Shouted at for not wearing my mask outside 😔

[Dandylioness1]

I took my son for a walk at lunch time.
We drove to a nearby park that I haven’t been to many times before.

We were walking and the path became very Narrow.

A couple were walking towards me, it was impossible for us to pass with a 2m
distance it was more like 1m.

It was such a brief encounter and I’d passed other people on the same path with no concerns.

However the female in this couple put her hand out and told me to stop, she began to shout at me for not wearing my mask.

She told me I must not walk past her unless I have my mask on as I’m putting her at risk and I’m ignorant. ☹️

I did have my mask in my bag but I’ve never worn it outside before and especially if it’s just a brief passing, as this was.

The woman was so bloody rude to me I could feel myself getting upset.

I put my mask on and they walked past us.


The thing is they wouldn’t have been face to face with me and it was such a short time for them to pass me.

I honestly feel so upset about this and it’s the first time anyone has ever refused to walk past me outdoors because I don’t have a mask on.

Am I in the wrong?

[SomewhereEast]

@SomewhereEast

I remember taking the DC for our permitted dreary walk around our local streets during the first lockdown and some woman bellowing at us from her front doo that we were all meant to "stay at home" & shouldn't be out. I wasn't very polite . Seriously I think there's going to be some terrible MH issues to unpick after all this.

'Front door' even

[cologne4711]

@Chloemol

She is over reacting, that said I would just have waited at a wider spot for them to pass

If they are the worried ones why don't they wait at a wider spot for people to pass?

I wonder how she reacts to those nasty virus shedding joggers.

[Topseyt]

@GlowingOrb

Why didn’t you just step off the path and let them pass distanced. Pretty much standard protocol these days.

Certainly not possible on many of the paths round here. I know several with a wall or fence on one side and a river on the other. I've no intention of avoiding them either, or of wearing a mask when using them. Fuck that.

[CunnyLingus]

It was such a brief encounter

Ooh, I saw that film for the first time last week. Hope it wasn't quite like that.

Seriously though, she was in the wrong. There is no law that says you have to wear a mask in that situation. I would have told her so and that she was over-reacting. It is not as if she is going to man-handle you of the path.

[Dandylioness1]

@MillieVanilla

No she's on a par with that silly bat who threatened a car driver with the police for driving without a 2m distance

Omg this didn’t happen, did it? 🤣

[NoSquirrels]

Blimey, must take her absolutely ages to have a walk and raise her blood pressure hugely.

Put it out of your mind. She was madly over anxious but you’ll never know why.

The vast majority of people don’t wear masks to go for a walk in the park. You did nothing wrong. And even though she was monumentally rude to you, you were the bigger person and put a mask on so you get all the Good Citizenship points for being kind and not shouting back.

[Nikhedonia]

"No, I won't be doing that" and carry on walking next time.

[Borderterrierpuppy]

Don’t worry op she is the loon not you, I had a guy block my way out of a garage yesterday because in his opinion I should have gone the other way out, people are becoming a little strange :)

[TrixieHeliotrope]

You're not wrong, if she didn't shout at you you'd both be in much less danger.

[MillieVanilla]

[quote Dandylioness1]@MillieVanilla

No she's on a par with that silly bat who threatened a car driver with the police for driving without a 2m distance

Omg this didn’t happen, did it? 🤣[/quote]
Oh but it did
While back now but yep
If you look online you'll find the video

[Mrgrinch]

Eugh if people are so scared then they should just stay home.

[Runnerduck34]

Youre not in the wrong, if she was that concerned maybe she should rethink her walk and keep to wider paths and open spaces , she sounds awful, walking past someone quickly in the open air at a distance of 1m is fine and there are no rules about wearing a mask outside. she was not only wrong but very very rude and ignorant

[Nicknacky]

My 13 year old daughter was sat on a garden wall talking to her friend who lives a couple of doors up from us, her friend was sat on the door step.

A man walked past her shouting “two metres” and that he couldn’t socially distance as she was sat on the wall. Well, he could have if he had stepped to his right hand side. I gave her permission to be rude if that happened again.

What is wrong with people?

[IrmaFayLear]

I nearly posted a similar scenario yesterday.

I was in the shielding category and have barely been out since March. I was out for a walk yesterday and was on a country road that was quite wide - enough for two cars to pass. A couple approached on the other side of the road and I began to smile/nod, as one does when encountering a fellow walker.

Suddenly the man started shouting “Get back!!” and put his hand out. Then he said, “We’re shielding - get back!” So I said “Same here” cheerfully and then he yelled “Get away from us!!” and looked so angry that I kept on walking really fast. It was really horrible and I was quite shaken. I was a good 10 feet away from them and had no intention of speaking/stopping - I was just walking past minding my own business.

I know some people are eccentric, but covid does seem to have given some people a free pass to be downright nasty to others.

[CorianderQueen]

I'd have told her to fuck off and reread the rules.

[Dandylioness1]

@MillieVanilla

Oh but it did
While back now but yep
If you look online you'll find the video

I’ve just watched it. How have I never seen this before! 🙈

[KatherineJaneway]

She's lucky it wasn't me, I would have just ignored her and carried on. She would have blown a gasket at that by the sounds of things.

You did nothing wrong.

[Dandylioness1]

@IrmaFayLear

I nearly posted a similar scenario yesterday.

I was in the shielding category and have barely been out since March. I was out for a walk yesterday and was on a country road that was quite wide - enough for two cars to pass. A couple approached on the other side of the road and I began to smile/nod, as one does when encountering a fellow walker.

Suddenly the man started shouting “Get back!!” and put his hand out. Then he said, “We’re shielding - get back!” So I said “Same here” cheerfully and then he yelled “Get away from us!!” and looked so angry that I kept on walking really fast. It was really horrible and I was quite shaken. I was a good 10 feet away from them and had no intention of speaking/stopping - I was just walking past minding my own business.

I know some people are eccentric, but covid does seem to have given some people a free pass to be downright nasty to others.

@IrmaFayLear

Sorry you had to experience this too.😔

[IrmaFayLear]

Perhaps it was the same couple, Dandylioness1 !!

Now I keep thinking up smart comebacks, but you know what it’s like - in the heat of the moment you just have your mouth hanging open in astonishment. Like you, I was the one who felt in the wrong and embarrassed, when it was they who were being rude and nasty.

[Goosefoot]

A lot of people are irrational and prone to magical thinking. If the mask is on, they think they are safe, if off, they think they are not safe.

There is a pond people often walk around in my neighbourhood and some lady posted on the area FB page that people should wear masks to walk there. There were a variet of responses, but I pointed out that a) not required and b) all the evidence sad that was not a situation where it was being passed. And also that it's not good to become too anxious about situations that aren't risky.

You'd think I had advocated putting babies out to be eaten by dogs by the response. I assume not just because I disagreed as others did as well, but because I based my disagreement on the data they had collected for how it had been spreading in the community.

[waterlego]

If someone is as anxious as this woman about being outside in proximity to strangers then I really think the onus is on them to ensure they avoid others at all costs.

[MummBraTheEverLeaking]

Bet if you were a 6ft bloke build like a brickhouse she wouldn't have dared say a thing. But a woman on her own for these kind of people are a target to bully and feel sanctimonious and/or better about their sad lives.

[VulvaPerson]

YANBU from what you have said, at all.

This would probably have been stalemate for me. You would think, if she was so concerned, she might just..move away to let you past. I was about to say I would have just stood until she changed her mind, but in likelihood I would have just ignored her, walked past and forgot about it.

[hamstersarse]

I find it so sad that we have inflicted this level of fear into people.

YANBU OP, but I really fear for that woman's mental health - it is not OK to be living in that level of anxiety about something which probably doesn't pose an enormous threat to her life, and certainly a mask wouldn't save her anyway if it were a big threat to her.

We have induced a mass hysteria

[Impatiens]

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