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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

... to ask why people are still wearing masks?

415 replies

KatyKopykat · 07/09/2023 21:53

I've seen several people wearing a mask in shopping centres and on buses and trains.

OP posts:
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6
MyGardensAMess · 08/09/2023 00:05

Wishfulthinking1977 · 08/09/2023 00:00

And as I said that is your choice, I never called you any names or questioned your motives! I simply answered your question about why I do avoid those wearing them. I appreciate your concern for your loved ones and certainly understand where you are coming from. Just because I can't always know why people are doing what they are doing I feel it best to avoid those wearing them as I cannot. As during the mandates I was treated quite badly I just tend to avoid those wearing them as it's possibly a leftover reaction for me ?!

Edited

I just assumed anyone not wearing a mask had a good reason for it. When I was out with my family member who can't wear a mask I did see how people reacted. I got them a badge that stated they were medically exempt but that itself attracted a lot more attention than just not wearing a mask. It did seem to improve reactions though.

If I had to spend time with you and you couldn't wear a mask, I'd just explain my home situation to you and let you know that if you had any doubts you were in full health, please let me know so we can reschedule. I don't see why people can't work together to meet everyone's needs, even where they seem to be in contradiction.

There are always some people though who, in spite of explaining the situation, will decide to show up sick. In that case I just would avoid them altogether as I can't trust them and they're just selfish.

smooththecat · 08/09/2023 00:06

And yeah, it’s an ffp3 mask, it protects the wearer.

Isometimeswonder · 08/09/2023 00:07

Cos they want to. Doesn't bother me or affect me.
Just do what you want, no-one needs to care what others are doing

Mouse82 · 08/09/2023 00:13

Asian countries have mask wearing decades before covid. A large portion of the mask wearers where I live are the elderly and Asians.

ClairDeLaLune · 08/09/2023 00:13

Why do you feel you have to ask this? Can you not work out the answer for yourself? Oh dear.

grumpycow1 · 08/09/2023 00:17

Wishfulthinking1977 · 08/09/2023 00:00

And as I said that is your choice, I never called you any names or questioned your motives! I simply answered your question about why I do avoid those wearing them. I appreciate your concern for your loved ones and certainly understand where you are coming from. Just because I can't always know why people are doing what they are doing I feel it best to avoid those wearing them as I cannot. As during the mandates I was treated quite badly I just tend to avoid those wearing them as it's possibly a leftover reaction for me ?!

Edited

People get shouted at for wearing masks nowadays, do you think that means they should avoid every single person not wearing a mask?! That would be ridiculous. You now know people are likely wearing them because they have a vulnerable relative or are vulnerable themselves, not to try and have a dig at you. So how about changing your attitude?

Anniissa · 08/09/2023 00:20

I do sometimes despair that some people have an apparent inability to understand that other people have different circumstances to themselves and
are seemingly unable to work out why others might behave in a manner they would not.

Wishfulthinking1977 · 08/09/2023 00:21

grumpycow1 · 08/09/2023 00:17

People get shouted at for wearing masks nowadays, do you think that means they should avoid every single person not wearing a mask?! That would be ridiculous. You now know people are likely wearing them because they have a vulnerable relative or are vulnerable themselves, not to try and have a dig at you. So how about changing your attitude?

How about you read what was actually written and then look at your attitude??

PickAChew · 08/09/2023 00:22

I wore one when I needed to pick up a prescription 5 days after testing positive for covid. It wasn't for fun.

XenoBitch · 08/09/2023 00:24

I have seen an uptick in people wearing masks too. Doesn't affect me in the slightest though. Leave them be.

Wisterical · 08/09/2023 00:27

Anniissa · 08/09/2023 00:20

I do sometimes despair that some people have an apparent inability to understand that other people have different circumstances to themselves and
are seemingly unable to work out why others might behave in a manner they would not.

As someone unable to wear a mask I felt this about all the mask wearers who shouted, stared and bitched at me and barred me from shops during the pandemic.

Saschka · 08/09/2023 00:29

DH still wears his on public transport because he noticed he picked up a lot fewer colds when he wore it. And caught more when he stopped wearing it. So he started wearing it again, when he is on a packed rush hour train. Wouldn’t bother on an empty one, or a bus with windows, or a shop.

Not worried about covid at all, just doesn’t like being ill (and he is somebody who picks up everything going). His choice, surely?

Sidslaw · 08/09/2023 00:42

Tabitha1960 · 07/09/2023 23:27

If masks worked there would have been no need for all those rules about how many people could be in a room together, or meet up. "Non essential shops" need not have closed. People could have been allowed to go into the office and all other workplaces and travel between towns and villages.

The government would have said, meet whoever you want, go wherever you want, just wear a bit of flimsy paper over your gob.

Explain that, @DisquietintheRanks

Apply a bit of logic, please.

This has to be one of the most ignorant posts I have ever seen, and being in education, I am very interested in working out how an adult who has been through a pandemic can end up so ignorant.

The first thought is obviously illiteracy, but this poster does seem to be able to read and write. They can't be fully literate, but they do seem to be at least partly so.

The second thought is innumerate, and I suspect this is also part of the answer, as they are clearly incapable of appreciating probabilities and obviously adding, subtracting or multiplying them is completely beyond them.

The third thought is how did they get through compulsory education with so little understanding of science,? and for this I actually blame the exam boards, who have made rote learning a way of getting through to at least middle grades, without any actual comprehension of the material

There is the total failure of critical thinking, but that again I would put down to the science education, as there is very little critical thinking in the UK education system, and again, the science exams are set up to favour rote learning for the middle and lower grades, rather then critical thinking.

But it does go beyond all of these things, and I can't help but feel some of this ignorance is wilful, and a deliberate choice, and of course there will always be people who chose deliberate wilful ignorance, look at Trump supporters in USA! and there is nothing that can be done about that - in a free country, people have the option of deliberate, wilful ignorance if they choose. In that sense, there is really nothing that even the best education system in the world could have done to help

KatyKopykat · 08/09/2023 00:44

sheworemellowyellow · 07/09/2023 22:39

Why do you want to?

Are you saying you don’t want ever to see anyone wearing one, ever again?

Why have you come to that conclusion? There's an awful lot of people making assumptions out of a simple question or statement. People seem so combative.

OP posts:
OnAMidnightTrainToGeorgia · 08/09/2023 00:46

Competitive mask love in op! 🥰

KatyKopykat · 08/09/2023 00:47

Womencanlift · 08/09/2023 00:02

And why is that a problem? If it makes people more comfortable then I don’t see the issue.

I didn't say it's a problem.

OP posts:
ifitlookslikesparkles · 08/09/2023 00:47

They may currently have covid and want to reduce the spread but have to go about their daily lives as normal.

OneTwoThreeShake · 08/09/2023 00:48

Dunno. I've gotten into the habit of wearing one when I have a cold and need to go out, because I think its just courteous to other people to try and not spread my germs to them.

weirdoboelady · 08/09/2023 00:49

Surely the question should be 'why have the majority of the population STOPPED wearing masks?'

One plausible reason might be that Covid is killing less people. The more common belief seems to be that the pandemic is over (it isn't, and it's on the rise ATM).

I have two reasons for wearing a mask (which I do only inside). One is that I am a carer of someone with a weak immune system. The other is that I have read reports about air quality in London, which isn't as bad as the ULEZ proponents would have you believe in most places, but is simply appalling on the tube. It seems a good idea to filter out some of the filth there, as well as some of the germs!

KatyKopykat · 08/09/2023 00:50

SirCharlesRainier · 07/09/2023 22:41

So fucking what?

You're a charmer aren't you?

OP posts:
inadarkwood · 08/09/2023 00:50

KatyKopykat · 08/09/2023 00:47

I didn't say it's a problem.

I find that very disingenuous. You started this thread, asking a question that could logically be answered by an average 9 year old. You wrote: "Judging by the replies I don't think we'll ever see the end of masks."

It clearly is a problem for you that people take sensible precautions to protect their health in whatever small ways they can, during a still-ongoing plague.

echt · 08/09/2023 00:54

KatyKopykat · 08/09/2023 00:47

I didn't say it's a problem.

You posted a question, using the word "why" on AIBU so yes, it's problem for you.

Jesus. I blame the teachers.

dutysuite · 08/09/2023 01:19

I’m more worried about the mask fibres going into my lungs than Covid…so no I won’t be going back down that road again.

ffsgiveitarest · 08/09/2023 01:25

Because some people are still concerned about the impact on their own health, or are trying to protect their family and others.

Loys of people are still having issues after having covid. Flu season is just about to start and the medical profession are starting to get twitchy again.

ffsgiveitarest · 08/09/2023 01:26

Also it’s flu season, kids have gone back to school so cases will start to rise again……