Didn't realise how much the mask annoyed me until now!

[november90]

Before I get shouted at, I've followed all the guidance and played ball with everything. So just making that clear first and foremost.
But over the past month or so I have stopped wearing my mask in shops. For my own personal reasons I've stopped wearing it and I've felt a lot better not wearing it.
After yesterday's news I went to the garden Center today with my sons and our my mask back on and I just completely forgot how much I enjoyed being able to smile properly and talk to people without shouting. I didn't realise before how hard it was to engage with my 1 year old when he can't see my mouth and he doesn't talk! Also was really enjoying wearing lipstick again 😬
I'll wear my mask, don't get me wrong, but I just forgot for a short period of time what a pain in the arse they are!!!!

I don't love wearing masks, but I do love not having to wear make up (suffer from rosacea so normally not an option)

There may not be people who enjoy wearing masks, but plenty believe wearing one makes them morally superior.

A mask doesn’t protect the wearer, it helps reduce the chance of the wearer spreading it in the event they have covid. It is mostly a selfless act though for me I want others to wear them, if they can, to protect me so I wear one as it’s only fair.

Those who choose to not wear them (and to be clear I am explicitly refer to those choosing, not those that are unable for any medical/psychological reason) as they don’t like it it infringes their liberties like Laurence Fox are, to me, fundamentally selfish.

I certainly don’t feel morally superior, but I definitely judge the Laurence Fox types and see them as morally deficient and extremely selfish. Though I also pity them for not having the intelligence to work that out for themselves.

Whilst I appreciate the view that we should take precautions I think wearing masks is not something we should embrace as the norm. Interaction between people is important, wearing masks destroys those connections and isolates people. I don't like the idea that mask wearing will become the norm. In asian countries mask wearing used to be to stop the spread of diseases - it was not all the time and only done when people felt there was a risk or when pollution levels were felt to be high. I think that sort of mask wearing would be ok and might even be a positive as it would lead to less illnesses but generic mask wearing I something that I hope needs to end asap

@TurnUpTurnip

You will be shot down by the mask lovers on MN seems we can only pretend that we enjoy wearing them or you get shot down.

Ive seen this as well turnup

@TurnUpTurnip ahh yes I totally expected that but pleasantly surprised so far to see that my feelings don't seem completely unreasonable 🙈
I suppose my feelings aren't that I'm necessarily anti mask (I'm ok either way).... I'm just sad about wearing it again!

You’re not unreasonable at all november 🙂

I've actually enjoyed wearing a mask recently cos they keep my face warm!

Whilst I appreciate the view that we should take precautions I think wearing masks is not something we should embrace as the norm. Interaction between people is important, wearing masks destroys those connections and isolates people

Yes, I feel the same way. On threads like this you always get posters chipping in to say ‘Actually I quite like masks because it means I don’t have to bother talking to people’, or ‘Masks are great because I can hide behind them.’

Personally I don’t think anything that facilitates avoiding people and never having to talk to strangers can be a good thing at a societal level.

Personally I don’t think anything that facilitates avoiding people and never having to talk to strangers can be a good thing at a societal level

Actually for me as an autistic person this particular aspect of mask-wearing/lockdown has been almost a relief. a quieter less socially interactive world has been good for my soul.

But I know that doesn’t justify maintaining them for the whole population and it also doesn’t mean I love mask wearing (I just appreciate the social protection it can bring sometimes)

I don’t think we are embracing it as the norm. In just a few weeks it’s gone back to almost no mask wearing in most places. I think the giver is being cautious. I don’t know why we make such a fuss about it, most countries are still wearing them, only in England it’s a massive fuss, as always. I’m sure once we find out the full effects of this new variant, if milder than normal, we can lift restrictions.

The thing I dislike most about them is juggling to put one on while you have a coffee in the other hand/need to get travelcard out etc. Even worse if you've run for the bus or train. Totally understand why they're needed but every time that happens to me I think back to the days where I could just get on the bus without having yet another thing to juggle!

And yet we don't have to wear one in theatres, restaurants, bars and music venues. We will be in all of these this week...and yet it's mandatory in supermarkets.

Will start wearing one again but I’m going to miss being able to hear people

The blue ones go into landfill, the cloth ones are ineffective as they become soggy. Breath escapes from side and top of all of them, and they are stuffed in pockets and bags and reworn several times. People get, or dont get Covid regardless.

@Thebackofbeyondandback

There may not be people who enjoy wearing masks, but plenty believe wearing one makes them morally superior.

It does

Mask lovers? Glad to see the bar on playground name calling is high.

It’s just an infection control measure, do you stand around public toilets mocking ‘hand washing lovers’? Or point and laugh when someone blows their nose into a tissue?

Wear one or don’t but don’t try to make yourselves feel superior by being divisive.

I've never had to shout to make myself understood in a mask. So far as I'm concerned, it's a mild inconvenience which I'll carry on putting up with.

I am seriously considering claiming the exemption I am entitled to, but which I did not use for a year.

Instead, I struggled with masks for a year because I thought I would try to do my bit, and they impeded my breathing. They were seriously uncomfortable.

More fool me. I'll only be wearing them in medical settings now, and even there my breathing becomes more laboured and I have to drop the mask.

Glasses steaming up is also a huge problem. I went for one of my scheduled eye tests last week. I did start off trying to wear a mask as it is a sort of medical setting. I had to remove it though as it caused all lenses tried during the test to fog up so I couldn't read anything at all.

The opthalmologist said that he very often has to tell people to remove masks as they make the tests very difficult.

@Topseyt you don’t have to claim anything, just don’t wear one.

[quote Cornettoninja]@Topseyt you don’t have to claim anything, just don’t wear one.[/quote]
That's what I will do. I'm just planning for if any arsehole challenges me.

just tell them you’re exempt? There’s no need to start off defensive before you’ve even been in the situation.

Me too OP. I find them really oppressive and I get so hot. They make my menopausal hot flushes ramp right up.

I've never had to shout to make myself understood in a mask. So far as I'm concerned, it's a mild inconvenience which I'll carry on putting up with

It’s great that you don’t have any difficulty with them. Sadly it’s not the same for everyone - I have a quiet voice and sinus issues/perennial rhinitis and inevitably end up hoarse and headachey after trying to talk through a mask, even for short periods of time.

The blue ones go into landfill, the cloth ones are ineffective as they become soggy. Breath escapes from side and top of all of them, and they are stuffed in pockets and bags and reworn several times. People get, or dont get Covid regardless

This is what I find frustrating. I know my thin silk mask, largely kept in my bag, does nothing (I wear them solely because they’re the ones I can bear the most and don’t want to contribute to the environmental disaster that is single use masks). The only ones that genuinely make a difference are properly fitted FFP2 or ideally FFP3 masks, and in darned if I’m wandering round Waitrose with DD looking like a paranoid duck.

I am always amused by some people saying "get over wearing a mask, it's not for long" and other people saying "get over wearing a mask for the rest of your life".

@TempsPerdu You're totally right. I speak two other European languages and on e.g. twitter you do get people complaining!