Woman kicked out of Sainsbury’s

[Givemeabreak88]

I don’t know if this has been posted already but I posted the other day about how to prove face mask exemptions and basically got told they can’t ask for proof well it seems that is wrong and they can ask you what your disability is and ask for proof.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/13776780/shopper-kicked-out-sainsburys-face-mask-covid/amp/

Being unable or unwilling to wear a mask does not equal a disability - someone may have a disability but a disability does not automatically mean you cannot wear a mask.
There are a very vocal anti mask movement who are being very damaging to those who genuinely have hidden disabilities.

She got thrown out for public disturbance rather than not wearing a mask I think. And quite right too! Shop workers shouldn't have to put up with customers being rude and/or aggressive.

I doubt a polite "I'm sorry, I can't wear a mask. I am exempt " would have got her thrown out.

The worse thing is people with hidden disabilities are often also suffering bulging medical conditions and need a mask more in some ways.
It's very difficult but with no proof anyone could say they have "a hidden disability" and just order a lanyard whereas they should be phot ID cards issued from somewhere official

She sounded aggressive from the start though.

*bulging
I meant underlying
This predictive text honestly 🤦🏻‍♀️

Good. GP's should issue exemption letters or give out medical records so people can prove their exemption. It's what most other countries are doing.

Well the numbers have skyrocketed, despite you clearly being such a selfless and marvellous person @Nancydrawn*

I'd love to know how many 'anti-maskers' there actually are, going by mumsnet you'd think they number around 50% of people but when I've been to the shops they've been an absolute tiny minority. Who most likely have a valid reason or clearly have forgotten. What are they supposed to do, drive back home to get one? There'll be some on here accusing them of putting the nhs at risk for driving and risking a car crash. Can't really win it seems.*

I wouldn't say that I'm selfless (though I'll take marvelous).

Of course the numbers went up--there's a very potent variant at work and we're still dealing with the aftermath of Christmas. It looks like many places are seeing a decline of infections following recent measures, which is great.

But the numbers would go up, and would have gone up, significantly higher if not for masks. When mask mandates are put into effect, numbers go down. They don't stop infections entirely, of course. But they're a vital prophylactic.

As for seeing people not wearing them, I'm in the States at the moment, and not in one of those nice places that accept mask wearing readily. (Oh, to be back in New York City, where I used to live and where mask wearing is merely a way of life.) I'm not exactly in one of those places where the town council meetings are taken up by people hollering about how masks are the devil's work/it violates their constitutional rights/etc., but you still get a fair few people who either believe Covid is a hoax (fewer now than in the spring, thankfully) or who believe masks don't work.

It's really a matter of dodging them as best one can.

It's shit.

Or Fragile you could just ask your doctor for an exemption note. And your doctor should be told by the govt to provide this.

Who most likely have a valid reason or clearly have forgotten. What are they supposed to do, drive back home to get one?

Yes. Why should they put everyone around them at risk, just because they forgot their mask? Where I live you don't even get in the supermarket without a mask. You forgot it, you go back home and get it.

The NHS and govt need to create a secure and reliable method so genuine people who truly can't wear a mask have proof.

Also, these people need to get priority delivery slots along with those shielding so they can avoid so many shops.

I feel very sorry for the people with genuine reasons for not being able to wear a mask. their lives have been made impossible by the selfish morons who lie just to avoid wearing one.

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind

How would a woman who has been abused, suffocated, and struggles massively with wearing a mask because of this, be able to prove her reasons?

Genuine question.

Honestly, just stay out of said shops? It's not going to be forever.

Workers' rights to a safe workplace is more important than anyone's right to go into a shop, when there are other methods available.

Ok @Nancydrawn but you're posting on a very UK-centric site so if you're in the US it clearly is different.

I live in a very large, average town in the UK. Every time I've been to the shops the vast majority of people are wearing masks. I think I saw one guy in Boots not wearing one. And one elderly lady in M&S. Not my business at all why they weren't wearing them and honestly my life is such a shit show I couldn't really give a toss about whether others wearing masks.

Or wear a visor. No need for dramatics.

@Hope4theBestPlan4theWorst

I have several auto immune diseases and an on immuno suppressant medications. I am incredibly vulnerable but still can't wear a mask. I'm lucky in that my family do 95% of my shopping but occasionally I still have to go out. Ona very good day I can just barely tolerate a visor for 1-5 minutes but we all know they don't make any difference at all. I rely on other people wearing masks to protect me (that's the way they work and the reason behind exemptions) BUT even so I am incredibly against people being asked to disclose the nature of their reason for exemption. A mask should be offered yes, but when refused that should be it.

It would be prohibitively expensive to assess every disabled person or person that felt exempt . Not everybody with asthma struggles with a mask. Same with chronic sinusitis ( I also have that) . How would you decide who can and can't wear a mask? What about appeals? Variable conditions? The medical providers would be under pressure as would patients.
Where I live, in a very poor part of the NW , mask compliance is very high and I have only been abused once since corona started for non mask wearing and that was by a customer. Every other person stood at the front of the shop etc I have been perfectly polite too and simply told them I am exempt. No hassle, no drama.

@musicalfrog wow, I wasn't aware that being an a abuse victim meant that I didn't need to eat! I wish womens aid had told me this, I'd have saved a fortune in groceries over the past few years!

You seriously think that people who have a genuine reason for not wearing a mask should stay away from the supermarket? Lol mumsnet has always been batshit but the pandemic has taken it to a whole other level.

Have a

My first one! As apparently I won't be needing it.

Again, I say this as someone who is willing and able to wear a mask. It's just I have this thing called empathy for others as well.

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind except I didn't say that did I? This whole situation is awful for everyone but you have a choice to buy online or ask others to do this for you. Shop workers do not have the luxury of that choice, they have to go in, and so I believe their needs should be put first.

[quote musicalfrog]@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind except I didn't say that did I? This whole situation is awful for everyone but you have a choice to buy online or ask others to do this for you. Shop workers do not have the luxury of that choice, they have to go in, and so I believe their needs should be put first.[/quote]
Yes you did say that, you said they should stay out of shops.

So how do you propose they acquire the goods they need, you know like regular people?

Or maybe people like you who clearly have zero empathy or humanity should stay out of shops. I mean, why don't you just stay indoors until it's over? It would be so much nicer for the rest of us.

@EileenGC

Who most likely have a valid reason or clearly have forgotten. What are they supposed to do, drive back home to get one?

Yes. Why should they put everyone around them at risk, just because they forgot their mask? Where I live you don't even get in the supermarket without a mask. You forgot it, you go back home and get it.

Yes. It's happened to us all. If I forget, it's a pain in the arse, just as if I forgot my purse - I'd have to do the shop another time.

I have a friend who refuses to wear a mask and I've lost respect for her - she just chooses not to as it annoys her. It's people like her who fuck it up for genuine people and there should be some official card that is only given to people who need it. Some people will lie and make up horrific stories to get one, some will use fake ones, but hopefully most of the can't be arsed to wear one brigade will just wear one then, with those that are exempt allowed not to.

I think exempt mask wearers should also have some sort of priority for food deliveries, as should vulnerable people.

I mean, I'm British. I know that there's a difference between the UK and the US. But I also don't think there's a significant difference between the selfishness of Americans who refuse to wear the masks for no good reason and the selfishness of Brits who do the same.

The anti maskers gathered in Trafalgar Square are no different than that ridiculous woman in Einstein Bagels in Florida yelling out about her rights. Selfish dickheads. And again, they make it so much worse for those who have a legitimate, health-related reasons for not wearing masks (not some idiotic sense about expertise, rights, dangers they read about on Facebook, etc.).

(You can feel free to disagree. I'm not going to budge on that.)

@musicalfrog don't be so disingenuous- you know that's what you said.

You also know how difficult it has been to get online grocery slots and they have been prioritised for the elderly/vulnerable. Not everyone has someone who is willing and able to go to the shops for them.

The point is that the number of people who are genuinely in this position is small- how many of them are seriously going to be spreading coronavirus to every shopworker? Yes, people who can wear a mask should obviously do so- it's not right to bully, belittle or 'other' those who cannot, and who can't prove they they are unable to.

@EileenGC

Good. GP's should issue exemption letters or give out medical records so people can prove their exemption. It's what most other countries are doing.

Exactly this We are so stupid allowing self exemptions

@Nancydrawn

I mean, I'm British. I know that there's a difference between the UK and the US. But I also don't think there's a significant difference between the selfishness of Americans who refuse to wear the masks for no good reason and the selfishness of Brits who do the same.

The anti maskers gathered in Trafalgar Square are no different than that ridiculous woman in Einstein Bagels in Florida yelling out about her rights. Selfish dickheads. And again, they make it so much worse for those who have a legitimate, health-related reasons for not wearing masks (not some idiotic sense about expertise, rights, dangers they read about on Facebook, etc.).

(You can feel free to disagree. I'm not going to budge on that.)

@Nancydrawn oh they're all equally stupid, i agree with you there.

However you have (had) a president who refused to wear a mask and who thought drinking bleach was a cure for coronavirus, and a sizeable proportion of the population who elected him. Whatever anyone thinks of Boris, and he is a complete idiot, Trulp really is something else altogether. So when it comes to mask wearing I do think it's different.

Seriously, you lot think I would even WANT to carry a card on me 24/7 that reminds me constantly that I'm a member of the "raped as a kid" club?

Why not give different categories different cards so people know at a glance hire they are Not Like The Rest Of Society. Or maybe badges that we can wear on our striped pyjamas so you can ask give us a really wide birth at the same time. Or maybe like another poster said, we could just all stay in the shadows and live off charity in a big communal house for the sick .

I've caught covid despite following all the rules, always wearing my mask, always being cautious. Presumably I caught it from someone who wasn't wearing a mask.

I have no doubt some people are genuinely exempt. I also have no doubt that some people are refusing to wear them without good reason.

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind I didn't say she didn't need to eat (which was the first part of her reply to me).

As for empathy, I have plenty. I'm thinking of the many shop workers who are out at risk during the course of the pandemic.

How would you buy food if you were shielding, or isolating? There is always a way, we've seen them listed on many threads here.

I'm sorry for any awful things anyone has been through, of course I am. But right now we are trying to stop a virus from spreading.