As a Minnesotan, I don't get the backlash against face coverings

LINK: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13413660

I pretty much agree with CHAINFIRE in that thread, Masks are labels.

The separate the believers from the non-believers. Not wearing a mask shows that you are loyal to Trump, and therefore to the United States. Being without a mask shows that you are "not afraid" of a virus, wearing a mask shows that you are too weak to risk you life for the sake of the economy.

Going out in public without a mask says, "I believe in Trump, not science." Trump doesn't wear a mask, Pence doesn't wear a mask, the doctors on the briefing don't wear a mask, why should I wear a mask? Masks reduce the amount of oxygen you get, so it is harmful to your heath. Masks make me look funny. My friends don't wear masks and they haven't got the virus. People get the flu every year and they don't wear masks.

There could be any number of reasons. I just don't get into it...

ETA: oops - meant to reply to the OP...

and there are some of us that are fairly certain we aren't infected (live highly isolated, rural lives) so don't bother if it isn't required. so while the generalizations you make may be true, they are NOT universal. no trump supporter or science antagonist here.

If we all choose to protect each other by wearing a mask, we may save lives. That is what I believe.

I've wanted to put something on my mask, like I WEAR THIS 4 U

Think of it like sneezing in your arm/sleeve rather than shooting it across the room.

I assume you meant everyone not wearing a mask is rude. And that would be a subjective judgement and a generalization that isn't true in all cases.

there is not much point. if you are in a crowded indoor setting in an area that has a lot of cases and you might have it, then you are possibly helping to protect others.

60% or higher protective. NM has made wearing masks mandatory in public places and it really gets me pissed when I see people in public places without masks. It makes me feel unsafe around them. Especially when they are in front of me on line and they are talking loudly, laughing and then I Have to move into the space they were just in. Being they are ignoring our governor’s rules about masks - kind of tells me they could be infected because they refuse to take this seriously.

in the Qanon world, they believe that wearing a mask actually *increases* your chance of catching covid! Yes, they're insane. But finally I understood *why* they're doing it. They are being fed this crap, and lapping it up.

The science says masks maybe help a bit in some circumstances. They're better at keeping you from spreading the disease if you already have it than stopping you getting it in the first place. Grown-ups can make their own assessment of the risks from there.

I'm autistic and have sensory issues around having things on my face. I've adopted a stricter form of self-isolation as a result but I still need to go to the pharmacy once in a while. I'm in a city with no known community transmission and I got a negative Covid test two weeks ago.

Therefore when I go to the pharmacy, I don't wear a mask but stay at least six feet away from people. If I had any symptoms, I would not go.

None of this makes me a Trump supporter.

I don't think it's helpful to turn masks into a badge of "I'm on the left" or "I'm on the right". Please don't feed the culture war. We could all do with a bit more of minding our own business and not jumping to conclusions about other people based on the slimmest of clues.

And that's if you even show symptoms at all.

A negative test result is only good until a few days before a positive test result.

It's best to not think about yourself as "probably not infected" it's better to think about yourself as a "possibly asymptomatic carrier"

I understand that there can be individual exceptions, but it's like a vaccination policy. The rule should be that everyone must be vaccinated. Exceptions can be made on a case by case basis, but not everyone can be an exception, and the advocacy must be that everyone must comply. If you're one of the exceptions, then the burden that you've got to live with is that you need to hear the messaging that may not be addressed to you.

and in places you are staying for a long time.

The chances of catching or transmitting the disease by standing in a line outside a pharmacy at 7am for five minutes are pretty miniscule.

I'm not saying people shouldn't wear masks. I'm saying we shouldn't turn masks into the badge of "I'm taking coronavirus seriously and care about other people" and anyone who doesn't wear a mask doesn't.

They just happen to be the most obvious thing you can do to signal you are concerned. But they are not the only, or the most effective, way to prevent spreading the disease and they shouldn't give a false sense of security.

Me going to pharmacy for five minutes without a mask at a time there aren't many people around and that's my only trip for the month is a lot less of a risk than someone who wears a mask and goes out to eat every other day because the mask gives them a false sense of security. Or someone who wears a mask at the office for eight hours a day at work is at a lot more at risk of catching and spreading the disease than someone who doesn't wear a mask for their short daily walk in the park while they are working at home.

My point is that you can't look into someone's soul and you shouldn't make judgements about other people based on whether they have a mask on or not.

these are the same yahoos who carry guns for "protection"

fuck them

So there is another element to the idiocy, the belief that God will protect people from a virus that God technically created. It is idiocy that is going to get some of the people involved killed.

Link to tweet

😷

Politics aside, you're telling the rest of the world that you're an asshole.

About their f**king freedom.

Those devices would be their smartphones.



http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2019239,00.html

my mask/bandana and I asked her where her mask was. She immediately got defensive and told me that "tomorrow" which is today masks were going to be mandatory to enter any business in
Albuquerque. I tapped my mask and said "I care" and left her on her own. Just trying to keep things real here... I give a thumbs up to people I see wearing masks. They're the members of our family that care...

You're not the Mask Police.

MYOB.

My spouse is disabled, one of his meds compromises his immune system and when he gets infections that linger, they put him in the hospital with pneumonia.

So, it's none of my business if some inconsiderate a-hole thinks a little inconvenience to maintain general public heath is an attack on his or her freedom - that it's okay to expose me and mine to a potentially fatal disease because in their opinion it's just too much of a sacrifice to at least wear a fucking bandana so their nasty-assed snot and spittle doesn't get all over everything and anyone within a shopping carts length distance?

Their right to their opinion on Covid-19- or any other nasty disease - ends at least 12 feet away from me and mine.

Spouse can't drive and has dietary constraints, grandkids we're raising are under 8 and can't drive, and the household income can't support delivery service or creative "alternatives".
So, it's up to me going out with my mask, safety glasses, gloves, Lysol wipes, cane and a personal folding shopping cart every three days or so.

I will tell someone to put on a mask because not wearing one is like driving drunk. Sure, nothing may happen, but when it does, lives are ruined.

Haele

I love her story. I’m in NM too - masks required starting today. So she is in the laundromat and an unmasked women gets into her space and bumps into her. She tells the woman to keep her distance. The woman gets snotty and gets on her cell telling a friend that my friend thinks she is going to catch the Virus from her. Anyway, my borderline friend goes ballistic on her - she posted on Facebook that she totally lost it. It might make the probably Republican woman think twice about defying our governor.

at least not the common cloth versions most people are donning.

whether it is rude or not is subjective and while I don't want to cause fear in others when I don't wear one, nobody has expressed any dismay or avoidance when I have been out. I always ask places I go if I need to wear one and nobody has said please do or anything like that. even the lab where I went to have blood drawn a couple of weeks ago.

I live isolated on a rural ranch in a low population county. we basically LIVE in quaratine all the time. we aren't carrying this thing and out once a week/10 day trip to a store in a small town that has had ONE case, puts us at extremely low risk for picking it up.

How much of a burden is it to wear a mask for 90 minutes, once a week?

I'd correct your statement to say that your town has had one confirmed case, who can say how many people are carrying it and not showing symptoms yet, or are asymptomatic carriers?

I'm living in the city of Seattle. I'm probably as isolated as you are though. I live alone and work from home. The last time I interacted with people on a normal basis was March 6th. Since then it's just been trips to the grocery store at most once a week, and I've been wearing a mask on all of those outings since March 20th.

The social distancing thing sucks. I mean I am an introvert by nature, but it would be absolutely great to get together with my friends for a barbecue or a beer, but we're doing what we have to do to keep the spread of this thing down. Wearing a mask is nothing compared to having to keep isolated.

Wearing a mask will help reduce the transmission rates, and the more people who wear them, the more it will be perceived as normal, and the more people will wear them. So even if you think your risk is low, wearing one will encourage others to wear them, and some of them may be asymptomatic/presymptomatic.

the science does not support my wearing one. it is pretty much that simple. as I said, if a business (or legal authorities) require it I will wear one, if people express or seem uncomfortable I would leave or wear one. none of that has happened where I live and shop so I have not done so.

The outbreak in New York City started with maybe 3-5 people bringing in the virus - realistically the number was likely bigger than that. But those few people literally took down a city of 8 million people, the largest in the country.

If you go to a country store and are near only three people while there, if you or one of them are infected, then the transmission potentially starts. How sure are you that the one person that was infected didn't infect other people? It has been clearly shown that around one half of people that are infected don't show any signs of it at all, at least visibly. My guess? More people in your area are most likely infected and it is only a matter of time before infected people start getting sick.

I will give you the simple reason WHY I wear a mask anytime I go in public. Me wearing one of the certified N95 masks that I own mean that if I am infected, I run a lower risk of infecting other people. I don't wear a mask out of fear for myself, I may do that with goggles, the mask is worn out of concern for people that I interact with. I feel fine, but a lot of people carrying the virus feel fine. If EVERYONE wore an effective mask when in public, the virus will burn out because it's transmission paths would be taken away. After a few months of ALL of us wearing masks when in public, we have a good chance of never having to wear them again for this virus, it would have vanished.

I really don't care what people think of me wearing a mask when in public, I don't give one shit about their opinion on this issue. I am a physically big, athletic person, so I seriously doubt that anyone is going to have the nerve to get in my face about wearing a mask.

Benson AZ ain't NYC.

In 1918, the virus made it's way to the North Pole in winter. So nowhere is isolated. Benson, Ariz certainly is not the North Pole, so you have some risk.

my grandfather claimed he brought it out as a teenager when he accompanied a load of cattle on a train to Kansas, but nobody really knows if that was true.

like I said of course there is some risk, there is risk in every single thing we do. understanding what they are and doing what is reasonable is how you deal with it. handwashing and staying away from sick people indoors for extended periods of time is the absolute best way to avoid this. if indeed avoiding it is really the answer for healthy people.

1000%. I wear a mask to avoid hassle from self-appointed pandemic police.

people forget there is space between the extremes. especially here on DU.

And the fewer virus particles you injest, the better.

mask-wearers and non-mask wearers. I get that there may be some good reasons for not wearing a mask, but for many, it is being selfish. What I hear around here (NE Iowa) is "I don't have the virus, so I don't need to wear a mask" and then often, not believing the science that tells us you can be asymptomatic for awhile before getting sick. And a lot who think it's not that big a deal if you do get the virus ...

Sorry, but the typical bandanas, scarves, etc...that many are using are more a feel-good measure than a practical protective barrier. I swear half the people around here wear them covering their mouth and not nose as well.

He started by saying I looked like a spaceman with my mask and splash shield (corporate mandated) but I ignored the comment in the interest of getting the a**hole out of my store as quickly as possible. By the time he had gathered his purchases (beer and chips) he had repeated the comment three more times in an attempt to get me to respond.

Finally he placed his purchases on the counter and again commented on my mask. Finally I had had enough and responded by asking 'are you here just to pull my chain or are you here to buy something?'

He responded "I have a first amendment right, don't I?'

I responded 'not in this store you don't.'

I get a couple of people like this every day...be careful out there as some people are looking to start a fight.

who don't wear a mask are killing themselves and others, or maybe they should give up their stretcher in a ER.

For now. How long do you all want to do it??