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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Face Masks

403 replies

alltheapples · 28/02/2022 14:36

AIBU to think nearly everyone has stopped wearing them?

At the weekend we visited a local tourist attráction, went swimming, went to the pub, went for a meal out, and went shopping. During this I saw no more than a handful of people wearing a mask?

OP posts:
BogRollBOGOF · 28/02/2022 16:55

@BirdOnTheWire

Why does it bother the non- mask wearers that others choose to wear one? My wearing a mask doesn't hurt anyone so why does it upset so many people? I am extremely vulnerable to covid and choose to add the tiniest bit of protection when I am in a confined space.
They obstruct communication. Trying to not walk into someone and anticipate where they're going when you can't read their face is a bloody nuisence particulary now most places are back to their normal levels of busyness. There isn't the space to keep a wide berth like there was in 2020 and I'm regularly doing that silly side-to-side dance of guessing where mask wearers are going in order not to collide. They also distort speech and remove a lot of non-verbal communication. If it's an exchange that isn't following some rough script, it's bloody hard work.

Masks are not consequence free. There are many reasons why most societies favour bare faces in the absence of extreme environments.

lljkk · 28/02/2022 16:55

Most ppl in my offices are masked (science park). I notice but don't care.

timetochangeusername · 28/02/2022 16:57

Not many around here. In fact today I filed mine in my pants drawer rather than keeping them by the door

Original poster
alltheapples · 28/02/2022 17:04

I am just surprised.
If most other people had been wearing them, I would have worn one too.

OP posts:
StripyHorse · 28/02/2022 17:24

@Hbh17

There is no longer any legal obligation to wear them anywhere in England, so the only astonishing thing is that some people are still doing so! Happily, tho, the numbers of mask-wearers are dropping steadily.
Why are you happy about mask wearing declining? When in England, I choose to wear a mask so I am less likely to pass covid to my CEV dad. How exactly does that affect you?
BridesmaidPanic · 28/02/2022 17:33

It depends on where we are. We went to Next, John Lewis and Waitrose at the weekend. Didn't wear masks in Next or JL as it was really quiet in there, but wore them in Waitrose as it is a smaller shop and busier.

I wore a mask on the tube the other evening and even though it was supposedly a requirement, only 2 out of 11 of us in the carriage were wearing them.

BirdOnTheWire · 28/02/2022 17:35

@BogRollBOGOF They obstruct communication.
They absolutely do, I am partially deaf so I'm well aware of that.
I also have a string of health conditions that mean I really do not want covid again. I was hospitalised with covid after two vaccines so I know the danger to me. I know a mask won't fully protect anyone who wears one in isolation but they help a bit. But of course if it slows you down in the supermarket I'm very sorry.

gamerchick · 28/02/2022 17:36

@Ciaram55

I can understand if people want to continue wearing them in the supermarket but I don't understand those that wear them outside in the fresh air.
Keeps the wind off your face
simbobs · 28/02/2022 17:41

I think it depends on where you live. Around here many people still wear them, and you can't go into our local pharmacy and post office without. The staff all wear masks and gloves and have done so from the start. Individual businesses can still require it.

lanbro · 28/02/2022 17:43

I'm no longer wearing one at home, in England, but currently in Lanzarote and 99% of people are wearing them - inside is still mandatory and on the plane obviously

CounsellorTroi · 28/02/2022 17:46

@HollaHolla

In Scotland. People are still wearing them here - I’d say about 75% from what I saw at the weekend here
Same in Wales.
Sunnyday321 · 28/02/2022 17:57

We are still wasting ours , and are immediate friends are also.

FloBot7 · 28/02/2022 18:03

I still wear them in shops but no longer panic if I don't have one with me. I have to wear them at work for 2 more weeks. I went to the hairdressers a few weeks ago and nobody was wearing them so I didn't bother.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 28/02/2022 18:08

@Sunnyday321

We are still wasting ours , and are immediate friends are also.
I see them as a waste too. Especially the single use ones
ThinWomansBrain · 28/02/2022 18:10

Fair few still wearing them in London, but a lot less than a week ago.
How else am I going to keep my nose warm?

gettingolderandgrumpy · 28/02/2022 18:11

Let me get this straight you’ve started a thread regarding nobody wearing masks.
Your not surprised though
Nor do you wear one yourself.
I don’t get the point of this thread op is to start a debate ? There have been dozens over the last 2 years .

VladmirsPoutine · 28/02/2022 18:13

I'm never going to stop wearing them. I actually no longer even wear them because of covid. They just provide so many other benefits to me. Asia had it right when they conceived of mask-wearing!

WinterGold · 28/02/2022 18:19

At a wedding on Saturday. 100+ guests. All ages groups. Lots of hugging and kissing. Not one mask worn - not even the serving staff. Bloody brilliant!

GordenBennett · 28/02/2022 18:21

I think I’m in your camp of thinking @VladmirsPoutine
I can’t see myself not wearing one now tbh

bluetongue · 28/02/2022 18:27

I’m so jealous of England. Where I am in South Australia they are still mandated indoors. My government department requires them to be worn whenever we’re not at our desk but I just carry mine around and only wear it when I absolutely have to.

We’re so behind here that a close contact is defined as being face t fave with someone for 15 minutes or more. Isolation for a Covid positive person is 10 days. If you live with someone Covid positive and they can’t isolate separate to you you need to isolate and not leave the house for 14 days Shock

There are 10 people in ICU and 2 people on ventilators in the entire so it’s not like the hospitals are overrun.

Other states are lifting their mandates so hopefully my state will no choice soon.

I try and not wear one as much as I can. Partly just as personal protest against such an over the top requirement. They also cause my anxiety to flare up terribly. Yesterday there were police and security guards on my train looking for unmasked people to fine so you have to be careful.

VladmirsPoutine · 28/02/2022 18:29

I'll never quite understand why people hated them so much - I mean barring health issues vis a vis breathing; there were some people that earnestly considered masks an affront to their civil liberties and an assault on their personal freedom Confused

AlternativePerspective · 28/02/2022 18:31

There is no longer any legal obligation to wear them anywhere in England, so the only astonishing thing is that some people are still doing so! Happily, tho, the numbers of mask-wearers are dropping steadily. why? Masks should IMO be far more normalised, not just because of COVID but during cold/flu season.

People are far too obsessed with this wish to no longer wear a mask, interestingly it only seems to be the case in the UK,why is that exactly?

Personally I think that masks should be mandatory in the winter months, we would be far less likely to have high flu deaths and less people would have to take time off work or worse, have one cold after another after another because they have to sit next to people on buses, in shops etc who are coughing and spluttering all over the place.

Virtually everyone here is wearing a mask. Currently I have a cold,and I am certain nobody wants to catch that from me any more than they would want to catch COVID.

If you don’t want to wear one then crack on. But saying you’re happy others aren’t is bizarre.

EthelTheAardvark · 28/02/2022 18:33

@VladmirsPoutine

I'll never quite understand why people hated them so much - I mean barring health issues vis a vis breathing; there were some people that earnestly considered masks an affront to their civil liberties and an assault on their personal freedom Confused
Exactly. So far as I'm concerned, it's a very minor inconvenience. In a cold wind, it's even a blessing to have something to protect my face.
burnthur5t · 28/02/2022 18:35

In my local M&S on Sunday I don't recall seeing anybody with one on

AlternativePerspective · 28/02/2022 18:36

@ VladmirsPoutine no I don’t understand the obsession with not wearing them either.

I have actually been told I am exempt due to cardiac/lung issues however I have chosen to wear one throughout because A, I have personally spent time on a ventilator and on oxygen (not covid related) and have no desire to repeat the experience, and B, I wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone else should I catch COVID and pass it to them, therefore wearing a mask limits the possibility of that happening.