To think snotty, coughing people should wear masks?

[RiderofRohan]

On the train or other forms of public transport. In waiting rooms etc. People coughing with half-hearted hands held up to their mouths. Blowing their noses with abandon. None of them wearing masks, just shedding their viruses into closed spaces.

Isn't it just common decency, after we went through a global pandemic, to try to protect those around you? It's super normal to wear a mask in parts of Asia if you are unwell to reduce the risk of your germs spreading to your fellow humans.

I have asthma and wearing a mask calms my cough. maybe because the air I breathe through the mask is warm and humid?

I would rather people sneezed / cough into a tissue or the crook of their arm unlike the lovely gentleman who sneezed into his hand 3 times while at my checkout yesterday and then had his bank card in his mouth thank goodness he wasnt paying in cash

@Floofydawg

what’s funny about that?
i would move away from you too cos I don’t wanna catch a cold if I can help it.

Probably Fox News.

People are so selfish.

Agree with every word. Yes, we need a bit of natural immunity. And the masks you can buy in supermarkets etc are as much use as a chocolate fireguard anyway. They are just a way for people to virtue signal and I'm glad to say that nobody I know wears one.

My manager at work still has a cough. About a month ago he said he felt really rough after coming back from a skiing trip. He did a covid test and it came back positive. He asked me in a random meeting if I'd ever had covid. I said: "I've never done a covid test, so I have no idea." I'm almost certain inside he was recoiling and saying "What?! How has she not done a covid test?!" Anybody who did a covid test at any point did so for one or a combination of the following reasons:

1. They were required to in order to receive goods and/services
2. They were required to for work
3. They felt unwell and were worried that they had it
4. They felt fine, but were worried they had it (the whole 'asymptomatic' malarkey)

Or, a 5th reason; they didn't want to go to work, or to a party or some other sort of gathering because they hate their job and/or other people. Orange juice and cola turn an LFT positive, so this was the perfect way to blow off an entire fortnight.

I understand there are some people out there with genuine health problems that can be exacerbated by colds and flu viruses. There are also people out there who are, frankly, paranoid about their health. Those who are paranoid about their health tend to be the ones who buy in a lot more to any health-related propaganda, which there was an awful lot of in 2020 and 2021.

It is not up to anyone to police your anxieties regarding your health. If you want to wear a mask, that's great, go on right ahead. But do not demand that others do the same. And don't think for one second that I cannot tell you are muttering obscenities and cussing me out under your mask. Masks can muffle sounds but they can't silence them and your jaw is still moving under the mask.

Oh and by the way, how many microplastics are you inhaling while wearing those masks? I'd wager a lot.

I missed the part where the pandemic ended because the virtuous were wearing masks.

If you'd have asked me this a week ago, I'd have agreed. I wish it was the done thing here. Then I found myself in the theatre at the weekend, snotty, coughing and sneezing. It just came on me while I was there and I got more congested as the show went on, it turned into a full blown cold. I did feel bad that I was potentially infecting those around me, but I couldn't have masked up if I'd had one. I get very congested (extra snotty and blocked up) no way could I wear a mask. The only answer would be to stay home if possible.

I think that it’s probably more workable for those afraid of catching a cold to be the ones to wear masks.

I have pretty much permanent cough. Do you expect me to wear a mask all the time?

Sorry op I don’t agree to an extent.
if you are really poorly you should be in bed.
if, for any reason a friend or family member tests positive for covid then I won’t see them.
however natural, normal colds I think especially towards my DS who needs to build his immune system as he is 2. I’d rather him catch little things his body can fight off rather than avoiding everything and then being really sick the second he starts school when I know they catch everything as it is

If only.......

If masks are effective, why was Covid still spreading after they were introduced?
🤣🤣

If youre that bothered then YOU wear a mask? Problem solved. You dont have the right to tell other people what to do and wear on their own bodies

Because cloth face coverings, often worn as a chin hammock aren't effective.

OTOH, proper FFP2 or higher rated are extremely good.

Get a grip OP. If youre that bothered then stay at home forever while the rest of us get on with life. How did you ever cope pre covid?

Masks are ineffective after 2 minutes so they are pretty useless and a pointless exercise.
It has to be a face fit mask to be at all effective.

So, no. I won’t be wearing one when I have a cold.

Pre pandemic I used to want this. After the pandemic and my family not catching any colds for 2 years, when one did hit it just felt a lot worse than usual.
Now, as much as I hate it, and as much as I catastrophize, I know deep down it's probably better to catch a cold here and there as long as you aren't vulnerable. Or maybe I just tell myself that to feel better. I don't know.

You sound pleased about it. Do you think about other people at all?

Your immune system needs exposure to germs to stay strong. It's like training for a marathon, you have to keep it up. If you stop training for months and then try running a marathon, you'll collapse after the first mile. If you haven't had a cold in three years, the next cold you do get is going to knock you on your arse.

@SarahShorty

It is not up to anyone to police your anxieties regarding your health. If you want to wear a mask, that's great, go on right ahead. But do not demand that others do the same. And don't think for one second that I cannot tell you are muttering obscenities and cussing me out under your mask. Masks can muffle sounds but they can't silence them and your jaw is still moving under the mask.

So are you suggesting that if you had the symptoms of Covid (and you wouldn't know if it was, because you wouldn't test) you would go out without a mask? On a crowded train, perhaps? And don't say "that's what we used to do" because times have moved on. Covid is a different beast.

What about if you were visiting a sick relative in hospital, and the ward had masking rules - would you wear one then?

You're a health employee. Ah right.

No. And most people weren’t obsessed with masks until Covid. They are really bad for the environment too, just more disposable plastic waste, so they should be used sparingly or never in my opinion.

1. Honestly, yes. What is there to physically stop me?

2. Then I'd wear a mask only because I'd be barred from visiting my relative otherwise.

I abide by rules to keep the peace, not because they're logical (or in this case, illogical).

I hate to break it from you, but lots of our drinking water comes from open reservoirs. Which, being open, it is possible for both animals and people to spit in, or even wee in.

The water is filtered several times to get rid of particles, and then is disinfected - but AFAIK this doesn't get rid of things like spit or wee. OK, it will be very diluted, but there it is....