Anyone just not bother going out now

[Happycat1212]

Does anyone else just not bothering going anywhere at all now?? I’m exempt from wearing face masks but to avoid abuse I just stay home now, my mum keeps trying to get me to go to hers (I can she’s in my bubble) but I don’t drive so would need a bus but I don’t want to get on them for fear of being abused. Anyone else worry about this type of thing?

I live abroad and masks are compulsory in all public places
There is no such thing as exemptions from mask wearing.
So I guess the faint of heart and flaky just stay home.

Every time I get on the bus, there’s some selfish twat wearing a mask round their chin - or pulling their mask down so they can shout down their phone. It annoys me that these people blatantly flout the rules and thereby make it harder for people like the OP (who has a genuine reason not to wear one) to travel.

I’m not going out except to work. We don’t wear masks at work and it’s the one place the world feels normal.

I don’t like going out as it is a reminder of how crap it all is these days. I hate wearing masks and can’t see as glasses mist up so I don’t bother going to the few shops that are open and get deliveries instead. I doubt I’ll go out much after lockdown either while masks are compulsory.

I’m not actually too worried about Covid either. We had it mildly over Xmas and are likely immune for the moment.

Great advice here from British Lung Foundation including an exemption graphic downloadable to your device:

www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/coronavirus/what-should-people-with-a-lung-condition-do-now/face-coverings

@Username7521

To be fair, if you can’t wear a mask I think you shouldn’t go on public transport. For a multitude of reasons. Out of interest did you GP give you a letter to say you’re exempt? A friend of mine is trying to get one from her GP and they said they don’t provide them...

I agree

Get a taxi?

Can I say I also don't think it is fair to other people for you to get the bus op. I agree I don't think it is safe for you to take public transport, and I would feel uncomfortable if you were near me without a mask or my children. Take a taxi, far less risk to everyone around you and you can speak to the driver in advance so he has the choice to accept or decline.

On the basis covid kills people, I don't think it is unreasonable to avoid packed public transport or anywhere with lots of people if you remain maskless.

Your question was does anyone else just not bother going out now?

Sorry your question got highjacked op. I have a cautionary tale for you. My daughter (15) also stopped wanting to go out over a period of weeks. Until she couldn't go out. As her mum I've been trying to persuade her. Then last week she took an overdose. Thankfully she's ok but...

You must try for the sake of your mental health to keep going out.

I'm sorry people couldn't just answer your question without putting the boot in OP. I can't wear a mask. I'm lucky that I don't need to use public transport and I do the weekly shopping at 7 a.m. when the shops are very quiet. If things start to reopen soon, I won't be going anywhere that requires a mask unless it's absolutely essential.

I've had some abuse for not wearing a mask but I think the people who've abused me have generally come off worse from the encounter. I fully understand why you're not going out. I can understand your mum bring concerned about you but she really needs to understand that your concerns are valid. I hope she comes to see this and will agree to visit you more often. I'm truly sorry you've been forced into such a shit situation by other people

I opened the thread not realising it was a mask exemption one. I was going to say no I don't bother going out (unless essential) because there is nothing much to do - I'm even bored of walking now - and also we are still spread to be staying home.

Is your mum in your support bubble? If so just let her keep visiting you, don't give in to the pressure.

*supposed not spread!

How many miles away is your mum's house?

Sorry you've been targeted for not wearing a mask.

I've not been going out other than walks. Im missing socialising with my friends and generally being out & about.

I'm sorry people couldn't just answer your question without putting the boot in OP. I can't wear a mask

Yes. This.

I wish MN would clamp down on this disablist bollocks that gets dragged up every time someone who is mask exempt posts. It is NOT the fault of the mask exempt that people are taking the piss.

My DD has Tourette’s and is mask exempt. She can tolerate a mask for a few minutes if she needs to pop into a shop but masks exacerbate her tics to the point that she has actually knocked herself out, punching herself in the head.

My DD is also avoiding going out - she has even been abused for not wearing a mask while outside.

I bought her a sunflower ‘mask exempt’ lanyard thinking that it might make it a bit more obvious, but it hasn’t helped.

She has an EHCP so has a school place, but needs to get a bus to get to school. As a result, she is not going to school.

She is having CBT (that we’ve fought long and hard for) at the moment, her psychiatrist wants her to use a bus, get out for walks, go in a shop, but she won’t because she can’t wear a mask for more than a few minutes and has received a lot of abuse (despite wearing a lanyard) so even her medical treatment is compromised

I bought her a sunflower ‘mask exempt’ lanyard thinking that it might make it a bit more obvious, but it hasn’t helped.

No, because then people want to know why you have a lanyard and what the reason is for your exemption so they can decide if it's acceptable. I refuse to wear a lanyard.

By 'people', I don't mean shop staff as I have no issue with them at all. Just the average, judgmental, interfering poke-nose that infest supermarkets even at 7 a.m.

Well @Happycat1212 , these arseholes on your thread have shown exactly why disabled people who can’t wear a face covering daren’t go out. I’m so sorry.

My husband is exempt due to being abused as a child. He simply cannot tolerate a mask or face covering as it brings back massive PTSD. He just doesn’t go anywhere anymore as Tesco etc were wanting him to explain why he is exempt. Appalling

My sister is athsmatic she can't wear a mask. She has tried every type and tried to build up etc but can't do it. She gets anxious and her breathing becomes rushed. She wears a badge but is subject to people asking all the time why she isn't wearing one. Not shop workers, who are understanding, but randoms. She has got to the point now where she never goes anywhere. She will go days where she doesn't leave the house. Why should she be made to feel like that? Ironically the rates of covid reduced the most during the first lockdown and there were no compulsory masks then

i would be concerned for the taxi driver taking an unmasked person in their taxi
do you have a bicycle?

my ds doesn't go anywhere either, now he work from home, i am concerned for him.

do you get out for exercise op?
you must

people can still go out

they might not go to the shops but they can still go out

@Inthevirtualwaitingroom

people can still go out

they might not go to the shops but they can still go out

Easy to say, but when you’re 15, with social anxiety and Tourette’s and someone calls you a cunt, shrieks at you that you’re “killing people” and tells you your mental health is “collateral damage, it’s not so easy to do is it

i appreciate it is awful for your teen @Springersrock, but i was talking to op.

although to be honest, your teen can go out, no masks are needed in the open air

@Inthevirtualwaitingroom

people can still go out

they might not go to the shops but they can still go out

Unfortunately, a large number of people think everyone should wear a mask the minute they step outside their own home and don't hesitate to say so. Do you really think people want to go out when they know they might be abused for simply walking in a park without a mask on?

I go out every day with our fail

Even if I didn’t feel like it, I would STILL take my children out.

Every day.

come off it, no one abuses anyone i know for not wearing a mask outdoors,