Why the hatred of masks?

[Ohchristmastreelove]

I don’t actually mind wearing one - I’ve bought several nice cotton ones from Etsy that wash and dry really well. Particularly in cold weather I would often go out with a scarf over my lower face anyway. I’ve kind of realised how grim strangers’ breath all over me in shops etc. is so I actually do feel more protected from ‘germs’ more generally wearing a mask in public.

Ok, wearing a mask when I had my hair done the other month was a bit annoying. And I wouldn’t like to have to wear one in my friend’s house when I go round (when it is allowed again! Not right now!)

But wearing a mask doesn’t make me annoyed or make me feel unwell. I honestly wouldn’t mind too much if they remained advisory for public transport etc.

I know this is an unpopular opinion!

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of restrictions I am really hating and struggling with but masks is not really one of them.

Yes, it's silly when you could be watching for people touching their faces and clean after them intead and make a potential difference... Though I'm sorry you've had abuse. People shouldn't be doing that.

If you followed me around a store, I'd probably be oblivious as I have to adopt a very narrow focus on what I'm doing because of struggling with the lights, the noise and the people around anyway. This has been more difficult than usual this year.

Yes, glasses are a problem for me. I pinch the middle part of the disposable one and try to put my glasses over the top but it only works for a short time and only about 5% of the time. However, better inconvenience than Covid.

@SufferingFromLongLockdown

Yes, it's silly when you could be watching for people touching their faces and clean after them intead and make a potential difference... Though I'm sorry you've had abuse. People shouldn't be doing that.

If you followed me around a store, I'd probably be oblivious as I have to adopt a very narrow focus on what I'm doing because of struggling with the lights, the noise and the people around anyway. This has been more difficult than usual this year.

You think people occasionally touching their mask are more dangerous than people who refuse* to wear masks at all?

Your risk assessment is skewed. Too much Facebook?

*Refuse to, not are unable to

I occasionally touch my mask and would think I'm likely to be carrying my own bacteria on my hands plus that from other surfaces.

They make my face itch and my glasses steamup and my hearing isn't great so 9 often can't understand people.

I hate them because I find myself gasping for breath in them after just a few seconds. And yes the communication is virtually non-existent for me through masks.

I don't tend to mind for the first 30 or so minutes, if I don't need to talk much and I know the area. If I have to wear it a long time, then my nose starts to itch, then ache, then the rest of my skin starts in on it too. If I'm needing to look around or the ground is uneven, things get more awkward.

A big issue I've had is it reduces how much I can see - both in my glasses perched slightly farther forward and the lower part of my vision. I find I need to directly look at things and I stumble more - a bit of an issue with mobility problems. When I'm in shops, I feel quite foolish as I have to directly look at anything to be able to see it clearly in a mask.

how much do you communicate when you go to the shops or go on a train etc. really? The places where you are wearing a mask, how much do you communicate usually?

There are a lot of places people have to wear them other than shops and trains.

When I was at the GP's surgery a few months back, I had to talk quite a lot. I needed to both talk to the nurse during my appointment and the receptionist at the door and then later at the desk as I needed to update some details. With the latter, ended up getting a slip of paper with an email to use instead. It was a struggle. It was also really weird during my smear to be naked from the waist down, discussing how the nurse had found a polyp, while wearing a mask.

I've also been viewing properties as we're hoping to move someone more accessible - the adaptations I need just aren't feasible where I am now. I've misheard so many things. Thankfully all the important stuff is in writing, but that's made the process more difficult.

I personally love wearing a mask. It’s made me realise how awkward I feel when going out, like everyone looking/staring at me (I know they aren’t, but it’s just a feeling) and wearing a mask makes me feel protected somehow. I feel massively more confident in myself when I’m out and wearing a mask for some reason.

I don't hate wearing one but I don't enjoy it. It's making my acne flair up again really badly and my face looks like a dot to dot. It's getting me down! I wear one all day in work so pretty used to it now but my skin isn't getting a break from the 8 hour days in one and I look a mess.

Also I'm hard of hearing so it can be pretty isolating too. I often can't hear my colleagues when they're chatting about something and I can't read their lips because of the masks. It's made me retreat into myself a bit more because I'm fed up of asking people to repeat themselves and I feel like a pain!

I regard them as a necessary evil. My glasses steam up and that seems to affect my balance, the sides of my nose start to itch and they have heralded the return of hot flushes.

They give me panic attacks if I wear them more than a few minutes. I suffer from claustrophobia and have past experiences with people trying to suffocate me so to have my mouth covered is horrendous. I now avoid supermarket shopping for that reason. I also lipread all of the time so I feel isolated and frustrated when I can't understand what other people are saying. So glad you don't feel any of these things OP.

Not a fan but do where them, like others have said I find them hot also find they impair my vision slightly maybe as I have big nose so blocks my view looking down so can be tricky to keep tabs on the feral children!

I quite like mine, once I found a brand that works for me. I wear glasses full time, and I wear a mask for the school run, shopping and when I work outside home.

I occasionally have an issue with fog on my glasses if the mask is in the wrong position, but that's easy to fix.

I think we're all different in what we can tolerate, but focusing on the negative aspects of masks is only going to make people feel worse.

I don’t love them. They were making me really aggravated in a&e on Friday night. High temperature + make = felt even hotter.

Stellaris22 You shouldn’t be subject to abuse but do you not have actual work to do?

“ I think we're all different in what we can tolerate, but focusing on the negative aspects of masks is only going to make people feel worse.”

The OP asked a question, I answered from my POV. Thinking about the negative aspects of trying to look after my children whilst wearing a face mask doesn’t make it any worse, and not thinking about them doesn’t make it any better. It just is. I will have access to more spaces once facemasks are no longer mandatory

@Sitt I work in a supermarket and usually we have a 'greeter' who stands at the door with masks and asks you to put on one if you don't have one. It's usually the same person controlling the numbers of people in the store. We aren't supposed to challenge people though as people could be exempt. We we just ask you to put on a mask. If you say no that has to be the end of it we can't force you to wear one obviously🤷‍♀️

I started wearing a mask before they were legally mandated. I take my duty as a member of a cooperative human society seriously.

I hate them. Hate every second I am wearing one. The panic attacks have gotten less frequent, but I still can’t think about anything other than the fact that I am wearing a mask. They obscure my peripheral vision. They are hot. They make it hard to hear people and be heard. Masks are absolutely awful.

An outing goes something like ok, I need rosemary, I’m wearing a mask, mask, mask, where are the herbs, mask, mask, I hate this fracking mask, oh yeah Rosemary, it’s hard to find the right package since I can’t see well, mask mask mask, finally places hand on rosemary, mask, mask, rosemary on basket, mask, mask, walk to milk, trying to relax and not rip mask off my face, focus on breathing slowly, arrive at milk, mask, oh yeah the next item on my list was thyme so I have to mask head back to mask herbs now.

fastandthecurious I am aware of that! I was referring to that poster’s comments about following people around the supermarket if they weren’t wearing masks. Is that a prescribed role too?

In case it wasn’t clear - I am someone who wears a mask, but if I weren’t and a member of staff were following me around the shop I would be asking the manager what was going on

@Sitt no it isn't tbh we would probably be disciplined for doing that I imagine. Plus this close to Christmas I certainly don't have the time to follow people around the shop😂

@sitt even if you didn't wear a mask the most we are allowed to do is ask if you can put one on. If you refused we drop the subject. We can't ask why and we can't ask again. We had to do equality training on it just before the were mandated because it's not up to us to decide if you have reason enough to be exempt!

@Sitt

In case it wasn’t clear - I am someone who wears a mask, but if I weren’t and a member of staff were following me around the shop I would be asking the manager what was going on

Yes

My daughter is mask exempt. She has Tourette’s and wears one for as long as she can tolerate it. She’s already pretty self-conscious when not wearing one so if a member of staff followed her around a supermarket I’d be making a complaint about them

I'm exempt and while I understand the need for masks, I hate, loathe and detest the whole thing. Almost every time I go out I get abuse, shouted at, even threatened. I've been told I'm filthy, selfish, have disease-breath, am a super spreader, a disgusting tramp, a dirty cunt. I cannot wait for them not to be a thing anymore. I'm scared to go anywhere.

Incidentally today I was served in a shop by a lady wearing a visor. It was soaked with the condensation from her breath, which was dripping from underneath it. The paper bag she gave me had big wet splodges on it where her visor had dripped. I threw it straight in the bin and sanitised my hands while mourning my lost vegan sausage roll. Visors don't work - I can't wear one anyway, but I've lost count of the times I've been told I should.