.

@NHSHero what a nasty person you are

@Sossen

I get that some people are shopping more as they feel safer now that people are wearing masks but I don’t feel safer. I felt safer when we all had to queue outside and staff limited the number of people in store at any one time. Now that people have to wear masks my local Asda and Tesco are all free for all. Numbers aren’t limited, one way marks Ed have been removed and I’ve actually had people leaning over me to reach items which is no one would have dared to have done four months ago.

But that level of restriction became unsustainable once people started going back to work. People didn't have hours to spend queueing, that's why NHS and key workers were allowed to jump the queue or have special hours because they couldn't get shopping with those restrictions. Imagine now if we were all still expected to queue for an hour and shops limited the number of customers?

We still restrict queuing at checkouts - customers should wait behind a line, spaced at two metre intervals until the belt is free and they can move forward. A good 50% of customers are ignoring it and we have to repeatedly remind people to step back and then face a barrage of complaints. Shops are doing their bit but the public needs to do theirs. Stop acting like children who need constant reminders to do the right thing. We all know what we need to do so we just need to take personal responsibility and do it.