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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you feel like an absolute d**k in a mask?

401 replies

NC4NW123 · 11/09/2020 18:46

Whether you agree with them or not... do you?

OP posts:
Florencex · 12/09/2020 09:28

@86Emily

Absolutely.

I hate the blasted things. I can't wait for the day I no longer have to wear a mask.

Oh I hate them too. But I don’t feel like a dick, because we (most of us) are supposed to wear them and everybody is wearing one.
Thurmanmurman · 12/09/2020 09:30

No because everyone has one. I do hate them but it's not forever.

Okbutnotgreat · 12/09/2020 09:45

I don’t like wearing masks but I understand why so I do it. My biggest difficulty is hearing what people are saying to me with masks or even visits. Everything is muffled and unclear and it’s making me less inclined to go anywhere that I need to have a conversation. With regard tge the exemptions I’m not 100% I personally feel that if you are unable to wear a mask (or just don’t want to) you should be discouraged from shopping etc in confined spaces because you pose a risk to others. I’m wearing a mask to prevent possible infection passing to others so you should do something too and if that means staying away from shops etc then so be it. Everyone has to make some contribution surely to preventing the spread.

BiBabbles · 12/09/2020 09:45

The writings from past pandemics where masks were worn, both distant and more recent has shown that even when mask wearing becomes very normalized, eventually most people go back to cultural norms. A pandemic isn't enough to shift them, it would take more enforcement than that.

I wore headcoverings and had all but hands and face covered for a decade before choosing to stop, yes, at first one can feel naked without a simple thing (that was actually part of my motivation to stop, I shouldn't feel naked in my own home with a knock at the door just from not wearing a headcovering), but generally - as in the article - it can be as simple as not seeing the point one day or forgetting one day and only realizing once well out the door. For me, stopping headcoverings took conscious steps, but the first time I left the house in just a long shirt and leggings (rather than wearing a skirt as well), I didn't realize until I was at the bus stop. There was that moment of 'wtf have I done?' anxiety, but as I looked just like anyone else, it quickly passed. I still mostly wear skirts now as only needing one measurement makes buying them far easier, but I no longer feel naked in one that's just below my knees rather than at my ankles.

Months from now, the same will start happening with face masks on. Once they're no longer enforced, the social stigma for not wearing them will fade, and most will stop. How those who need to continue on is in question - there were stigma issues for those medically recommended to wear masks pre-COVID - but I don't think this is any 'new normal'. At least where I am, masks are pretty much only worn in shopping areas, shops, public transport, and medical places - oh and house viewings. I go anywhere else and very few people wear a face covering.

userxx · 12/09/2020 10:01

@86Emily Can't wait either! I will be skipping around the supermarkets instead of avoiding!

YouJustDoYou · 12/09/2020 10:02

We're Japanese, so, no. Used to it.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 12/09/2020 10:49

Not since I found comfortable well fitting masks that don't fog my glasses up. I looked like i needed windscreen wipers before this discovery!!

DizzyPigeon · 12/09/2020 11:35

Not since I found comfortable well fitting masks that don't fog my glasses up

Please share! Glasses fogging is the absolute worst thing about mask wearing.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 12/09/2020 11:46

I got mine from etsy - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/lindyloucrafts23

A friend recommended them and I have to say I'm really impressed. They wash lovely too.

DizzyPigeon · 12/09/2020 13:33

Thank you!

SchadenfreudePersonified · 12/09/2020 14:42

The metal strip/glasses tip unfortunately doesn't work, btw, if you have a very small nose

I am blessed with a very large one, and those strips don't work for me, either.

However I have made my own masks - the shaped ones, rather than the oblongs with pleats - and find them better (though still not perfect)

DizzyPigeon · 12/09/2020 14:45

What works really well with glasses and disposable masks (not tried it with reusable ones) it's a strip of micropore sticking the mask to the nose /cheeks. No fogging.

I only do it for work, but for people that are wearing masks for a while it might be worth trying for reusable too.

contrmary · 12/09/2020 14:45

I don't feel like a dick, "complete fucking cunt" would be a better description. Still, people are less likely to recognise it's me!

Dee1975 · 12/09/2020 14:47

Nope. And I love muttering things under my breath at people in the supermarket and they have no idea ....🤣

MadameBee · 12/09/2020 14:47

You would look more of a dick in a coffin 🤷‍♀️

Stargirl89 · 12/09/2020 14:50

Are the masks really working though when rates are going up? It seems since we've been in them it doesn't seem to have changed anything ??

Infullbloom · 12/09/2020 14:54

Oh what a load of sanctimonious bollocks on this thread. So it's not good enough to wear a mask when required now we have to like wearing them?
It's OK to wear a mask AND feel like a dick wearing one Hmm, let's not try to pretend it's perfectly normal to walk around with material covering our mouths and noses.

PumpkinPie2016 · 12/09/2020 15:18

I don't think they look great but it is what it is and everyone is in the same boat. I hate wearing it because it steams my glasses up.

At work, I wear a visor (teacher) and bought one which has safety specs attached so that I don't have elastic round my head and it's easy to get on/off.

VestroPrincipiDivino · 12/09/2020 15:25

Surely there's a difference between "I don't like wearing it" and "I feel like a dick wearing it"?

Like, I don't really like wearing a bicycle helmet cos they make me sweaty. I don't feel like a dick wearing one though. I just feel normal, except more sweaty.

Sojo88 · 12/09/2020 15:27

It's funny - even though everyone wears one I do feel self conscious wearing one!

TheSeedsOfADream · 12/09/2020 15:31

It's true that it becomes the norm. We were in complete lockdown here, so dp was the designated shopper and I was in the house from 9/3 to 4/5. The first time I went for a walk with mask on, I felt all "oooh everyone's looking" then realised everyone was the same, we were out for the first time in so long we were all just peering at fellow humans that we weren't living with!

Ghostlyglow · 12/09/2020 15:57

@Infullbloom well said

Moo678 · 12/09/2020 16:14

I genuinely think I look quite mysterious and sexy in mine!!

Aridane · 12/09/2020 16:14

I lobe youR attitude , @Moo678

Aridane · 12/09/2020 16:15

I actually think I look like quite a cute, if tired looking, medic