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.

But if the wearer doesn't have the virus, there's no point in the mask

So you are getting tested each time you leave the house? There have been plenty of studies showing most virus carriers are totally asymptomatic - a recent one for example found that 80% of people with antibodies had not had any symptoms.

@ScorpioSphinxInACalicoDress

They'll tell you it's a conspiracy theory and it's being run by Big Pharma *@Hearhoovesthinkzebras*, they're the same people who are spewing all over FB that the footage of the army lorries taking the dead out of Bergamo was footage from years ago of the aftermath of a refugee boat capsizing and the coffins are those not Covid victims.

I think it's a peculiarly British thing- it's change and being asked to do something for the greater good. Nobody can truly say that me wearing a mask is going to help limit the spread of Covid, but it might. That's actually good enough for me.

I think the govt also made a mistake with trying to be PC and warm and fluffy and saying "face covering" which has led to the imbecile comments like "muzzles" and likening wearing a mask to the oppression of women.

Additionally, so much of the responsibility for "managing" this has been devolved to the individual that seemingly half the population has been vulnerable/networker/exempt from wearing a mask to the point that the terms are virtually meaningless. (I just reread the criteria, such as it is, and fit all three categories- I knew about the keyworker bit but not that I could call myself vulnerable and also not wear a "muzzle" )

Nobody (except little kids who seem to love them, it makes them feel all grown up somehow) likes wearing a mask. But, ultimately, the longer people don't, the longer others are going to have to.

The only thing that truly beggars belief (and does explain why, despite what the scientific community has said all along) is why so late into the pandemic. THIS is what makes Joe Conspiracy Theorist Public get on his soapbox. "Surely if masks were useful we'd have been wearing them for 4 months?" And you can understand why people would ask that question tbf.

I think the answer to "why now" is easily explainable. To begin with this wasn't thought to be an airborne disease and so social distancing was thought to be enough. As time has gone on, studies have been done and now science shows that this can be airborne so respiratory precautions are needed.

Also, a very big factor in bringing in masks is the need to get the country functioning again. Ultimately, lockdown is the most effective method to control this and probably eradicate it but from an economic and even social perspective it simply isn't possible. Even the two metre social distancing isn't possible when we need to get society back to even a semblance of functioning. Public transport, shops, schools, pubs, restaurants, leisure activities - none of those can work with the need to SD at two metres and so it's been reduced to 1m+ (the plus being masks).

So masks weren't needed while we were in lockdown, except in medical situations, but now things are re opening they are needed.

@PurpleDaisies

However, how do you know if a person has the virus? How do you know if they have it the day after a negative test? Or the day after that...?

Well, at the moment only 1 in about 1900 people have it in the community depending on exactly where you live. Statistically you’re pretty unlikely to meet someone with it or have it yourself.

And yet rates of infection are rising so clearly that 1 in 1900 are infecting others who will be infecting others.

9 staff so far have been infected at a Tesco in Coventry so within that store there's quite a high chance you could catch it. A general statistic is irrelevant to individual circumstances. People going into that store didn't have a 1:1900 chance of catching it did they?

@AlecTrevelyan006

and @Teal99
I echo your thoughts on this. I wear a mask because I have no wish to speak to anyone never mind get into a pointless argument in a shop if I dont wear one. I have drastically reduced my shopping habits because of wearing one. I havent shifted to online shopping either so am feeling a bit richer because of this - although more depressed since I loved to visit one of the small towns near me on a saturday and have a nice day mooching around the shops. You cant replicate that online .
I certainly wont be going anywhere else indoors either until this nonsense is over .

@Aethelthryth - thank you. Voice of reason. All this whinging & moaning honestly. We're in the middle of a pandemic & if we look at how SE Asia handle pandemics, it's obvious that masks have a positive effect.

www.insider.com/face-shields-did-not-protect-people-from-coronavirus-swiss-outbreak-2020-7

Pointless to say we should have worn them in March- we can't turn back time.

All we can do is look at the evidence which has stacked up since March and make an educated decision. I think the evidence is that masks do both protect others and protect the wearer. But this is not controlled trial evidence, just observational evidence like the Swiss example above.

I think face shields are useless, because they don't come down far enough over the chin and people wear them tilted up.

You don't necessarily need face masks to be worn perfectly or even disposed of perfectly to make them a reasonable health prevention measure.

I'd feel better if my students at uni were going to wear masks in Sept!

I hated them to start with, but you get used to anything, I have and I went out yesterday with my dd shopping and eating out and we had a fab day, people seem more relaxed out shopping/staff seem happier, I think over time it's become fine for me.

In winter they will be quite warm and toasty.

It's a choice still, though, you can choose online delivery and to never go places which require masks- we are doing the opposite, we are taking the opportunity of the summer, the nice weather, the rates going down to get out as much as possible, and so are my friends, several of whom are going abroad, some also in UK- no-one I know is just sitting in moaning about masks, they are posting pictures from holidays and stuff like that!

Saw this somewhere about the constant references to seatbelts....

*Dear mask wearers, Please stop with the seat belt analogy.
Using your own logic, wearing a mask now (four months after the 'pandemic' started) is like getting out of the car and walking down the road with a seat belt on. *

NRFT but I agree OP. There are no independent scientific research studies that prove the efficacy of masks / face coverings per se - they are one of a suite of measures that are viewed as helping to control transmission.

Personally I think it would be much more effective to close pubs again and not send people back to call centres / open plan offices and independently inspect factories / warehouses etc to ensure workers are protected through proper infection control measures (i.e. those places where we know there have been spikes / transmission chains) but of course we can't do this because of the economy. So let's just rely on face coverings instead.

@MrsArchchancellorRidcully - I dislike people who eat in cinemas much more than I dislike masks. However quiet you think you are being everyone can still hear you & you're spoiling the film for others. If that were banned I'd go to the cinema much more often.

@PurpleDaisies

However, how do you know if a person has the virus? How do you know if they have it the day after a negative test? Or the day after that...?

Well, at the moment only 1 in about 1900 people have it in the community depending on exactly where you live. Statistically you’re pretty unlikely to meet someone with it or have it yourself.

PurpleDaisies, yes this is how I look at it. In my local area there haven't been any deaths for a while. Positive tests are low. The chances of any of the 50-100 people I might see in the supermarket today having the virus and being asymptomatic is tiny.

The masks are really there to give us confidence. For some they do, you can tell that by the fact certain people are now all over you in the shops rather than 6ft away. But for others like me, I'm much less likely to even go to a shop now or anywhere else that requires me to cover my face.

I'm a retired dentist I wore masks all the time, however we didn't wear them all the time, it was a new mask per patient you greeted patient without mask took history asked why they were here etc all without mask as we were taught that people need to see you face on to understand you properly ( many patients upto16% have hearing problems) build trust in an individual, that you should not talk to a patient while typing on computer, with your back to them or in earlier days while writing notes as it's rude and makes them feel they don't have your attention, then we would wear mask while examining and/or treating then remove mask to give details about after care further treatment required and when they should come again, then maks was binned
I know how to wear standard mask without it steaming up glasses you adapt nose piece and sit glasses frame on top
Masks protect against droplet aerosol they never have done and never can protect against virus or bacteria airbourne
the science does suggest masks help but they are not in any way shape or form going to cut transmisison to zero or even close

masks do muffle sound as do perspex barriers and people do have to talk louder to overcome this and it does prevent the hard of hearing communicating as well as can't lip read or read facial expressions

it doesn't mean they are not useful or that most can't wear them but they are not analogous to seat belts; they are not thought to be of much benefit when people are in prolonged contact such as at home or in the same office for 8 hours

they are not that comfortable hence why HCP remove them asap when no longer required, they are a barrier to normal human interactions and it's an infringement on individual choice even if necessary and temporary

I have yet to see even 5% of them being worn correctly

they make interaction unaffordable for many if your weekly food budget is less than £40 you can't afford to buy a new disposable mask nor can you afford several washable ones or the electricity to wash at a suitable temperature so the poor will be forced economically to wear the same mask over and over again both on transport and in shops so making wearing them virtually meaningless
it is no use saying everyone has old t shirts or can afford £3 as they simply don't or can't
many many people will carefully fold disposable mask and reuse several times they will also do the same with a fabric one they will wear it to go to work to go to shop at lunch time to get home and probably again the next day maybe interchanging 2-3 and washing at weekend this is realism

wearing a mask now (four months after the 'pandemic' started) is like getting out of the car
This would be true if the virus had magically disappeared. Last I checked, not the case.

I hated them to start with, but you get used to anything, I have and I went out yesterday with my dd shopping and eating out and we had a fab day, people seem more relaxed out shopping/staff seem happier, I think over time it's become fine for me.

I'm guessing it's quite a lot cooler where you are than it is here - absolutely no one was having a nice time wearing one in 35 degree heat yesterday. Which, again, doesn't mean they shouldn't have to but I don't see why I have to pretend that it isn't uncomfortable and that actually it's all jolly nice.

I agree with you OP . I feel like I’m being choked due to past trauma Which involved having hands put over my mouth stopping me breathing . I wear the mask but have been close to having a panic attack

Wow that must be really traumatic.

Dying of coronavirus is pretty shit too. As was wearing PPE on a hot ward for 4 months. Wearing a mask outside is no problem.

ilovesooty You had enough patience to reply though. And that's another tick for my bingo card. Muzzles, face nappies, and here's a new one: symbol of allegiance to our glorious leader's regime.

Wearing a mask outside is no problem.

Wearing a mask outside is utterly pointless. That’s not where they’re recommended or have been shown to be effective in the slightest.

Not nice, but if the government had acted quickly in March, perhaps 10,000 or more people extra would have the issue, as they would be alive today.

Not nice, but if the government had acted quickly in March, perhaps 10,000 or more people extra would have the issue, as they would be alive today.

I agree, but what we needed was a fast, strict lockdown.

Am I the only person who remembers all the nurses making videos of themselves crying in/taking off their PPE early in the crisis? Clearly what they were wearing was a lot heavier and more restrictive than a face mask (though arguably it was also a lot more proportionate to the actual risk they faced) but I don't know where this narrative that 'you never heard NHS complaining about having to wear PPE' came from?

All this constant moaning. We all have to wear o e at work for 10 hour days in the NHS and are only allowed to take it off if we are alone in a room which is about 2 x 15 minutes ffs whinge, whinge, whinge. Everyone's sick of the I cessation t whining g and excuses. Get on with it.

Hardbackwriter I didn't enjoy wearing the mask, it just didn't stop my enjoyment of the day. On Mumsnet, everyone is moaning about having to holiday in the UK and having to wear masks. Everyone I know is out camping/having lovely holidays, and just getting on with life inbetween and enjoying the time off work.

I don't like masks and if the evidence comes out against them, I'll gladly stop wearing them, but I feel it's fine compared with sitting in lockdown (not that we even had a strict lockdown like in other countries).

It's good to have a moan, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that enjoyable life is entirely over for everyone, and for the people I know, despite stress and anxiety and unsettledness, that just isn't the case- a mask isn't going to stop me enjoying my life.

There are thousand of people with reasons along the lines of @starsparkle08. Why should she, or anyone else, be question why they can't wear a mask, or be told that they're just selfish and should stay in the house then.

The general public is desperate to leap to the worst case scenario. Anyone kit wearing a mask is a refusenik, a conspiracy theorist, doesn't believe in covid, or is a sociopath.

Nor someone with a genuine exemption.

@wanderings

ilovesooty You had enough patience to reply though. And that's another tick for my bingo card. Muzzles, face nappies, and here's a new one: symbol of allegiance to our glorious leader's regime.

I LOLed at this - sorry, wanderings, that's too much