Supermarket refuses service without mask

[torn2020]

The supermarket in my small town has taken the decision to refuse entry to anyone without a mask, even if they're exempt/carrying a card/wearing a lanyard etc. Apparently the exemption cards "were being abused".

Judging from comments on the local Facebook group, there's overwhelming support for this.

I'm horrified/disgusted at the overt discrimination and lack of empathy. Would say I'll boycott but actually have no choice since I'm unable to wear a mask (due to PTSD from being choked and strangled as a child, for those who like to jump in and say I should just put up with it for a 5 min shop). Apparently mask exempt people "don't have the right to just go wherever they want".

AIBU at despairing at humanity just a little bit more today?

If we substituted the word supermarket and replaced with aviation mass public travel - would these issues cause such fuss? People still "need" to get to places too far to drive for holidays etc.

WellRiddleMeThis try a different mask. I work in healthcare and we also have to wear masks all shift - often up to 14 hours (you should change them 4 hourly if at all possible). Colleagues with glasses don't have exception, none of us do - we work with people with compromised immune systems and various pre existing conditions. Find a shape of mask you can wear (my DD has had to try various ones and found one she can wear with her glasses for school - masks compulsory at desks too atm where I live - as have all my glasses wearing colleagues). It is utterly ridiculous to use glasses as an excuse - that is being a covidiot and putting others at risk needlessly!

@BamboozledandBefuddled

When the supermarket queues were bad here, anyone could go to the staff at the head of the queue and ask if they could go straight in as they found it difficult to stand. I never heard the staff say no, and I never heard people in the queue complain. Then again, I haven't heard of people being abused locally for not wearing masks. Maybe we only have a very low number of self-righteous, selfish, rude, ignorant busybodies per 100,000.

Really? Because at the height or Covid I asked my shop and was told NO I was also made feel crap for packing a certain way and ended up having to explain my health to a cashier that thought the rule is the rule. I even mentioned the issue on some threads on MN and was told if I had a problem with queuing I just had to get organised, send a partner or a friend. And there was no reason for me to have a special treatment.

@WellRiddleMeThis, I wear glasses. I wear a mask for work.
I can confirm wearing a mask with glasses is ok. Even 8 hours a day

[quote QuestionMarkNow]@WellRiddleMeThis, I wear glasses. I wear a mask for work.
I can confirm wearing a mask with glasses is ok. Even 8 hours a day[/quote]
im up and down a ladder/aircaft steps and not going to risk it. fortunately i'm not forced to wear one so i'm ok but if it makes me a covidiot then i'm happy with that. its just a word really

It wasn’t me who said covidiot though.

I’m more of the idea you haven’t found the right one yet. And you need to keep trying.
Just like ds1 who has asthma had try several before finding one he is confortable in.

I found the steaming up glasses problems stops if I wear my glasses slightly further down my nose than usual. Appreciate that's probably just me and the shape of my particular specs.

@ameliajoan

This has had to happen because far too many people were saying they couldn’t wear masks when they could, they just didn’t want to.

If that supermarket wants to instigate that policy they are perfectly within their rights to and to be honest everyone and their dog has an excuse why they “can’t” wear a mask so I think it’s a good move.

It’s a shame on the genuine cases but it is what it is.

They're not within their rights at all. From the UK government website

@Derbygerbil generally in the wider area people are wearing masks, evidently my neighbourhood thinks it's an exception. The only saving grace is that we are in a very low risk areas with numbers still on the floor.

@WellRiddleMeThis Wearing glasses? I have very severe, brittle and at the moment uncontrolled asthma. I wear glasses. I also wear a mask.

QuestionMarkNow I only used covidiot because another poster posting at the same time complained about genuine reasons for being unable to wear masks being lumped in with covidiots. Wearing glasses is not a genuine reason not to wear a mask at all, and as a distinction was being made between genuine and covidiot in posts at the time, anyone citing glasses wearers as an exempt category definitely falls into the covidiot camp! It pretty much exemplifies the self righteous selfishness of the "don't you dare question me, I know my rights, I'm not wearing a mask because it's mildly inconvenient" group who are the reason many become sceptical about those without masks, and people who genuinely can't wear masks suffer unjustified judgement.

I work with a lovely young guy with downs syndrome, a severely compromised immune system and heart issues, and very strong glasses due to being partially sighted. Does he wear a mask? Of course! How dare WellRiddleMeThis put him at risk by not wearing a mask solely because she wears glasses!

OP you are entitled to go wherever you please and do as you like. The rest of the world is entitled to decline your company and the pleasure of having you breathe on them. Supermarket workers should protect themselves from special people, like you. Go elsewhere.

There were none a week ago, but the head has now decided that masks during pick up and drop of are mandatory, as no one was social distancing at all.

There's the problem then - the school are not enforcing social distancing.

@LangClegsInSpace

There were none a week ago, but the head has now decided that masks during pick up and drop of are mandatory, as no one was social distancing at all.

There's the problem then - the school are not enforcing social distancing.

Who is enforcing it now though? Masks are useless without SD and I see far more people ignoring SD than I see without masks. I'm also extremely sceptical that handwashing is being done as often and as thoroughly as it should be.

@longwayoff

OP you are entitled to go wherever you please and do as you like. The rest of the world is entitled to decline your company and the pleasure of having you breathe on them. Supermarket workers should protect themselves from special people, like you. Go elsewhere.

A touch of harsh reality but if we are all totally honest (but respectful even though it may sound ironic or hypocritical) this is actually at the heart of the matter and true as most people would now take this view. More so now because essentially we all understand that we are under another wave of Covid rapid and efficient community transmission. Someone somewhere is asymptomatic and super spreading. These people are inadvertently going about their day and others in their spitting distance in the "right" or ideal setting is then essentially playing Covid tag and so the chain of super spreading continues unchecked until the next victim is so ill as to require medical assistance and then diagnosed and treated accordingly. So if we try to be open and technically neutral on this serious potentially silent life and death (or long term unknown organ damage) situation we always need to not selfishly think what about me me me (as I am entitled and exempt) but what about all the others if I am an inadvertent carrier and transmitter? Of course if you are constantly tested and a true false test result (as opposed to tested negative but still potentially infected as not tested at the right contagious time frame) then whether you are wearing any face covering or not does not matter as much. Bottom line no one is exempt from this highly contagious and dangerous disease with no medical cure as there is no entitlement to Covid immunity irrespective of your other medically diagnosed physical or mental illness/handicap.

"OP you are entitled to go wherever you please and do as you like. The rest of the world is entitled to decline your company and the pleasure of having you breathe on them. Supermarket workers should protect themselves from special people, like you. Go elsewhere."

Remember that anyone could develop a condition or have something happen to them that means they cannot wear a mask. Including you.

And no I don't believe most people take that view. Only ablist cunts.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow -

No one on this long thread has so far posted anything that contradicts my view that the Law is unclear. @LangClegsInSpace keeps just posting the same advice about there being legitimate exemptions from wearing masks, which no one is disputing. But that doesn't mean that shops have to let in people without masks. The Law is unclear.

This is from the guidance for shops:

No one who is exempt from wearing a face covering should be denied entry if they are not wearing one.

www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches#shops-6-1

The Explanatory Memorandum to the regs states:

Nobody who has a reasonable excuse as set out in regulation 4 and is therefore not wearing a face covering should be prevented from visiting a shop or supermarket or other setting covered by these Regulations (7.6)

and:

The Department has also included a range of exemptions to ensure that this policy does not unfairly discriminate against those with protected characteristics. Furthermore, the policy will be supported by a communications campaign that will make clear that some people are exempt from these regulations and people should not be challenged by members of the public for not wearing a face covering. (12.2)

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/791/memorandum/contents

So while it is not stated in so many words in the SI itself that shops should let in people who are exempt, the government has made its intentions very, very clear. I don't think a judge would have any problem at all interpreting this law.

@longwayoff

OP you are entitled to go wherever you please and do as you like. The rest of the world is entitled to decline your company and the pleasure of having you breathe on them. Supermarket workers should protect themselves from special people, like you. Go elsewhere.

As well as being being self contradictory (you can go anywhere you please/you can't go here) you're being disgustingly ableist.

Supermarket workers do not have the right to turn disabled customers away. I suggest you familiarise yourself with the government guidelines which state as much - you clearly haven't read them and would rather make up your own rules.

It might not be possible for OP to go elsewhere (the shop might be the only one hear her, she may have mobility issues, she may need something immediately such as medication).

Some people are exempt, government guidelines allow for exemptions. Your made up rules do not count.

*near her

@Derbygerbil

On our school run, a normal state school, I would say a good half of the parents are now wearing lanyards. There were none a week ago, but the head has now decided that masks during pick up and drop of are mandatory, as no one was social distancing at all.

That’s outrageous. The chances that half are exempt is infinitesimal, and to go to the trouble of getting a sunflower lanyard pretend to have a disability just to get out of wearing a mask for a few minutes is disgusting. What is wrong with people. Is your area one of those where mask wearing is poor generally?

To offer another point of view, perhaps they were exempt (for their own reasons or for their child’s SEN) and didn’t feel comfortable wearing a lanyard until it became the only option? Perhaps there are a lot more people out there struggling with hidden disabilities than we realise?

For example, I’m exempt but I don’t wear my lanyard to say so. I’d rather be thought of as a naughty horrid none mask wearer than have all the people I bump into on a daily basis suddenly know I have a hidden disability. That’s my private medical information. If a shop assistant asked me about my mask, I would get my lanyard out of my bag and politely show them but I won’t wear it before I go in. I’d imagine a lot of people feel the same way.

For those who are exempt from wearing masks, would you not consider wearing the clear face protectors?

You can also get ones that clip onto glasses.

Whilst I don't think/not sure if they are as effective, I think they are better than nothing at all.

Many people will have considered visors but will have found or know that they can't wear one. If they could they probably would to avoid abuse. Ds won't keep glasses on despite 10 years of trying so a visor wouldn't be staying on either. He would throw it or chew it.

Whilst I don't think/not sure if they are as effective, I think they are better than nothing at all.

People aren’t doing nothing at all. They’re observing social distancing.

@nancybotwinbloom

For those who are exempt from wearing masks, would you not consider wearing the clear face protectors?

You can also get ones that clip onto glasses.

Whilst I don't think/not sure if they are as effective, I think they are better than nothing at all.

Many people who are exempt from wearing masks are also unable to tolerate visors, either. For example those with neurological conditions such as TN, or some people with PTSD. I can't wear one.

And no, they're not as effective - they do not protect others and only protect the wearer from large splashes, for example blood or other bodily fluids.

For example, I’m exempt but I don’t wear my lanyard to say so. I’d rather be thought of as a naughty horrid none mask wearer than have all the people I bump into on a daily basis suddenly know I have a hidden disability. That’s my private medical information. If a shop assistant asked me about my mask, I would get my lanyard out of my bag and politely show them but I won’t wear it before I go in. I’d imagine a lot of people feel the same way

Today, I wore not one but two lanyards to Tesco (a sunflower one and one which has MASK EXEMPT written on it in huge letters).

I was called a dirty pig, tutted at, overheard 'bet she hasn't even washed her hands', glared at... All within about 40 minutes.

Lanyards are useless. Either nobody notices them, or they don't believe them. I maintain that even if they were 'official', some people would still react in the same way.

From now on I think I'll do this too. The lanyard stays in my bag until I'm questioned by staff - other customers judge me anyway, so nothing will change there.