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Original poster

Is mask wearing limiting your economic participation?

542 replies

byvirtue · 08/08/2020 12:33

I knew mask wearing was mandatory in shops but I hadn’t heard about the new restrictions that have come out today www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53702291

I had planned to head to a spa for a couple of days this month for my birthday and we were going to book a staycation in a hotel in September. We would have easily spent £2k on these trips.

Now it seems that masks are mandatory for spa treatments and in hotel public areas we won’t be going. I personally find face coverings unpleasant and they significantly reduce my enjoyment so I'd rather not bother.

We are fit and healthy with money to spend and were happy to get out and spend money prior to face coverings becoming mandatory. These new rules mean the opportunities for us to spend money have been notably reduced.

I’m curious are these extended face covering rules going to lead to you spending more or less now?

OP posts:
SingToTheSky · 10/08/2020 20:19

I meant to buy a few things in the big supermarket I went to today but I just got a bottle of water and got out ASAP. Granted it was not my usual store so that added to the stress but all the shops I went in today I definitely would’ve spent much longer in had I not been getting a bit stressed due to the extra heat in the mask.

HeIenaDove · 10/08/2020 20:19

DH went into Sainsburys earlier with his visor on and it was fine No problems.

NewKittyMeow · 10/08/2020 20:41

@countrygirl99 Ah I didn’t realise Covid can read my mind and will spread more virulently despite me wearing a mask, just because I don’t like to wear it! Thanks for explaining 🤣🤣

NewKittyMeow · 10/08/2020 20:47

@larrygrylls

Amazing how many loved to moralise about ‘climate emergency’ and BLM, when they needed to do nothing but virtue signal but, as soon as an actual behavioural change is required of them to help others, it is just ‘nah, not for me’ or ‘well I might do it but certainly not happily’.
But what’s your actual problem with people being unhappy as long as they’re doing it? Seriously, does it make any difference at all to you if I’m wearing a mask in a shop and loving it or wearing a mask in a shop and hating it?

I mean, obviously it doesn’t. Pretty ironic that you’re criticising people for virtue signalling when your whole posting history on this thread is one long virtue signal! ‘Oh look at me, obeying the rules and fucking LOVING it!’

Sunflowerlover20 · 10/08/2020 21:03

I’m medically exempt from wearing a mask, but because masks are now mandatory I don’t like going out as a few people do not understand that some people are exempt so it becomes a unpleasant experience, therefore I’m literally only going to shops for essentials no impulse buys anymore.
I have also noticed we have no desire to visit not just shops but other places such as zoo/theme parks and other places we would regular go for a day out with current restrictions in place. we usually go on many especially throughout the holidays especially, this year we are only going to local parks and forests and taking our own food. As we are not going out as much we also are not buying more clothes then we need. I have saved a fortune the last few monthsSmile

The talk amongst our friends is also the same they are not going to half the places they did before so are also not spending money.

Teal99 · 10/08/2020 21:49

There is a poster on another thread who thinks that shoppers with masks should heckle those who aren't. Also that the armed forces should be used to enforce mask wearing.

SengaStrawberry · 10/08/2020 22:19

@Teal99

There is a poster on another thread who thinks that shoppers with masks should heckle those who aren't. Also that the armed forces should be used to enforce mask wearing.
Also plenty of posters who live in countries with no exemptions and seem to think this lack of awareness of the disabled and traumatised is something to be proud of, rather than backward.
theemmadilemma · 10/08/2020 22:25

Yes. I understand the need, and am happy to comply, but I find it uncomfortable having anything covering my face like that, so I'm limiting what I do because of it.

larrygrylls · 10/08/2020 22:34

NewKitty,

I think mask whingers encourage others not to wear them.

It is funny that I have seen zero threads on MN moaning about seat belt wearing, speed limits or pretty much any other infringement of our liberty in the cause of the general good.

I hate wearing a seat belt and remember how much more fun driving (and being a passenger) was when we did not have to wear them.

But I guess people realise that they save lives and the NHS money. So why does the same logic not apply to masks?

Sunshinegirl82 · 10/08/2020 22:53

@larrygrylls

So the way you feel about seatbelts is how lots of people feel about masks? If you said, "I don't like wearing a seatbelt so I try and walk as much as I can and only use the car when I really have to" would that be a problem? If not why is avoiding places where masks are required an issue (provided you comply when you do visit those places)?

I completely understand that masks are probably helpful as things stand for a (hopefully!) relatively short period but I don't like wearing one. I don't want to pay £20 to sit in a cinema wearing a mask and being uncomfortable when I can rent the film off Sky and watch it mask free on my sofa.

I genuinely don't understand this mentality that compliance is not enough. You must comply AND be happy about it. Why the need to control how people feel about something? I find it really odd.

I don't share your dislike of seatbelts, they don't bother me in the slightest but I accept your view that you don't like them, that's fine. I can see that they might seem restrictive and uncomfortable to some even though I don't personally have that experience.

soasd · 11/08/2020 01:00

I genuinely don't understand this mentality that compliance is not enough. You must comply AND be happy about it. Why the need to control how people feel about something? I find it really odd

I don't think there really is that mentality. I think people just naturally don't respond well to threads full of people moaning. If there were suddenly tons of threads full of people moaning that seatbelts hurt their shoulders and dig into their necks and make them feel claustrophobic and make them not want to "participate in the economy" (lol) by driving to the shops, then I'd imagine they would receive the same response.

HeIenaDove · 11/08/2020 02:20

Yeah thats totes the same. Because seat belts are expected to be worn over the mouth on a 30c + degree day.

HeIenaDove · 11/08/2020 02:22

The thing is we are being told that we are all in this together.

Some sections of society though who have already been shown that their lives are disposable are likely thinking WTF!!

fedupwiththeidots · 11/08/2020 02:28

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managedmis · 11/08/2020 02:28

Spending way less. It's just less fun being in public

soasd · 11/08/2020 02:45

Given that the virus is infecting one in 2500, or fewer

Is that fewer than the percentage of people who crash their car on a given basis? Most of us wear our seatbelts even though we've never been involved in an accident, don't we?

Sunshinegirl82 · 11/08/2020 03:13

@soasd

Someone started a thread asking the question, so people answered it.

If a thread had been started asking "do you find seatbelts uncomfortable and that means you want to drive less?" and then lots of people answered that saying "yes, I'll wear a seatbelt when I have to but I don't really like them" would their be the same attitude?

You can't be annoyed with people for answering a question that has been asked because you don't like their answer. The issue of masks seem to have become some weird way for people to demonstrate what great people they are. I'm complying and I'm really happy about it! Aren't I great!

soasd · 11/08/2020 03:34

You can't be annoyed with people for answering a question that has been asked because you don't like their answer

You can. You just described most mumsnet threads.

DeepTreacle · 11/08/2020 04:12

“ I think mask whingers encourage others not to wear them.”

Is there evidence for this? What is your logic behind this statement? Compliance is high in most places but if MN is to be believed we are a nation of whingers so this doesn’t really follow

Sunshinegirl82 · 11/08/2020 05:37

@soasd

I just think it's a shortsighted approach. Anyway, nothing here has changed my mind. I don't like masks and won't wear one unless I have to, as there has been no actual discussion or constructive suggestions to persuade me differently. I guess those who are annoyed that other people don't love masks (whilst wearing them) will just have to live with it.

ButterMeCrumpets · 11/08/2020 05:40

I don't find seatbelts uncomfy. Well I do in the old cars but clearly short people moaning in the past has meant we now have adjusters for moving them down so they don't strangle you rather than protect you.

I do find masks suck the joy out of life. I want to see smiles, watch people speak, breath air not filtered through a mask. I therefore choose to not wear them by AVOIDING places. If I didn't like seat belts I would avoid driving.

Both DH and I hate mask wearing. We have some and put them on when in a mandatory place. But we both have cancelled holidays, events, shopping because we don't want to go.

All the mask lovers can stomp their feet all they like and come up with stupid memes or comparisons but you can't force me to like them and you can't force me to spend my money. I am not going to help prop up the economy by spending on something that I consider to be miserable. I am now saving for the shit times that are going to come.

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 11/08/2020 05:41

Yes hugely. I hate masks and I suspect cloth masks are a waste of time and possibly make things worse.

I will wear one to shops because I have to. I will not choose to go anywhere I don’t have to so I will not be going to hotels or spas or shopping centres because it’s not an enjoyable experience for me. You can tell me i am wrong or stupid but it doesn’t remove my feelings that a mask is horrible and seeing people in masks is not relaxing. So I spend my leisure time generally outdoors

lorn195 · 11/08/2020 06:15

@SengaStrawberry As I’ve said before on here Covid will be the least of the worries of someone who dares to have a go at my son or me for him not wearing one.

Exactly what my husband has said if anyone challenges him for not wearing a mask as he too is exempt.

SkinSkin · 11/08/2020 06:45

But I guess people realise that they save lives and the NHS money. So why does the same logic not apply to masks?

The thing that worries me about that, is why haven't the numbers dramatically dropped since the 24th July when the law came in?

Derbygerbil · 11/08/2020 06:47

Given that the virus is infecting one in 2500, or fewer (no idea how low it is now), the correct equivalence of mask wearing with a seatbelt would be like wearing a seatbelt after you've got out of your car and and are walking down the street

I’m not sure how often the average person is involved in a serious car accident where seatbelts have had an impact on injuries, but I’m pretty sure it is far, far fewer than 1 in 2,500 journeys.

Also, car accidents don’t grow exponentially the more people have them.