Mask Question

[Carrotinthesky]

I'm approaching 70 years old, and I work 3 days a week in a seaside town 15 miles away. 20 minute train ride from almost my doorstep, to my place of work. Hop off the train, 3 minute walk. It's a branch line, so not much used on rainy, cold, or winter days. Often have a carriage to myself. But flaming Norah, if it's school hols or a hot sunny day, the carriage is heaving!
And that's fine as well. Except nobody is wearing masks any more, even though they're mandated on trains. Notices and announcements everywhere. £200 fine for not wearing a mask. I hopped on the train yesterday, and there was no spare seat that didn't involve sitting amongst maskless teen-agers. Even their 40 + ish parents, some of whom were present, were maskless.
When the conductor came along to take fares, as soon as they all heard "tickets please" they all pulled up their chin masks or fumbled in their pockets to assure that they were being good citizens and abiding by the rules. As soon as he'd gone, of course, they dumped the masks and continued chattering and laughing and doing what teenagers do. Nothing wrong with that obviously, under normal circumstances. I will and I do just suck it up. I was young once! But I do wish we could find a way to stop this carelessness of others in this unprecedented situation. In my personal situation, it's at most, a 20 minute train journey. Is it that hard for young healthy teens (and their 40ish healthy parents) to just obey the rules of the rail service they are using?

I realise that they are also risking their own chances of catching covid as well as mine. But for the sake of 20 minutes mask wearing, they might avoid passing on a virus that likely won't kill them, but might kill me.

I’m afraid a flimsy piece of fabric isn’t going to protect you. It’s been one of the biggest misconceptions of this whole sorry affair.

@IRanSoFarAway1 it's not mandatory. The other day I went in a couple of shops without a mask and I swear I was getting evils apart from one person who smiled at me and I missed that kind of interaction. I saw two women in masks, visors, plastic gloves and their own baskets. Each to their own....

It's depressing how many people are willing to jettison masks in indoor spaces. If there is a high uptake of mask wearing it significantly reduces transmission. I'd take that minor inconvenience as a decent trade off for curbing infection rates and lowering the risk of yet another lockdown.

Allowing cases to keep rising will nurture the rise of variants, which may well be resistant to vaccines. It also escalates hospital admissions, which then increases the backlog of surgery for non-covid related reasons.
OP, I'd splurge on the more protective ffp2 /n95 masks, as they offer a better degree of protection. Also people pretending to wear masks only while the inspector is there would give me the rage. Own your decisions.

Think it's a condition of carriage on tfl services and then it's up to individual operators whether they enforce on other services

For some people, quite alot of people, they wore masks because they had to and not for any other reason, once that's gone those people aren't going to wear them in any situation where there isn't a mandate.

I agree that people should probably be more cautious, but there's not alot you can do about it

Funnily enough the most begrudging of wearers were most often the "govt scaremongering" lot and now they're the most vocal supporters of "govt advice" now it says what they want

Yeah, it's crappy of them. In your place I think I'd stand by the door for the whole journey where I was well away from people and the air is being refreshed when the doors open, assuming you are able. It's crap that it means you can't have a seat though

Yeah, that's what I did. Fortunately, our English weather is also often crappy. Throughout the winter, and rainy or cold days, I have a whole carriage to myself. So that's more often than not.

After my experience yesterday, of the coughing, shouting, seat swapping and cavorting maskless hoardes of teenagers and their hapless parents, I shall be driving myself there and back. I usually get the train to save the planet. But no more. I can now, without conscience, drive my beloved, highly polished and aged C3 to my place of work. Fuck the planet, save myself. I am merely following their philosophy of life.
Why bother to save the planet for somebody who gives not a fuck about me?

[quote AnUnoriginalUsername]@user1471453601 do you genuinely want us to wear masks forever? Covid 19 isn't going away.[/quote]
I support masking until all have had opportunity to be vaccinated bringing transmission rates down. 30% of adults still not double vaccinated

Also people pretending to wear masks only while the inspector is there would give me the rage. Own your decisions

Exactly. That's what made me post. "Oh look at me, I'm doing the right thing" . Which means they know what they should be doing. It's not like they don't know, or they forgot. They have the bloody masks there in their pockets to pull out when the ticket inspector comes round.
It's 20 bloody minutes at most. Anyway. I'm going to eat up some fossil fuel and drive in future.

I would be just as frustrated as you, op. It is pure selfishness.

Unfortunately there is a lot of anger on both sides. I am on the non-masking side and feel very resentful that they have been mandatory. Other people, including my parents, are angry about people not wearing masks. An elderly relative put a dreadful Facebook post up the other day trying to persuade people to wear a mask and stay at home! What a life eh? I don't like confrontation but I feel so strongly about not wearing a mask that I honestly don't think confrontation over this would bother me. And burning fossil fuels and destroying the planet were invented by the older generations weren't they? And the younger generations are left with trying to sort it out.

And further to my comment above, where I wrote support masking until all have had opportunity to be vaccinated bringing transmission rates down. 30% of adults still not double vaccinated, some may respond 93% have covid antibodies.

However, I have read it is not yet known how having detectable antibodies, now or at some time in the past, affects the chance of catching the virus again. The Covidence study on Queen Mary University website says:

“The presence of antibodies does not remove the need for vaccination, which is likely to offer additional protection over and above that provided following natural infection.”

Just full of people who are selfish now...oh everyone's vaccinated let us do what we want. Comparing to pneumonia and the likes is nonsense..pneumonia isn't spreading around like damn covid and believe me if you had it you wouldn't be on the train to spread it to anyone else in the first place.

I have a 4 year old who has had pneumonia more times than most people in here will have had a cold. They are CEV and remain unvaccinated, luckily pneumonia has many known treatments in this country but covid could very well be fatal for an unvaccinated CEV child. Luckily I'm in a part of the UK that hasn't removed masks yet but others who live in England aren't so lucky and yet people can't wear a mask in an enclosed space.
A lot of people don't realise how close they all are on the line to being vulnerable themselves.
Someone I know (ex friend unfortunately due to their covid views about it only being the vulnerable and how they weren't following rules to protect others has just discovered this very thing as they are now one of the vulnerable themselves and now desperate for other people to do the right thing for them....funny how life works)

This v long twitter thread by Prof Trish Greenhalgh looks in detail why information gathered in the last 18 months strongly supports masks reduces community transmission. She argues it will it be safe for the public to stop wearing masks in indoor spaces when there is no longer uncontrolled spread in the community.

twitter.com/trishgreenhalgh/status/1414294003479089154?s=20

I still wear my mask, it's courtesy to others. Sad that those on the train are so selfish they can't see that their behaviour might be putting others at risk... I agree that people are more likely to think only of themselves these days, but I am not sure what you can do about it.

And burning fossil fuels and destroying the planet were invented by the older generations weren't they? And the younger generations are left with trying to sort it out

That wasn't willfully. We had no idea. Life was so much more simple.
We used less of the world's resources less, and needed less.
Resources weren't being eaten up by increasing demand for gadgets and big cars and lots of things we never had, or wanted or needed. And most of us are doing whatever we humanly can to reduce what we use. Everyone my age, that I know, are concerned for the future of our children and grandchildren. Very much so.

@Zotter, thanks for that very useful link. My DD has been following her and regularly updated me on her posts

@Zotter, thanks for that very useful link

Ditto. I just hope people will bother to read it.

I will be using the train at the weekend to go to visit my elderly and fairly vulnerable mother.

I'm very much hoping that services won't be too crowded as I don't want to wear my mask. I haven't taken to masks well due to various issues and my ability to tolerate them has been variable on each occasion.

I will use exemption if I need to, though a near empty train carriage can be nice and does happen.

Stop getting het up and trying to police other people. Use the train if you want to or drive if you want to. The choice is yours to make. Stop pretending that it is because other people don't want to cover their faces with horrible, damp and clammy pieces of cloth that can make some of us feel as though we are struggling to breathe.

@Carrotinthesky

Can you direct me to a link?

Ner,
I can't. I'd have just thought it common courtesy to take precautions during a pandemic, especially when I knew I might be sharing a space with vulnerable people.
Times have changed. Nobody cares about their neighbour any more.

Not quite! You may have missed the memo, but that’s what we did for the last 18 months. Protect the old Protect the vulnerable Protect the NHS

I’ve had enough. Stop being selfish!

Stop pretending that it is because other people don't want to cover their faces with horrible, damp and clammy pieces of cloth

I've heard this more than once. My mask doesn't get damp. And if people do manage to wet a mask it does rather imply they should wear one at all times to stop spit-talking. Or spit breathing. I mean if that much moisture is coming out of your mouth all the time, could you be a Typhoid Mary?

Exemptions aside, and I include anxiety, PTSD and so on, it's not really onerous for most people.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Stop pretending that it is because other people don't want to cover their faces with horrible, damp and clammy pieces of cloth

I've heard this more than once. My mask doesn't get damp. And if people do manage to wet a mask it does rather imply they should wear one at all times to stop spit-talking. Or spit breathing. I mean if that much moisture is coming out of your mouth all the time, could you be a Typhoid Mary?

Exemptions aside, and I include anxiety, PTSD and so on, it's not really onerous for most people.

I don't spit breathe or split talk. I do often have to breathe quite hard because former lung infections from years ago have left scarring. Laboured breathing and the sweating that can go with it causes damp masks. Not sure why that should be a surprise.

Breathing difficulties are also amongst the exemptions for mask wearing. I have mostly worn my mask still, but my ability to tolerate it waxes and wanes.

I agree with you OP. Im happy to do my bit to protect myself and others, you were correct in saying people don't care about their neighbours anymore, its sometimes feels like the decent people are in a minority and I find that depressing. Yes, I think we should be getting back to normal with reopening the economy but mask wearing on public transport is a small ask of people. Its still mandatory where I am (NI) but it looks like we're just decided if England is ditching them we will to, only about 25% of people wearing masks on the bus today and about 40% in shops.

*too

It's mandatory. Of course they should OP. It's a tiny thing to do.