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.

And what did you say to the person who called you a selfish bitch? I know that I’d have a lot to say if someone dared to call me that when my dc was exempt from wearing a mask.

I'm spending more money in shops now to make up for the moaning minis who aren't.
A little bit of sacrifice to try to ensure a winter with less lockdown, is surely worth doing?

If no, don't moan when you have more freedom taken off you this winter because we've failed to contain the numbers.

We've just got to get on with it and do the best we can to keep the numbers down. Wearing a mask is part of that. It's not nice but you can moan or you can try to do it with a positive attitude.

Yes masks are shite, Yanbu to not want to wear them, no one does.

Yabvu to resent or not understand why it is so important to wear them.

Likening being asked to wear a mask to help prevent the spread of a disease to the Taliban takes Bingo to a whole new level tbf.

@Lockheart sorry, I misunderstood your point. It does worry me though is people think it makes it safer when it doesn’t?

I;m not a conspiracy theorist. I do believe that Covid is real, I know people who have had it.

But what;s seriously worrying is the worldwide reaction to it. It's fairly clear people are terrified, in a way they're not terrified of getting other diseases or conditions with a worse prognosis for many, or of being in a car accident or something. There is no opposition - nobody questioning whether masks are actually worthwhile or whether we need to be relaxing lockdown quicker, or in a different way.

So many people desperate to snitch on their neighbours, "call out" people not behaving in a way they deem acceptable, embarrass people with medical reasons for not wearing masks. That;s the worst of it. I know I'm medically exempt from mask-wearing. But it's the reaction of the rest of you to seeing me out in Asda in a visor. The reactions will be:

wear a fucking mask
stay the fuck at home if you're not wearing a mask
tutting, hissing, hard stares
loud comments to the people they're with
a tiny minority realising that people are exempt and it's not their place to police it.

That's the awful bit. Realise that a higher percentage of people than I'd originally thought are just horrible.

I find the blue clinical ones very hot, the cotton ones I made are much better, and yes you can hear people talk

But not to wear one is worse,

How AIBU to resent wearing one? I’m wearing one and “doing my bit” but I can’t help the way I feel.

There's something dystopian and unpleasant about muzzling people. Because effectively that's what it is. This and the stealth increase in police powers makes me very uncomfortable.

I wear a face covering to do the weekly shop but am trying to avoid all other shops apart from that. I am someone who in previous times would browse shops 3-4 times a week in my lunch break, and at least 1 weekend a month. I'm not doing any of that now. Most of those shops are not online so I will have to do without. I'm sure many others are doing the same.

My daughter is except due to her asthma and autism but she feels forced to.

Could you make a really lightweight one so that it looks like she's wearing one but actually it's doing nothing to impair her breathing? Like a single layer of thin cotton.

Masks do also protect you

It's as logical as social distancing

Stand 2m away and let someone throw gravel at you. Lots hits you

Stand 5m away and repeat, less hits you

Having a shield in either of these cases will improve your chances of not being hit

I find it interesting that people got fully behind social distancing, which is an entirely arbitrary number, without waiting for it to be strongly evidenced.

But when it comes to masks, despite being pretty fucking obvious, people all of a sudden won't comply without evidence that's probably outside of their understanding anyway

I'm just about starting to get used to wearing one for short periods, but the thing I've really noticed is that you can't smile at anyone any more.

There's something dystopian and unpleasant about muzzling people. Because effectively that's what it is.

It really isn't. 🙄

Try wearing a mask for 12 hrs, changing every 4 hours.

@TempsPerdu

I definitely found it made any communication and interaction feel a bit weird and ‘forced’ the first few times I wore one but it seems much more normal now. I’ve got used to enunciating more clearly to make sure I am heard, compensating in other ways (cheesy ‘thumbs up’ gets used more!). I’ve had plenty of conversations now where I don’t even think about the fact we’re wearing masks. Unfortunately I have had a lot of cause to see doctors recently and they’ve all been able to communicate clearly, be friendly and reassuring whilst wearing a mask, it’s just not been an issue.

It’s just like any other aspect of this, you mostly adapt and get used to it. I used to hate video calls but we’ve learned how to use them better since lockdown. Social distancing felt Very unnatural at first but now It’s almost second nature to give each other more space.

'How long are you willing to wear a mask for? Is there an end point? What if a vaccine is not available for years, are you happy to carry on?'

YES, if the alternatives are to live in complete isolation for years, or to risk horrible illness. I'm actually more afraid of long-term invalidism than I am of dying as such, though I'm afraid of dying too! I also don't want to risk killing or disabling my older friends and relatives. (I'm not a spring chicken myself, and am in a moderately-increased risk group.)

It's taken a while but I've finally seen someone equate it to a niqab

fffffffffs

I get that it protects others but I touch my face way more now than I did before wearing a mask as I'd developed the habit of not touching it. Now my hands are touching multiple surfaces where others have touched and then taking my mask on and off or adjusting it so I don't suffocate.

I now feel less safe than before. Touching unclean surfaces is more worrisome than someone with the virus, 2 m away from me.

The mask doesn't protect you

It does, albeit mostly by stopping you touching your mouth and nose.

See I think the nhs early need for masks is a fallacy. The nhs need medical grade PPE not the masks and buffs we are being asked to wear. Unless the government thought people were too stupid to understand that, the NHS need for masks is not the reason we aren’t asked to wear them early.

@Jojobar

There's something dystopian and unpleasant about muzzling people. Because effectively that's what it is. This and the stealth increase in police powers makes me very uncomfortable.

I wear a face covering to do the weekly shop but am trying to avoid all other shops apart from that. I am someone who in previous times would browse shops 3-4 times a week in my lunch break, and at least 1 weekend a month. I'm not doing any of that now. Most of those shops are not online so I will have to do without. I'm sure many others are doing the same.

It's not a muzzle. It's a mask. Don't be so bloody obtuse.

Unless you are in the habit of biting people, you are not being muzzled. If you were of that persuasion I'd hope you'd be more than muzzled.

See I’be been called daft for not being overly concerned about getting seriously ill with this virus. Don’t get me wrong I have taken all the necessary precautions but mostly this is so that I don’t pass anything on to my children or dh that’s it. We are all young fit healthy no medical conditions don’t smoke aren’t overweight etc. Yet some people expect you to be terrified. Well I’m sorry but I refused to live in fear.

Well no one enjoys wearing one, but a lot us don’t have a choice. I wear one ten hours a day four days a week for work, while also wearing an apron, gloves and a plastic face visor every time I see a patient (which is a lot). So I’m kind of sick of hearing people moaning about it being so hard to wear one for an hour at the shops. Yeah it’s not nice, but it’s to protect people, and essentially it’s your choice to go out to those kinds of places, many of us don’t have the choice to not go to work and wear full PPE all day, so sorry for my lack of sympathy.

Masks are really not as bad as being on a ventilator-that you would hate.

What do you guys touch when you go out?

I go to the shop. My left hand touches the flat front door. My left knuckles push buttons on touch screen or whatever and I pick up my shopping but that's it. I don't really touch any other surfaces when I'm out and about

I figured it'd be easier to stop touching stuff rather than stopping touching my face