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Original poster

Push for masks to be reintroduced

495 replies

GerardusMercator · 04/01/2023 12:44

Over the last few days I've noticed a big push in media to get masks back on the agenda. A brief foray into twitter and flick through a few Covid threads here, and I've seen all the old pandemic era versions of 'it's no hardship to mask'/ your selfish if you don't want to mask etc start to creep back in.

How many of you are-

  1. Still masking now
  2. Will mask if it becomes guidance
  3. Will mask if it becomes law
  4. Will not mask again under any circumstances

I really struggled with masks and don't believe they make a great deal of difference (covid theatre) so would be somewhere between a 3 and 4.

OP posts:
butterpuffed · 04/01/2023 15:32

I had an appointment for an X-ray this morning . There were four of us waiting for one and I was the only person not wearing a mask as it hadn't even occurred to me. Nobody gave me funny looks but I did feel a bit guilty , particularly as one was a teenager , so if they can be bothered why shouldn't I . Will be wearing one in future .

Nameneeded · 04/01/2023 15:34

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Were you this angry about people not wearing masks if they had regular flu, before Covid existed ? If not, why the anger about masks for Covid ? Your dad is as at risk from flu as he is from Covid. We simply cannot wear masks forever, and Covid looks to be here forever now. Do you want everyone to wear masks forever too ?

Flaunch · 04/01/2023 15:36

4 - I won’t wear a mask and I won’t test.

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 04/01/2023 15:44

I’ve been wearing masks to appointments throughout the pandemic & beyond, but I’ve been using masks way before the pandemic to help combat cold air as a trigger for trigeminal neuralgia for years.

Popping one back on now (cloth ones I’ve made with commercial carbon filter single use inserts at FFP3 spec) is no biggie. Especially since I’m now clinically vulnerable & the weird respiratory bug that’s been floating about knocked me down like a sack of shite (pneumococcal, flu & full COVID boosters). If I can help someone else from catching anything by wearing a mask, then party bonus.

Also, masking has been used as a verb for many years. Or have some of you never used masking tape or masking fluid? As a verb it means ‘to conceal’. Or do you never mask your disappointment at some of the bollocks that gets trotted out on here?

AutumnCrow · 04/01/2023 15:44

Can anyone explain why some people make shitty comments to me in supermarkets or in P.O. queues when I'm wearing a mask? Or roll their eyes, do a disbelieving laugh, that kind of thing?

I don't see why, if they don't want to wear a mask (which is fine), I should have wear a special lanyard and slap a notice on my back to explain why I have chosen to. Isn't it obvious some people wear masks because of vulnerability / medical advice?

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 04/01/2023 15:50

AutumnCrow · 04/01/2023 15:44

Can anyone explain why some people make shitty comments to me in supermarkets or in P.O. queues when I'm wearing a mask? Or roll their eyes, do a disbelieving laugh, that kind of thing?

I don't see why, if they don't want to wear a mask (which is fine), I should have wear a special lanyard and slap a notice on my back to explain why I have chosen to. Isn't it obvious some people wear masks because of vulnerability / medical advice?

Probably for the same reason a lot of the maskless were abused in 2020/2021 - some people are just unpleasant. Ad those of us who were exempt from mask wearing were expected to wear a lanyard or a badge to indicate our pariah status - that was supposed to be OK for us, wasn't it?

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 04/01/2023 15:51

4 why do mask wearers always ‘pop one on’ instead of just putting one on?

SockGoddess · 04/01/2023 15:52

I can't understand the anti-mask thing either. If you don't want to wear one/don't think you should be told to wear one, that's one thing - but why be horrible to someone who wants to wear one?

Years ago I used to wear a filtering mask for cycling in London - yes it's uncomfortable, but comes with certain positives and that's a choice I'm free to make. A mask will reduce the likelihood of catching, or spreading, an airborne disease, maybe not by much (depending on the type of mask and the situation) but still my choice to make. Even if you think I'm mistaken about that, STILL my choice to make.

Fiji10 · 04/01/2023 15:58

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 04/01/2023 15:51

4 why do mask wearers always ‘pop one on’ instead of just putting one on?

In the early days of MN, tedious housework was similarly diminished.....just wash the sheets every day and pop a new one on, just bung a homemade lasagne in the oven, just pop into the shops....

These are time consuming tasks. Childish words like pop, bung, slip etc diminish the work that's involved in it.

Use the word pop all you want, wearing a mask was distressing to me and I'll be exempting myself. I'll just pop on a lanyard (see what I did there?)

Itschristmastimeinthecity · 04/01/2023 16:00

Ill wear one if it becomes mandatory. Other than that Ill not be wearing one unless I was ill and needed to go out which is unlikely that I'd "need" to go out.

I don't really understand why some find wearing a mask so hard but OK, to each their own but if it becomes the law then you'll be forced wont you?

RedRiverShore2 · 04/01/2023 16:01

I won't be forced if it's law, as Boris said, it's just like a parking ticket

Fiji10 · 04/01/2023 16:02

It won't be law. Emergency powers have lapsed.

Even in the pandemic, we were terrified into thinking it was law, it was always ever guidance

workinmums · 04/01/2023 16:02

Fiji10 · 04/01/2023 15:58

In the early days of MN, tedious housework was similarly diminished.....just wash the sheets every day and pop a new one on, just bung a homemade lasagne in the oven, just pop into the shops....

These are time consuming tasks. Childish words like pop, bung, slip etc diminish the work that's involved in it.

Use the word pop all you want, wearing a mask was distressing to me and I'll be exempting myself. I'll just pop on a lanyard (see what I did there?)

Show quote history

If you are truly exempt then that's not a problem; that's what the lanyard is for, no?

SirMingeALot · 04/01/2023 16:03

AutumnCrow · 04/01/2023 15:44

Can anyone explain why some people make shitty comments to me in supermarkets or in P.O. queues when I'm wearing a mask? Or roll their eyes, do a disbelieving laugh, that kind of thing?

I don't see why, if they don't want to wear a mask (which is fine), I should have wear a special lanyard and slap a notice on my back to explain why I have chosen to. Isn't it obvious some people wear masks because of vulnerability / medical advice?

Some people are rude arseholes. We'd all be much better off if everyone minded their own fucking business. If you want to wear a mask that's up to you.

In answer to the OP, I have noticed more people advocating for this recently. I don't rule out the idea that Sunak might decide being seen to Do Something is the most politically expedient option, although guidance is more likely than a restriction given that the Tories will have to navigate the Partygate and moral legitimacy issues any time they try and make any rules. He also must have noticed that mask laws failed in the UK when we last had them. But it's not impossible.

If a rule does return, compliance will be extremely patchy and the private bodies like supermarkets and bus companies won't take responsibility for enforcement. No reason why they would, really. Nothing in it for them.

SirMingeALot · 04/01/2023 16:05

Itschristmastimeinthecity · 04/01/2023 16:00

Ill wear one if it becomes mandatory. Other than that Ill not be wearing one unless I was ill and needed to go out which is unlikely that I'd "need" to go out.

I don't really understand why some find wearing a mask so hard but OK, to each their own but if it becomes the law then you'll be forced wont you?

Of course not. There's no way to police the exemptions and we even saw some companies essentially opting out last time. Co op for example.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59481287

Different possibly in more controlled spaces like eg prison visits, hospitals, and for some people at work, but for the majority of the population they're just not going to have to do it most of the time if they don't want to.

AngelinaFibres · 04/01/2023 16:07

Instead of appealing to everyone to wear a mask to protect others they should have said that wearing a mask would save the wearer from death by covid. I suspect that the vast majority of people who decided they were exempt would have made more effort to wear one. The only people not wearing them would have been those for whom the mask is significantly worse than the risk of covid.

RedRiverShore2 · 04/01/2023 16:09

I think people would soon realise you are very unlikely to die, I'm not dead and I'm quite old

Worldgonecrazy · 04/01/2023 16:13

AngelinaFibres · 04/01/2023 16:07

Instead of appealing to everyone to wear a mask to protect others they should have said that wearing a mask would save the wearer from death by covid. I suspect that the vast majority of people who decided they were exempt would have made more effort to wear one. The only people not wearing them would have been those for whom the mask is significantly worse than the risk of covid.

Errr ….. no! It would have been noted as yet another truth bend/ outright lie from the government and probably made people more determined to ignore stupid rules ( exactly like those making the rules did because they knew the rules were for show purposes only)

NewspaperTaxis · 04/01/2023 16:13

My previous post about you was deleted @MrsDanversGlidesAgain - you can probably guess why.

I just can't understand why you should be furious that I choose to wear a face mask to protect the elderly in my family. I'm not telling you what to do - you wouldn't do it anyway. And I don't have any powers of law enforcement over you.

What do you mean, 'three years'? None of us have had to wear face masks legally this year have we?

But it's obviously a really touchy subject for you.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 04/01/2023 16:14

Instead of appealing to everyone to wear a mask to protect others they should have said that wearing a mask would save the wearer from death by covid

Except any degree of critical thinking would show that up for the bullshit it was because nothing actually 'saves you from death,' whether that's sooner or later - and that's before it being utter scientific nonsense disprovable by the first death of a mask wearer. And probably deeply unethical as well.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 04/01/2023 16:16

NewspaperTaxis · 04/01/2023 16:13

My previous post about you was deleted @MrsDanversGlidesAgain - you can probably guess why.

I just can't understand why you should be furious that I choose to wear a face mask to protect the elderly in my family. I'm not telling you what to do - you wouldn't do it anyway. And I don't have any powers of law enforcement over you.

What do you mean, 'three years'? None of us have had to wear face masks legally this year have we?

But it's obviously a really touchy subject for you.

you can probably guess why

Yes, I reported it as a personal attack.

MichelleScarn · 04/01/2023 16:17

NewspaperTaxis · 04/01/2023 16:13

My previous post about you was deleted @MrsDanversGlidesAgain - you can probably guess why.

I just can't understand why you should be furious that I choose to wear a face mask to protect the elderly in my family. I'm not telling you what to do - you wouldn't do it anyway. And I don't have any powers of law enforcement over you.

What do you mean, 'three years'? None of us have had to wear face masks legally this year have we?

But it's obviously a really touchy subject for you.

@NewspaperTaxis maybe stop now with the badgering of MrsDanvers? Especially as you're admitting your post was deleted because of abuse etc!

NewspaperTaxis · 04/01/2023 16:20

I agree there's no point in engaging with this person. I will point out that I got a load of nastiness from her for simply expressing the view that I'll be wearing a face mask. She seems to be badgering everyone who disagrees with her, so that's obviously okay.

This is basically a thread for those who think the whole Covid thing is a conspiracy or that face mask wearing is about State coercive control, and sticking it to anyone who hasn't seen the light yet - so it's not for me.

TheKeatingFive · 04/01/2023 16:21

they should have said that wearing a mask would save the wearer from death by covid.

well that would have been bullshit for most people, so no, I don't think they should have said it.

catsonahottinroof · 04/01/2023 16:21

I would be a 3 or 4 as I'd really try to resist it. I found it so difficult before and I'd have to think about quitting my job.
What I can't understand is people wearing masks even now, when its not been mandatory for ages, pulled right down under their nose and sometimes only covering their chin.