Should masks be mandatory on public transport for the time being?

[jobhunter7]

Discuss.

They have done this in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria...

user1477391263 If you look at my entire post you will see that I am not saying that masks should not be used. I am simply commenting that I was disillusioned as to how many people seem to enjoy reporting others.

I wasn't actually saying that there should not be rules but that I was making an observation that there seem to be many people who have had the worst brought out in them by this situation.

Not mandated, no.

OK, fair enough, feellike. I think the curtain-twitching actions of certain people over the past few weeks have indeed made some of us feel wary of being publicly shamed for something that is not our fault.

If they become mandatory with exemption on medical grounds, I have no problem with carrying a card to show to people who have a right to ask me why I'm not wearing one.

If that comes into force, members of the general public won't have that right. I'd strongly recommend they keep their mouths shut. I'd also be more than willing to go to the defence of anyone I saw being publicly harrassed on the subject.

Any campaign would need to cover ALL reasons for exemptions. I'm a physically fit 42 year old, pretty sure I would be questioned as to why I wasn't wearing one. My response would probably depend on how I was asked, but it's no one else's business. I really don't wish to divulge in person why I'd rather slice my wrists open than wear a mask for a second. However I don't have any confidence that people wouldn't be total assholes about it (given behaviour I've seen first hand/read about on our local facebook pages etc).

Because of that, I'd rather it was a choice with a campaign demonstrating correct usage, the need to still stay away wherever possible and covering the reasons why some people shouldn't wear them.

Well as the advice for me would be not to wear one due to (very mild and well controlled) asthma, how could they make it mandatory??
Would I need to wear a special badge or lanyard so that everyone knows I have asthma? Would every autistic person who cant bear the feel.of the fabric over their face be forced to stay indoors? Every woman that's been abused by their partner and now finds the idea of anything over their face gives them a panic attack be forced to stay at home??

There are lots of reasons why some people cant wear them, the three above are all specific to me.

I am not sure if it would be easy to prove or not you were exempt? I am not sure if people would have a pop or not. One would hope not

I don’t think it would be easy to prove

And people absolutely would have a pop...its been all over the media and here for various things, people always comment on apparently ‘well’ people in blue badge spaces

BUT it doesn’t mean that, as an upthread posters said, ‘actively encouraged’ or indeed strongly encouraged

I don’t think it would be easy to prove

Both my psychiatrist and my GP have said they would provide written proof if needed. It's not the authorities that bother me though.

See if i went shopping with a mask and saw that 80% of the people were wearing a mask but 20% (obvs) weren’t

Then I wouldn’t think...why the fuck aren’t they wearing a mask the selfish gits....I would just assume there was a reason

Same with disabled loos and parking spots

Both my psychiatrist and my GP have said they would provide written proof if needed. It's not the authorities that bother me though

Thats kinda what i mean...but didn’t express myself well

Some people won’t take a letter as proof...and to be fair you shouldn’t have to prove it to anyone

I would just assume there was a reason

Me too. I've never felt the need to police other people's behaviour but when my dad had stage 4 lung cancer and could barely walk anywhere unaided, some twat still decided to question why he'd parked in a disabled space because he still has some muscle mass.

I think this will be worse because people are afraid and that tends to make behaviour worse. The mum of a friend almost got into a physical fight in Asda recently and she's so not the type. For every normal person who presumes a reason, there might be one who presumes selfish rule breaker and makes a scene.

Yes of course it should be mandatory. The only reason it isn't is because the government don't want to jeopardise supplies of PPE to the health/care sector. Look at all the other countries, with a much better handle on the crisis, who have mandated it. Why should we be any different just because some people don't like being told what to do?

I don’t understand why people are not wearing masks when they go on public transport and in shops if it helps those workers

Selfishness

"I shouldn't have to prove why I'm exempt to anyone."

Again, why does it have to be such a bloody performance? To those who need to know in an official capacity ie in order to admit you onto public transport or into a store/hospital/workplace you simply show your letter or card (which, btw, will simply say " medically exempt" without divulging any embarrassing personal details about your specific health condition because, frankly, you're not that interesting or special and no one cares); and any other nosy/busybody/curtain twitching fucker who asks/comments - you tell them to butt out. It's only as problematic as you choose to make it.

Generally I agree with nudging rather than ordering, but regarding face coverings on public transport, this is something that needs to happen sooner rather than waiting for a public relations campaign that will never convince the naysayers.

I agree

We have 28 dead bus drivers in London from covid/19 - let’s not kill any more!

Sadly this situation has shown that there are quite a number of people who like to report their neighbours or make nasty comments on social media without knowing the full facts of a situation. Mask wearing would give them a further opportunity.

Yes - just like the anti libertarian drink / driving restrictions. And seat belt s

The problem is that most the ones people are wearing are so poorly fitting that they offer a false sense of security. My other issue is that I can't wear a mask with my glasses comfortably. I have a silk scarf that's on standby for if I need to be on busy public transport but it's completely dead here at the moment, I was the only person on a double decker bus yesterday and only 5 on the whole intercity train. London is slightly different, whole country rules just don't make sense .

We have 28 dead bus drivers in London from covid/19 - let’s not kill any more!

It's been quite some time since I've been on a London bus that doesn't have a plexiglass enclosure for the driver.

They don’t where I am / just crime scene style tape demeaning the front of the bus and entry through the middle doors

Demarking, not demeaning