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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Wearing masks everywhere indoors is so depressing

649 replies

Sossen · 08/08/2020 08:16

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.

OP posts:
scaevola · 10/08/2020 07:49

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

Visors protect against stuff landing in your eyes and are good at keeping your hands off your face.

They offer zero of the community benefits of wearing a face covering, as the exhalations no go straight round the bottom.

I doubt there are any studies whatsoever examining the lack of effectiveness of something that was never designed to have that effect

FatalDistraction · 10/08/2020 07:53

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

Sorry, but I do not want masks to become the norm. I absolutely refuse to buy "beautiful" masks and will wear one only to go into a shop or on the bus and then rip it off my face the split second I exit. Please do not make masks the autumn/winter must have accessory.

juneo63 · 10/08/2020 08:08

Count yourself lucky!!
My daughter is frontline NHS and has to wear one for 13 hours! And yes I think the clinical one's make you even hotter! My daughter has a constant dry mouth, (not as easy to get a sip of water) this gives her lots of mouth ulcers and a sore throat! , And spotty skin!! 😧
Masks are a pain, but the more you use it the more it will seem normal, 😉

AlecTrevelyan006 · 10/08/2020 08:17

Indeed - wearing a mask will soon be ‘normal’

Which is depressing

byvirtue · 10/08/2020 08:22

I wear mine when I don't need to in the hope someone asks me about it - no one has

What a bizarre attitude, if anything masks are a barrier to social interaction not something people are going to stop you to have a chat about.

MillicentMargaretAmanda · 10/08/2020 08:26

For anyone with coatings on your glasses, please don't follow the advice above about washing up liquid a few posts up. You will trash your glasses as it will scratch the coating if you do it repeatedly, leading to glasses you can't see out of. Been there, done that a few years ago.

Legoroses · 10/08/2020 08:34

Millicent - yes, thank you. I should have said that about coatings. I have scratched an old pair too.

But otherwise I'll leave you to your misery party, lads. I'm going to enjoy whatever odd bits of this shitshow that I can.

ddl1 · 10/08/2020 09:26

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

Some other countries did, and they have, on the whole, done better than we have.

And when has our government ever done anything with sensible timing with regard to the pandemic?

Aglet · 10/08/2020 09:36

Oh you poor thing. How awful for you, and you being the only one!

bemusedmoose · 10/08/2020 09:38

honestly - no one likes it, we just have to get on with it.

Think of the nhs people that are wearing them all day and having to work and hot stuff hospitals and care for people - that's way more difficult than wearing it to go to places that you have chosen to go to. Other than food shopping nothing else is is optional so you dont have to do it if you dont want to and a mask is that much of a problem.

Be glad you arent in an environment where you either have to wear one all the time for work or where pollution is so high they have to wear them outside too!

Ive had the virus and i can tell you - trying to breathe when you have it is like trying to breathe with a throat full of cotton wool. It makes wearing a mask feel like pure fresh air and at least you can take it off - nothing helps the fact you cant breathe when you have covid.

No face masks dont stop the spread completely but when you cough, sneeze, talk and breathe - that air travels about 10 meters and is breathed in by everyone around you. When wearing a mask that air you breath out only travels about 1 meter. so less people will breathe it in. It doesnt stop the spread but it bloomin well slows it down and that is a fact.

With so many people not showing symptoms or at least not ones that they recognise as covid (my son only had complete exhaustion - he literally slept for 3 days straight none of us had a cough) that means there are tons of people out there spreading it without even knowing it and probably some that just plain dont care.

We just have to get on with it and stop moaning - it's not the worst thing to happen.

WouldBeGood · 10/08/2020 09:38

I’m with you @Sossen

MinnieMousse · 10/08/2020 09:42

People having trouble with glasses, have you tried the shaped cotton ones (the ones that are higher around the bridge of the nose, then lower beneath the eyes)? I have these and haven't had any trouble with my glasses fogging at all, although maybe it depends on your face shape.

godsowncountry · 10/08/2020 09:45

I mean, a matter of weeks ago we couldn't see friends or family and we were limited to carrying out a small amount of activities. We couldn't drive to where we liked and do things we enjoy.

And now you're angry you can do more or less what you want, with the addition of a fabric mask?

I'm an outdoor girl and I'm not arsed about the general public so largely I've avoided inside stuff, but it's not really a hardship is it? I just have a cheapy fabric mask and I don't like wearing it, but it's not a drama.

I can't get over how self involved some people are. It's a small change during a global pandemic. Just give your heads a wobble.

abersoch11 · 10/08/2020 09:48

You may not like it but you should still wear a face covering.

There are over 50,000 people who were here last year but do not have the choice now, because they have died from the virus. More than in the UK from Nazi bombing, to give an idea of the scale.

Bananajuice · 10/08/2020 09:51

I've only read your posts so not sure if anyone has said but if Cineworld is like odeon you can take of your masks once you're in your seat 'bubble' you only have to wear them in open corridors toilets etc

TheGreatWave · 10/08/2020 10:00

FGS People are allowed to moan if they want to. They don't need to get a grip, think about hospital workers or imagine how much worse a ventilator would be.

The OP is wearing one, they don't have to be joyful about it.

Mia1415 · 10/08/2020 10:13

YANBU I absolutely hate them.

I really struggle with masks. I'm asthmatic and technically exempt but because I don't want to have to explain myself constantly I do wear one but I can only tolerate it for 20-30 minutes maximum and only in cool air.

They make me feel really sick and give me a headache as well. I've tried various types and am better with the paper, disposable ones but then I feel guilty due to the environmental aspect.

purplegayle · 10/08/2020 10:43

UABVU when the spanish flu came 100 odd years ago. The second wave was more deadly than the first. The 3rd and 4th just as bad. Over 50 million died. You were fined for not wearing a mask and rightly so. No paper ones back then . Its not hard. I have to wear them up to 8 hours a day. I dont bitch and moan. Nurses, doctors ect cant even stop for a drink. If this virus doesnt go away or we dont find a vaccine it could be years of misery. So woman up. Wear a mask and protect yourself.

cuparfull · 10/08/2020 11:01

@godsowncountry

I mean, a matter of weeks ago we couldn't see friends or family and we were limited to carrying out a small amount of activities. We couldn't drive to where we liked and do things we enjoy.

And now you're angry you can do more or less what you want, with the addition of a fabric mask?

I'm an outdoor girl and I'm not arsed about the general public so largely I've avoided inside stuff, but it's not really a hardship is it? I just have a cheapy fabric mask and I don't like wearing it, but it's not a drama.

I can't get over how self involved some people are. It's a small change during a global pandemic. Just give your heads a wobble.

Hear hear, its just incredible how self-absorbed some people are! Masks aren't a drama...GET OVER YOURSELVES and adjust your lives accordingly. However would people survive the deprivations of a world war. I despair of the preciousness we see these days.
TheGreatWave · 10/08/2020 11:04

You really think that a little cotton mask is going to stop a "2nd wave", whilst pubs are open etc?

Masks alongside strict SD measures, maybe, this half hearted approach, not so much.

WouldBeGood · 10/08/2020 11:09

Capitsl letters, world war and despairing all in one reply!

CausingChaos2 · 10/08/2020 11:13

I suffer from postural orthostatic tachycardia so standing up makes me feel faint, dizzy and breathless at the best of times. I wonder whether I would be exempt but can’t face getting abuse off strangers for not wearing one. I was quizzed at a hospital when I wasn’t wearing one - IMO if people aren’t wearing a mask they shouldn’t have to explain themselves to strangers.

Consequently I’m going out as little as possible for necessities like food shopping and not doing any shopping or browsing otherwise.

JuniperFather · 10/08/2020 11:16

@CausingChaos2

I suffer from postural orthostatic tachycardia so standing up makes me feel faint, dizzy and breathless at the best of times. I wonder whether I would be exempt but can’t face getting abuse off strangers for not wearing one. I was quizzed at a hospital when I wasn’t wearing one - IMO if people aren’t wearing a mask they shouldn’t have to explain themselves to strangers.

Consequently I’m going out as little as possible for necessities like food shopping and not doing any shopping or browsing otherwise.

OK
SockYarn · 10/08/2020 11:21

Why can so many people not read?

Nobody's saying they WON'T wear a mask. Many people are saying that they DON'T LIKE wearing a mask.

Or do we have to pretend that we like things that we don't now? Hmm

zingally · 10/08/2020 11:26

I hate wearing them as well - but of course I wear them as instructed (have been wearing them even before it was mandatory).

Turns out I really don't like having my face covered. It makes me feel quite panicky and claustrophobic, and as a result, I'm actively not going to indoor places half as much as I would pre-covid. I find myself with my mouth hanging open, gasping. Which is probably actually more dangerous than just going mask-less and breathing normally through my nose.

Only going for essentials only, and not browsing for anything. No going "just for a mooch around". It's doing wonders for my bank balance!

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