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.

Genuinely can't work out what kind of mask you're wearing if you can't hear each other speak - I work with chiefly elderly people and even without their hearing aids in on occasion I haven't had any difficulty making myself understood/having normal conversations.

Having both had covid and had to wear a surgical mask for hours each day I know which one I'd pick!

I don't like wearing them. I have a health condition that causes breathlessness, but also results in a compromised immune system. I have also lost a family member to Covid19, and THAT was a lot more depressing than wearing a mask. All things considered, I try to approach it with the mindset that it's a small sacrifice to make.

Its a lot more depressing lying in a hospital bed on ITU.

I dislike them but will wear them so we can all get on with our lives as best as possible to control the R rate I would usually baulk at conforming but if masks just reduce the forward projection of spittle when speaking, surely thats a only good thing.

Given I've had to do food shopping all through lockdown when I saw shoppers leaning over veg I was about to buy, it horrified me.
I prefer it they aren't spreading moisture droplets onto the loose boxed fruit and veg by wearing face covering.
Some masks are better than others in allowing space to breathe, its just finding the right design.
But no YANBU.....it a "pain" we must bear for a while. It will get better so hang on in there.

Of course you're not the only one who is sick of masks but you're being so melodramatic I'm not sure whether to give you an Oscar or a sedative.

It's a necessary evil and I'm sick of the moaning and the endless threads whining about this.

Guess what? Being an adult often involves doing what is right/necessary rather than what we want. Masks are not killing you, they are nothing more than a minor inconvenience and you can't possibly be wearing one as much as you claim or you would be used to them by now.

Get a grip.

Are the plastic visors an alternative- I don’t know if they give the same amount of protection?

Bizawit - fair enough. You find masks make things harder to hear and understand. But it doesn't mean everyone, including some people with hearing impairment, do. Dh doesn't, despite having some loss of hearing.

Until Friday, visors were indeed an acceptable, much more comfortable alternative in Scotland. But Nicola Sturgeon says no longer.

However, I will continue to wear mine. I can't wear a mask. I can wear a visor. It's better than nothing.

Get a grip. Seriously. If wearing a mask means that businesses can open and we can all get some sense of normality back, albeit very different from before, then great.

I agree with you. We are currently on holiday and luckily the hotel is not enforcing masks as there is lots of room and we are social distancing. We are surrounded by countryside and so can walk without masks. This isn’t the usual type of holiday I would go on, I picked it because we can spend most of our time without a mask on. My 11 year old hates wearing hers with a passion so nothing is fun when she has hers on. I find mine uncomfortable too but will abide by the rules in shops and on transport and anywhere else they expect us to where them obviously. I hope the rules relax a bit again soon.

I bought a cotton reusable one one as am appalled at all the waste. It has a bendable thing to fit round nose so glasses don’t steam up.

It doesn’t work!! Walk round in a fug not able to see. Then touch mask and face to re-adjust. It’s bonkers.

@Aragog

Bizawit - fair enough. You find masks make things harder to hear and understand. But it doesn't mean everyone, including some people with hearing impairment, do. Dh doesn't, despite having some loss of hearing.

My DH is partially deaf and struggles to understand people wearing masks. When we took the cat to the vet he didn't pick up most of what the vet said but luckily I was there. He'd have really struggled on his own.

Oh how will you cope

It really isn't forever.

This is what concerns me. Apparently the new law is for six months able to be extended for a year. But I am already seeing people (it seems to be mainly those of Asian heritage who have spent a lot of time in smoggy cities) start saying that it should last FOREVER in urban areas In the UK, which I think is terrifying.

I am glad to read lots of other people say they hate masks too. I feel suffocated and panic.
I also find it very frightening seeing everyone else in masks: it is dehumanising and I can’t read their expressions or moods. I also hate the way that people think masks protect them and so no longer bother about keeping a distance (which is much more effective than wearing masks).

My way of coping has been to stay at home. I don’t go shopping at all now: I just get online food and household essentials via Amazon. I don’t feel like going to museums, which I used to love. It’s really not great for the local economy but it’s all I can do. I am praying it doesn’t last long because I don’t think life like this is worth living.

(Yes I know HCPs wear PPE all day but that’s their job, they are paid to wear it, it’s proper stuff whose efficacy there’s good evidence for, and they can’t do social distancing.)

Can we ban people who are so thick that they dint read the thread, but instead post senseless memes about surgeons

I’ve been having wearing one for 12 hours a day at work since April so I’m finding your post a bit dramatic to be honest.
You get used to it. It won’t be forever but for now it’s essential. People are going through much worse than gave to wear a mask.

“(Yes I know HCPs wear PPE all day but that’s their job, they are paid to wear it, it’s proper stuff whose efficacy there’s good evidence for, and they can’t do social distancing.)”

Just because it’s my job doesn’t mean it’s more comfortable for me, I’m not paid to “wear a mask”, I’m paid to nurse, but right now I wear a mask to keep others safe, it’s a exactly the same reason everyone else has to wear one.

People keep parroting that they are essential and how much good they do. When will we see this translated into a drop in infection numbers, anyone know? There seems to be modelling for everything else, is there anything for this? Also if they are so good why are countries where they’ve been obligatory for ages having increases again now?

Totally agree OP! If masks were efficient at preventing the spread of corona, they’d have made us wear them from the beginning!

Our government has been a few months slow odd the mark here

Other countries have had mask wearing from the beginning

@Ipadipod

Are the plastic visors an alternative- I don’t know if they give the same amount of protection?

When they reviewed an outbreak in Switzerland they found that visors had offered no protection but masks did. I don't know if there are any other studies looking at visors.

Sorry to be blunt but I think you are being quite dramatic and just need to get over it.
I'm currently visiting relatives in a country where they have been wearing them since March and still do in some indoor areas. Everybody just gets on with it, they have one in their bag and put it on where needed, nobody complains.
This country has done very well in terms of c-19 numbers and I guess the masks must have played a role.

Also what about all the healthcare professionals who have been wearing them for hours a day?

God you lot sound like all those who kicked off in the same way when compulsory seatbelt wearing was introduced

< old glimmer alert >

YABU. If you already find it hard to breath with a mask on, you'll likely find it really hard to breath with Coronavirus.

It's getting mega tedious though I agree, but I've solved this by having a few different thickness masks for different situations. Surgical mask for the grocery shopping and GP because everyone and their dog is there even if they are sick, thinner cotton masks for going to shopping centres or tiny shops I know won't be busy. No one wants anyone else's germs, and asymptomatic people also spread the virus so wear a mask and stop complaining. We are all stuck in this together.

You are being unreasonable. Pull yourself together and get on with it.

Someone asked if we'll see the result in lower infection rates - look up the ONS survey and the King's app data - both show a small decline in the latest data. Fingers crossed!

Someone also asked about glasses fogging:
Wash glasses in washing up liquid or liquid soap, don't rinse it all off, buff so you can see! Helps.

Fold a bit of kitchen roll into a strip and put it just beneath the bendy strip of your mask - this really works for me.
Or micropore tape the edges under your glasses.

I'm making cotton and silk masks that are v comfy. And beautiful! So I'm desperate to get out and show off my handiwork. I heartily recommend a cheap sewing machine and some Liberty fat quarters to transform your attitude! I wear mine when I don't need to in the hope someone asks me about it - no one has.