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Original poster

Why won’t so many Brits wear a mask

484 replies

IloveConkers · 10/12/2021 17:50

I live in mainland Spain where I haven’t seen a single person without a mask in a supermarket since March 2020. I hear it’s the same in Germany and Italy. What is it about so many British people that makes them not do it when it’s clearly safer. I returned to the UK for a visit and found it horrifying. I was even looked at with disdain for wearing one! I just don’t get it!

OP posts:
HesterShaw1 · 10/12/2021 22:44

Are you still saying if only Brits had done The Rules better Covid would have gone away?

The reason the health service is "on its knees", to use an overused phrase, is not because people haven't done Covid properly.

The health service would still be completely shit if Covid hadn't come along. Hospitals were full anyway. Social care has been gutted, there are too many old/unhealthy people in the country for the amount of care available. This happened before Covid.

DockOTheBay · 10/12/2021 22:44

Surprising, annoying, concerning maybe.
Horrifying, no.

Twillow · 10/12/2021 22:44

@Ellieboolou33

I don't anymore, I've had both jabs, everyone who's vulnerable / eligible should of had them too by now, I've complied for over 18 months and I'm sick of it all now.

Call me selfish but I couldn't give a fuck anymore what others think.

I'll wear them if I have to attend a medical setting, other than that I don't wear one.

You are selfish.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem"

silkience · 10/12/2021 22:45

I was even looked at with disdain for wearing one! I just don’t get it!

Yes, of course that really happened Hmm

Sakura7 · 10/12/2021 22:45

@luinagreine

I think it’s cultural No one tells us what to do. We ruled much of the world don’t you know.

I think this is spot on to be honest. People in countries where we wear masks have all been vaccinated too(quite a few to a greater degree than England), we are all sick of it too, England is far from unique in that. It runs much deeper than lots of people will admit and I think a large part of it is in Englands colonial history.

I'm in Ireland and agree 100% with this comment. 'Nobody tells me what to do' yada yada.

Thankfully the vast vast majority here have got vaccinated and are happy to wear masks (we never stopped). It's really not a big deal and it's pathetic to try to make it one.

skintasabint · 10/12/2021 22:45

So much name calling on this thread.

DirectionToPerfection · 10/12/2021 22:46

@silkience

I was even looked at with disdain for wearing one! I just don’t get it!

Yes, of course that really happened Hmm

It's a fairly common occurrence actually, not sure why you'd doubt it?
Twillow · 10/12/2021 22:50

@wasthataburp

There's no proof that it actually works though. People are fed up now and want to draw a line somewhere instead of wearing one indefinitely?
Plenty of studies done now that show masks absolutely do reduce transmission. Google will be happy to help you remove your ignorance.
Lemonlady22 · 10/12/2021 22:54

You are supposed to wear a clean mask everytime, a new disposable one or one you wash. Too many lazy people who can't be arsed

NeedAHoliday2021 · 10/12/2021 22:54

Because people think they know better than scientists. At school pick up the courtyard gets crowded but the only people wearing masks are those parents (like me) who work in a hospital… that’s surely quite telling to the other parents? Apparently not though. I don’t get the anti mask thing. If need wearing a mask in a shop helps a tiny bit and prevents someone feeling anxious, why wouldn’t I wear one? My experience of Kent was much worse than Somerset though. In Kent it was like they’d not heard of the pandemic.

ALightThatNeverGoesOut · 10/12/2021 23:02

Agree it's probably a misplaced colonial hangover. This also makes the general response to authority a sort of surly chippiness.

Ellieboolou33 · 10/12/2021 23:02

@Twillow yep as I said I really couldn't give a toss if people think I'm selfish, the solution was the vaccine which I've had, I'll not be having any more though.

The thread was ask why Brits don't se to wear masks anymore, I've given MY opinion and reasons, what I find selfish is when people can't or won't accept any other opinions other than the ones they have.
Stay safe 🙄

Kyliealwayshadthebestdisco · 10/12/2021 23:15

I actually think it’s mostly because we’ve had really confusing messaging about masks from the beginning unlike most other countries. At first it was actively discouraged from on high (and I strongly suspect mostly cos there wasn’t much evidence for cloth ones protecting individuals, and the government totally fucked up with having enough PPE supplies at the beginning). I’m a GP and had to work for the first month of this pandemic without a mask because there weren’t any to be had. If the general public were trying to get them too, we probably wouldn’t have had any for 6 months or more and I think there would have been a real risk of many healthcare workers just literally quitting rather than try to work in a pandemic without the most basic medical PPE. A lot died in the first wave, it was terrifying enough without trying to do it without masks. So it didn’t get off to a great start. And then when they decided to allow mask wearing they decided people could exempt themselves rather than having to get a doctors permission and not have to give any sort of justification, in order to take the pressure off the NHS which resulted in people taking the absolute piss. I’m not sure if that would have happened to the same level in other countries if the rules were the same but they are hardly rules conducive to mask wearing. Then we have Boris himself prancing around hospitals in winter in a pandemic without masks, I actually think it’s surprising how many people in the UK are still wearing masks (and I’m grateful for it), given that optimum conditions for mask wearing have been far from met.

Twillow · 10/12/2021 23:19

@Ellieboolou33

I don't anymore, I've had both jabs, everyone who's vulnerable / eligible should of had them too by now, I've complied for over 18 months and I'm sick of it all now.

Call me selfish but I couldn't give a fuck anymore what others think.

I'll wear them if I have to attend a medical setting, other than that I don't wear one.

Can I ask why you wear them to a medical setting only? Is it to protect potentially vulnerable people there, or that you might not be given access without one? If it's the first reason, what's your logic re potentially vulnerable people everywhere else? And if it's the second, why comply only in that setting? You could just pretend you are exempt if it bothers you that much?
HollaHolla · 10/12/2021 23:22

@Lemonlady22

You are supposed to wear a clean mask everytime, a new disposable one or one you wash. Too many lazy people who can't be arsed
Totally. I’m fed up of seeing people grab mucky ones from the front dashboard of their car/van, or people who wave them around their arm, thinking it’s all ok.

Mind you, Being menopausal, when I get a hot flush wearing one, I do feel like I’ll melt. But, Y’know what, I STILL WEAR THEM!

Whammyyammy · 10/12/2021 23:24

@ForbiddentoForbid

I was on a flight from Spain to UK last month and so many wankers were wearing them under their noses.
Odd, as you don't need to wear them on flights when eating or drinking (can't catch covid with food obvs) and a short med hop..... easy to make an easy jet muffin and coffee combo last....
HesterShaw1 · 10/12/2021 23:26

And I'm fed of seeing single use masks discarded on beaches, in hedgerows, in flowerbeds, parks, on pavements, in playgrounds and in car parks because people are under the misguided impression they "need" a fresh one every day, otherwise they're not doing Covid properly.

traka · 10/12/2021 23:29

I was in my local Morrison's last Saturday and I was surprised how many people weren't wearing masks. At a rough estimate I'd say around 30-40% weren't

It's best to not worry about others and just don't even look at them. Just get in and get out

GaolBhoAlba · 10/12/2021 23:45

I've reached the conclusion, and its an informed conclusion based upon real world evidence as illustrated (amongst other observations) by England (no mask mandate) and Scotland (mask mandate), that masks make little to no difference. Im scunnered, wholly, now of the pious self appointed mask police, and I couldnt give a rats ass for the opinion of said characters.

Whammyyammy · 10/12/2021 23:50

Free MN halo for every mask wearer. Just post how much you wear your mask, how often you change irt and that you're doing it for others.
Then you can wear your halo with pride and lecture others how you're saving the world with your dirty face cloth that resides in your handbag.....🤣😇

L0stinCyberspace · 10/12/2021 23:58

Ah yes, the "I'll not be told" brigade during a global, airborne pandemic! #1 globally for new covid infections today - globally

HollaHolla · 10/12/2021 23:59

@HesterShaw1

And I'm fed of seeing single use masks discarded on beaches, in hedgerows, in flowerbeds, parks, on pavements, in playgrounds and in car parks because people are under the misguided impression they "need" a fresh one every day, otherwise they're not doing Covid properly.
You do realise that you’re wrong - if it gets damp, it needs replaced. It’s hard to tell if you’re joking or not, as I’m so incredulous that you might think that ‘single use’ isn’t the clue. (But absolutely - the waste, and littering, is appalling.)
Ellieboolou33 · 11/12/2021 00:03

@Twillow I wear them in a medical setting only as my GP will not allow access to the surgery to anyone who is not wearing one. Probably the reason I've only been to the doctors once in the last 18 months!

Vulnerable people are all around us, covid is the not the biggest danger.

hulahooper2 · 11/12/2021 00:09

Just back from visiting my dd in Spain , masks and precautions taken , here there are too many idiots/selfish folk who don’t care , I was on a tube today and got so irate at folk not wearing masks , they can’t all be exempt

Ugzbugz · 11/12/2021 00:39

Because people are grim.