Why are you still wearing a mask...wrong?

All the time I have people come in to work wearing a mask, which is fine normally, good for them, but they are wearing them on their chin, chin diaper style. Not covering up anything. Or at best just their mouth, sometimes. Nobody is making these people wear a mask anymore, so why are they doing it at all if they are just going to do it wrong? Is it an attempt at a political statement? A lack of education? I end up baffled for a while every time I see one of these people.

confusedbytheBasics,

I asked myself this often. I think it’s absentmindedness but I still find myself annoyed. Wear it or don’t but halfway just gets to me.

StringTheory,

Yesterday while grocery shopping two men walked by as I was contemplating bread choices. One of them was saying, “yeah, it’s ok, I’ve got the sore throat but I don’t have the rest of the Covid symptoms yet.”

At that moment I really wished both he and I (and everyone else in the store) were wearing masks.

marco,
@marco@beehaw.org avatar

If they are talking like that, they probably didn’t test. That being said, my whole family just went through a normal cold that the kids brought home from school, all tested negative… sigh

StringTheory,

That makes it better, but I don’t want his normal cold, either. We all have a few masks lying around and tucked into pockets here and there these days. If one feels a cold coming on, toss a mask over your pie hole in public!

sculd,

I honestly don’t understand why wearing a mask seem such a big deal for a lot of people.

From where I live, people wear masks are pretty common, when they are sick, when they go to congested locations (trains, buses), when they just don’t feel like wearing make up. And this is **BEFORE **COVID.

Now people just returned to normal circumstances, which is they wear mask when they feel the need to instead of everywhere.

Its good. It makes you less likely to get influenza. It makes people more comfortable in meetings because their saliva can’t fly into your face. It makes facial recognition more difficult. Its good for privacy.

NattyNatty2x4,

It’s a big deal because Republicans lied about the severity of covid and made it a big deal. Only reason

abhibeckert,

Everyone’s different. Personally when I wear a mask I can’t see since it fogs up my glasses within a few seconds, and therefore I can’t really function as a normal human being. My partner can’t breathe properly while wearing a mask - which is even worse.

If you compound that with the fact that you’re wearing a mask because you’re sick… then the mask makes an already unpleasant day 10x worse.

For us - if the choice is wear a mask or stay home, we’ll both just stay home (or at least away from public indoor spaces). We did that all of last week. Cost thousands of dollars since we had to take unpaid leave from work - but we’d rather do that than wear a mask.

renard_roux, (edited )

It’s so surreal to see posts about masks and Covid.

I live in Denmark. At the beginning of last year, the government decided that Covid was no longer a critical threat, and all restrictions were removed on February 1st, 2022.

I have not seen a single mask since. I’ve heard Covid mentioned here maybe twice in the past year, with maybe one family I know getting infected in that period (that I know of…).

My wife and I were Team Restrictions, in the aggressively cautious (and scared) end of the spectrum. Two young daughters; those of you with kids (especially little ones) will probably know the crippling fear of losing your children.

Then one day the government decides it’s just over, we can’t be bothered with this anymore, and there was nothing we could do about it. Most of the country seemed very happy with the whole thing, certainly most people we know (and most of them had received our secret scorn for their borderline indifference to caution and protocol).

And then time passed, and some more time, and I went from checking in on the hardcore epidemiologists on Twitter daily — the ones constantly (and correctly!) pointing out that the decision to “cancel Covid” was insane, 100% political and in complete denial of the available data — to completely forgetting Covid happened.

2 years of hell, and for more than a year it’s been completely out of my thoughts. It’s absolutely mind-blowing. Especially since this is not the reality everywhere else. I don’t think about Covid anymore, at all, unless something like this post reminds me it’s still alive and kicking.

BruceTwarzen,

I'm always blown away when i see people who have long term covid symptoms because they picked up covid at some point and refuse to wear a mask and get vaccinated and call it a hoax.

renard_roux,

Well, where did they get the symptoms from?? It’s all a hoax, so what’s really wrong with them??

/s

Yeah, the Surprised Pikachu Faces are baffling; everyone, on the entire planet, was warned, but the inconvenience was simply too great.

And anyway, “That will never happen to me, and it can’t be my responsibility to be inconvenienced just to protect strangers, and from a made up global hoax, no less!”

[Picard Face Palm]

Polar,

2 years of hell, and for more than a year it’s been completely out of my thoughts. It’s absolutely mind-blowing. Especially since this is not the reality everywhere else. I don’t think about Covid anymore, at all, unless something like this post reminds me it’s still alive and kicking.

It’s great that you get to live your life in ignorance, but people with autoimmune diseases, cancer, transplants, etc, don’t.

COVID can, and does, kill us. Not having an immune system is rough.

renard_roux,

I think you’ve misunderstood my meaning. I wasn’t bragging, looking down my nose at the rest of the world who still has to deal with Covid. I was trying to convey:

  • How messed up it is to live in a place where something like “cancelling Covid” can become a political decision, and
  • How adept the human mind is at blocking out trauma.

A ridiculously high percentage of the population here was vaccinated, so at least that vector is dampened.

Personally, I do my best to still stay at home if I’m sick, keep my kids home if they’ve got the sniffles, and if we’re feeling particularly unwell, we get a Covid test, unlike the vast majority of the country. We haven’t tested positive in the past 2+ years.

There isn’t much else we can do. It’s not like we’re fighting a rag-tag group of anti-vaxx retards here. It’s the entire country. Almost everyone vaccinated, no masks or restrictions in sight for a year and a half. There’s no fight to be had.

I understand completely that being compromised sucks tremendously, which is one of the reasons we (my wife and I) took the restrictions extremely seriously, to the point where both our families rolled their eyes at us. And we didn’t give a fuck, we did our best to do what we thought was right, and we kept doing that for as long as it was doable.

I have no idea what the numbers are today, if people here are still dying. I doubt it, because people would talk about that, but I don’t know for sure. I was trying to convey what it’s like living in a post-pandemic society, even if it is so by choice.

abhibeckert,

I have no idea what the numbers are today, if people here are still dying. I doubt it,

The numbers are available. Official count (by the WHO) is a few hundred deaths a day globally and dozens of deaths per day in the EU.

Keep in mind those numbers are probably not accurate, since they’re coming from unreliable sources (I would think the EU number is more accurate than most of the world though).

Several months ago there was a wave that peaked at 41,000 deaths per day. We definitely need to keep a finger on the pulse incase another wave like that rises up. In the height of the pandemic restrictions the death rate was more like a hundred thousand deaths per day (and that wasn’t a peak of a single wave, it was around that high for a year).

abhibeckert,

COVID can, and does, kill us.

Look, I get it, but there’s a big difference between a hundred thousand deaths per day and a couple hundred deaths per day which is where we are now with covid (according to the WHO).

Covid is nowhere near the highest risk anymore, even people who are especially vulnerable to it are far more likely to be killed by something else.

Doesn’t mean covid should be ignored but the precautions we took in recent years just aren’t necessary right now.

johnthedoe,

I would understand if they wore it on their chin outside or not near people and put it back up when inside or close or talking to people. Still good practice to do so if you’re sick and contagious. And fine to take a rest from wearing it outside.

snowbell,
@snowbell@beehaw.org avatar

Yeah, for sure, but I work inside and talk to people. A few people do it right at least.

BruceTwarzen,

I'll never forget the day where i was grocery shopping in the worst part of the pandemic and that old lady next to me took off her mask to just sneeeeeeze the fuck around.

QualifiedKitten,

I was wondering the same thing recently when I saw a person walking outdoors wearing a lose fitting fabric mask covering only their mouth, not their nose. The conclusion I came to is that person must be aware that their breath smells terrible, so they wear the mask to prevent others from smelling their breath. And the mask is worn under their nose so they don't have to smell their own breath.

JackGreenEarth,

😂

S13Ni,

So many years after covid and you still don’t know how to wear it. I consider you to be irredeemably dumb.

BruceTwarzen,

I would say if you didn't get it at day one, all hope is gone.

Chobbes,

I’m sure it’s a mix of things. Some of it’s probably a lack of understanding, and sometimes it’s a “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” situation. They might have their mask on and ready to go for situations where they might want to mask up or where somebody else might want them to mask up… Or… Whatever. Maybe even some people take it off to talk (which is frustrating) because they think it’s easier to communicate that way and worth the risk to themselves and others and they’ll pull it back up after because it still does limit exposure overall? I dunno. Maybe I shouldn’t speculate too much. I guess I’ve been on the other side of this where a bunch of people were complaining about people wearing masks outside alone because it’s “stupid and pointless” and I’ve definitely done that when going between places because it was just easier to keep the thing on for me (especially since I try to have it fit really well).

cabbagee,

Some of it’s probably a lack of understanding, and sometimes it’s a “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” situation.

This is exactly how I view it. Faith in humanity skyrocketed when I decided to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Chobbes,

Yeah, and I mean I really want people to be better about masking when it matters too… But I think it’s best to not get too mad about the people who are trying and making some questionable tradeoffs of comfort / effectiveness or whatever. I don’t understand all of the weird things people do with masks, and it’d be nice if we could actually talk to people and say “hey, are you wearing a mask to protect yourself or others? I think this is making it a lot less effective!” and have people be receptive to that, because there probably are some people that just don’t think about it too much and don’t realize… But it’s difficult to have those conversations without it feeling confrontational, especially when the whole thing has become such a contentious issue.

BruceTwarzen,

I never understood the whole: "stupid and pointless anger" a lot of people had. I had a co-worker who would turn his head when we were driving, veing annoyed because someone dared to wear a mask while being alone in their car. Or he saw someone sitting alone in an office with a mask. Like, i don't know dude, maybe their coworker is on the toilet or something. Also, non of your business. Imagine getting mad at people for wearing sunglasses when it got cloudy. TAKE THAT SHIT OFF, IT'S POINTLESS

Chobbes,

It’s a bit odd… I guess people just want to feel justified in their own beliefs about the thing which manifests as anger. But I think there’s often perfectly reasonable justifications for these things too… Like, Uber and Lyft both required drivers to mask, so it’s perfectly reasonable for them to just keep the mask on between picking up passengers, and in that case it really wouldn’t be useless… Maybe somebody is picking somebody up or just dropped somebody off and feels more comfortable keeping the mask on in the meantime… Maybe it’s just easier to put the mask on at home and they don’t want to fiddle with it during the day… Or maybe it’s completely pointless, but it doesn’t harm anybody so who cares?

Honestly, I’ve just found the response to COVID (particularly in the USA) really depressing to the point where I just don’t want to be around people anymore. I guess just all of the selfishness and vitriol about the whole thing really took a toll on me.

jarfil,

I’ve met people who are fine with, and seem to understand the reason for wearing a mask… but then in practice it’s “it makes it harder to breathe”, “my glasses fog up”, “I don’t feel like they understand me without seeing my mouth”… well, covering your mouth while spitting speaking is a big part of the reason to wear a mask… but they’ll wear the mask all right outside, then come inside and move it down to their chin to speak 🤦

PotentiallyAnApricot,

People who move their mask down to talk to me are the most infuriating people in the universe. Like, you were wearing it…. until you got close to me?? and started talking??

Pechente,

Wait until you meet someone who removes their mask to cough.

PotentiallyAnApricot,

I’ve never been in a fight. But…

furrowsofar,

A mask does make it harder to breath. I have ashma and I can only use certain masks and they have to be pretty fresh. Absolutely they make glasses fog especially so if you do not have certain coatings. Well and a good mask which is hard to find. For me some 3M masks fit well enough and are also designed so they do not seem to cause fogging as much. As far as understanding. Some people are very visual and less auditory. My wife is. So yes some people understand language better seeing the face. Say nothing about lip readers.

This is all true from my experience to some extent though it feels overblown at times and may well be. None of this prevents me from using a mask when needed for example.

PotentiallyAnApricot,

I think it’s just inconsideration. A lot of people want to be able to say that they’re still masking, but they don’t care enough to do it properly. Or, charitably, they’re overwhelmed, distracted, or miseducated about how masks work. Masking in public has been rebranded as this arduous, exhausting, horrible things, and people get careless when they think of it as work.

baggins,
@baggins@beehaw.org avatar

We have one person in our office like this. He also only wears it occasionally!

apis,

Probably nothing more interesting than being absent minded.

They pull them down when outdoors, then forget to pull them back up upon entering an enclosed space.

Spaghetti_Hitchens,

Do not ascribe to malice what may be explained by stupidity.

ForestOrca,
@ForestOrca@kbin.social avatar

FWIW, I wear an N95. It fits well, and I wear it properly. In my office everyone wears a mask. And I make sure they (patients and staff) wear it correctly. Imagine, knowing the way to significantly reduce the chance of getting any respiratory infection, to the point where one might never have that again. Colds, influenza, RSV, Covid, etc could all be so minimal. But then not using that knowledge (masking, hand washing, distancing and isolation if one is sick), and getting sick. And getting other people sick, too.

A lot of misinformation was spread through the course of the pandemic, which had adverse consequences - increased mortality and morbidity.

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