For thinking what's the fucking point anymore?

[SapphireSeptember]

"You shouldn't say that because you don't know what people are going though!"
Which is what a woman said to me when I asked her to pull up her mask yesterday. Right back at you. How the fuck does she think me and my colleagues feel having to deal with Covidiots like her on a daily basis? (I work in a supermarket.) She had her nose sticking out and kept pulling her mask away from her face, but because she's struggling and trying her best (so am I) that makes it acceptable? She didn't say she was exempt, and honestly if you're wearing a mask wear the damned thing properly! I then overheard her say 'How dare she say that to me?" to one of my colleagues in a really angry voice. I couldn't have been more fucking polite about it if I'd tried!
(I wish I'd said what I was thinking, that I dare because I'm more scared of getting Covid and dying from it than I am of shitty customers, but that might not have helped.)
I'm getting to the stage where I just want to lock myself in my house and refuse to come out until this is all over. I'm having panic attacks, my mental health is shot, and I don't feel like I can do this anymore. I'm also autistic and find certain things hard to cope with. The only reason I go to work is because I work with some lovely people who are keeping me sane at the moment.

Added to that the two women I was working with yesterday were agreeing with her. I spoke to my manager who confirmed I'd done the right thing, and when I told them that they got shirty with me too.

Then there was the fuckwit I dealt with on Friday. Again, I asked him to pull his mask up over his nose. "I don't think so' he said, and pulled one of those sunflower lanyards out of his shirt. Apparently he's exempt because he's autistic, but chooses to wear a mask. (See above, I was also standing next to a colleague of mine who's autistic.) I couldn't quite believe it, either wear one or don't, they don't work if your nose is sticking out, he was with a young woman who was wearing hers properly and another bloke who also had his nose sticking out. (I've noticed in my area it's men who are more likely to want to share their germs with everyone else.)

Then there are the people who walk in without wearing one at all, I was doing my shopping after work and three people, not a mask among them. I asked them if they had masks, the two women pulled theirs out and the bloke said he didn't have one, but of course he didn't bother going to where we keep the spare ones, he just carried on walking along. Twat.

Cherrysherbet, I'm really sorry that you feel that you have to do that but we are in the middle of a pandemic that is killing millions. You don't need to go into chapter and verse over your mental health issues, just say you're exempt, you don't owe your customers access to your medical history.
You are right everyone is suffering, just try to be nice.

OP, I'm pissed off on your behalf now.
I can't believe how many posters are telling you off because you're objecting to someone else endangering you.
God, I can't wait for this pandemic to be over.

I think if you really cannot wear a mask properly whilst shopping for half an hour or whatever then you probably shouldn’t be in shops for now

It's all very well saying this - but are people then supposed to take a supermarket delivery slot which should really be available to someone who has to stay in? What if someone is working all day and has to call in at a shop on their way home, so couldn't wait in all day for a supermarket delivery even if they thought it was fair to take one when there are people who need it more?

I have occasionally had to move my mask away from my face briefly in a shop because I'm menopausal, and I might suddenly be stricken by a hot flush that is made a thousand times worse by a mask. (I detest masks even without this problem). I don't know when this is going to happen, though I move away to the quietest possible corner when it does. Am I supposed to stay at home until the menopause is over?

I had a bad moment in the haberdashery dept of John Lewis pre-lockdown 3. The assistant - a woman of a similar age - told me to sit down and take my mask off. She said she was all in favour of masks, but she was even more in favour of being human.

I wish more shops would pull people up on wearing masks properly. And yes, it's mostly men.
Actually, I don't give a fuck about their special pleading/autism/fearof masks/ whatever other twaddle they come out with - their Covid breath is as infectious as anyone else's. Fine if you don't want to wear a mask - just stay home.

How is there even an exempt thing anyway?
What’s the guide?
I’ve seen customers struggle with all kinds & still manage it.
What constitutes not needing one?

I’ve never handed out so many lanyards recently. It’s a joke.
Customers won’t even follow the directions because apparently; “ l can see there was nobody coming!”
Even though we can see ( from our angles) the customers using the guidance correctly - and are about to crash into them!

@katy1213

I wish more shops would pull people up on wearing masks properly. And yes, it's mostly men. Actually, I don't give a fuck about their special pleading/autism/fearof masks/ whatever other twaddle they come out with - their Covid breath is as infectious as anyone else's. Fine if you don't want to wear a mask - just stay home.

This. Absolutely. Only the British could manage to make such a meal of it!

The guidelines in shops are simple. You wear a face covering unless exempt, which case you wear a lanyard. You shop alone. It’s not exactly hard.

I think everyone now has run out of all patience..doesn't excuse rudeness but you can understand why I think.

I have occasionally had to move my mask away from my face briefly in a shop because I'm menopausal, and I might suddenly be stricken by a hot flush that is made a thousand times worse by a mask. (I detest masks even without this problem). I don't know when this is going to happen, though I move away to the quietest possible corner when it does. Am I supposed to stay at home until the menopause is over?

come ON.
You’ll feel much worse if you get ill.

@GabriellaMontez

Some people try and wear them but have to take them off for a bit. What's so hard to understand about this?

Then don’t do it when you’re 6 inches away from someone at the till. What’s so hard to understand about this?

@MakeWorkYourNewFavourite

Also, this exemption thing doesn't exist in France either. There are no lanyards. Everyone has to wear a mask as soon as they leave their front door. I don't know what people are playing at in the UK. I might be wrong, but I've not heard of this happening over here at all. The police hang around in supermarket car parks fining people 150 EUR for not wearing one. There's no messing around. I remember feeling AWFUL when I first had to wear a mask. It was dreadfully suffocating, but a year later and I'm used to it.

In contrast to the UK where the car parks the police hang around are in the countryside/coast and the fine is for taking a walk in the open air at the countryside/coast. Funnily enough, among the tends of thousands of fines issued to individuals, very few (if any) fines to companies for workplace safety/being non-essential.

@Cherrysherbet But you're wearing a lanyard. I have eyes, if I clock someone wearing one I don't ask, if they're not I do. Simple. The guy in my OP had it under his jumper, I don't have X-ray vision. Some people also have things on their phone that they wave at us as they go past, which is fine by me. I also have colleagues who can't wear them for whatever reason.

All this foot stamping about Covid police, fuck off. It's the law and it's there for a bloody good reason. We have had police have a wander round the shop a few times, I'm sure these people would prefer for me to ask them to wear the damned things properly then the rozzers. If you want to be abusive to shop staff who ask you to wear a mask properly then fine, at least where I am management and security are backing us up. (And no, I don't like wearing them either and I wear them all bloody day.)

My take on it is, if you don’t want/cant wear a mask, wear a visor or stay home. All the reasons for not wearing a mask can be resolved by wearing a visor. Supermarkets need to get tough on this.

@withlotsoflove

I have occasionally had to move my mask away from my face briefly in a shop because I'm menopausal, and I might suddenly be stricken by a hot flush that is made a thousand times worse by a mask. (I detest masks even without this problem). I don't know when this is going to happen, though I move away to the quietest possible corner when it does. Am I supposed to stay at home until the menopause is over?

come ON.
You’ll feel much worse if you get ill.

Yes never leave the house again until the menopause is over .

Also: think about it. You’re just shopping. It shouldn’t take too long & you don’t have to rush.
Try a nine hour shift - having to rush about, talk relentlessly - stack shelves in one?!

@SapphireSeptember I'm more scared of getting Covid and dying from it than I am of shitty customers, but that might not have helped.)
I'm getting to the stage where I just want to lock myself in my house and refuse to come out until this is all over. I'm having panic attacks, my mental health is shot

Do you have certain health issues that make you vulnerable to reacting severely to c19? If you do then working in retail probably isn’t the best at the moment.

If you’re not seriously vulnerable then you need to seek help for your paranoia and anxiety. Don’t take your paranoia and anxiety out on others. Your colleague pulled her mask down for a moment to breathe. It’s difficult for many people to wear a mask for hours.

It is mainly the elderly, obese and those with health conditions that react severely to covid19. Most people recover after a few days and don’t need to go to hospital.

@GabriellaMontez

Some people try and wear them but have to take them off for a bit. What's so hard to understand about this?

That's what I do. I struggle enormously with masks. It's as much as I can manage 20 minutes round Asda. Yes if i'm the only person in an aisle i'll pull it down. Yes if I can feel myself getting sweaty and panicky, i'll pull it away from my face for 10 seconds.

But that's not good enough for some people....

@SapphireSeptember

"You shouldn't say that because you don't know what people are going though!" Which is what a woman said to me when I asked her to pull up her mask yesterday. Right back at you. How the fuck does she think me and my colleagues feel having to deal with Covidiots like her on a daily basis? (I work in a supermarket.) She had her nose sticking out and kept pulling her mask away from her face, but because she's struggling and trying her best (so am I) that makes it acceptable? She didn't say she was exempt, and honestly if you're wearing a mask wear the damned thing properly! I then overheard her say 'How dare she say that to me?" to one of my colleagues in a really angry voice. I couldn't have been more fucking polite about it if I'd tried! (I wish I'd said what I was thinking, that I dare because I'm more scared of getting Covid and dying from it than I am of shitty customers, but that might not have helped.) I'm getting to the stage where I just want to lock myself in my house and refuse to come out until this is all over. I'm having panic attacks, my mental health is shot, and I don't feel like I can do this anymore. I'm also autistic and find certain things hard to cope with. The only reason I go to work is because I work with some lovely people who are keeping me sane at the moment. Added to that the two women I was working with yesterday were agreeing with her. I spoke to my manager who confirmed I'd done the right thing, and when I told them that they got shirty with me too.

Then there was the fuckwit I dealt with on Friday. Again, I asked him to pull his mask up over his nose. "I don't think so' he said, and pulled one of those sunflower lanyards out of his shirt. Apparently he's exempt because he's autistic, but chooses to wear a mask. (See above, I was also standing next to a colleague of mine who's autistic.) I couldn't quite believe it, either wear one or don't, they don't work if your nose is sticking out, he was with a young woman who was wearing hers properly and another bloke who also had his nose sticking out. (I've noticed in my area it's men who are more likely to want to share their germs with everyone else.)

Then there are the people who walk in without wearing one at all, I was doing my shopping after work and three people, not a mask among them. I asked them if they had masks, the two women pulled theirs out and the bloke said he didn't have one, but of course he didn't bother going to where we keep the spare ones, he just carried on walking along. Twat.

Apart from the fact that I haven't said that to anybody in a shop I could have been her. Twice recently when I have worn a mask I've had to fight off a panic attack. When I've been in the queue (so 2m+ away from people) I've had to pull my mask out slightly. I am exempt but wear one anyway. YABU.

Think everyone’s patience has gone and everyone is operating on high stress levels. I work on covid itu, I’ve never cried at work all shift long. It’s so futile I can’t even cope any more and I’ve been doing this a while so I’m used to difficult family conversations and cardiac arrests. I consider myself pretty resilient but I’m on the edge and wonder what the point is of anything any more. There is literally no difference in outcome whether I try my best at work or not for these poor people and their families. I’m not sure what my point is, I’ve no opinions on mask wearing and can see it from both sides having worn proper PPE for over 80hours this week it’s truly miserable. Just wanted somewhere to vent it out before I go back to the coalface so please no horrible MN replies 😔

@Weaveron

I had something similar happen where I work, I was serving a lady who started having an asthma attack, sat her down, got her some water and said it was fine if she took her mask off. She told me her doctor had told her she shouldn't wear them but she wanted to, because she wanted to do her bit. I got her a lanyard and told her where she could get the exemption cards to put on them.

(To all the people who think I think I'm the Covid police. See? I'm not totally evil! And if I was the Covid police I'd be arresting the annoying little viruses that have buggered everything up.)

Oh yeah, and whoever told me to keep off the Coronavirus board, I AM. AND I avoid the news like the plague. Can't stop people talking about it though.

It is mainly the elderly, obese and those with health conditions that react severely to covid19. Most people recover after a few days and don’t need to go to hospital

And the elderly, obese and with health conditions go shopping. Don’t they deserve to be protected?

@Moraxella Thank you for your work, that must be so awful to deal with.

No mask no entry it should be. If you can’t wear a mask for a few minutes stay at home. Get someone else to get your shopping.

You have my sympathy. I also work in retail and the things we’ve had to put up with is unbelievable. I’ve been sworn at, colleagues have been sworn at, people still come in to browse, whole families, they’re not even buying anything just having a day out it seems like. Even today, it’s been snowing heavily where I live yet they’re out in force having a browse. A man couldn’t wait a moment for me to move so he barged into me to get past. Rude at the best of times but where was the 2 metre rule? I’ve had enough now. They don’t wear their masks or they don’t wear them properly. Selfish people. It upsets me we’re putting ourselves at risk for these idiots. Here’s to a better day tomorrow for you 💐

I cannot wait until this is all over and nobody mentions masks EVER AGAIN!