Mask wearing has become so divisive

i will never understand why people are so freaked out about this. it's just a mask. they act like someone has a pillow over their face & is trying to kill them. it's just a mask. it's sole purpose is to help keep us all alive. i don't know what the big damn deal is. people are acting like toddlers having a tantrum over a mask. it's no different than a panty liner basically. lol! we women wore those all the time when we were younger. people need to stop being stupid little babies & just wear the damn things. all this uproar over what....6 in of material?
 
MarciKS said:
i will never understand why people are so freaked out about this. it's just a mask. they act like someone has a pillow over their face & is trying to kill them. it's just a mask. it's sole purpose is to help keep us all alive. i don't know what the big damn deal is. people are acting like toddlers having a tantrum over a mask. it's no different than a panty liner basically. lol! we women wore those all the time when we were younger. people need to stop being stupid little babies & just wear the damn things. all this uproar over what....6 in of material?
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Well, it may not be you, or me, ..... but some people say that they just cannot breathe with one on. They feel like they are being smothered . Now if I felt that ? ........ I wouldn't wear one either !

A friend of mine reports that feeling.

To be fair, I do not wear one ,don't own one , but I don't go anywhere either.

When I pickup groceries at the store, just people watching as I wait....it seems about 50% of those going into the store are wearing one.

Here in my neighborhood, people out & about.....walking their dogs , kids playing, etc & so-on .... No one is wearing one.

There is much data that says the have no real effect ? I'm not arguing with you, just stating what i have heard, some info even coming in emails.

It boils down to what folks believe .... IMO there was to much ambiguity in the beginning .

Just the other day I heard that more & more people are wearing one . Yet at the same time, more & more people are catching the virus & dying. Hard to prove the mask's effectiveness with that being the case.
 
Ronni said:
I think this graphic puts mask wearing into perspective.
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But we know why this is happening. For those rules, the US public followed national leaders who promoted and believed in science, health guidelines, and national security measures. Not always happily, but we felt we could trust those folks, even as guidelines changed and became increasingly inconvenient. (We didn't have to remove our shoes until Richard Reid attempted to take down a plane with a shoe bomb).

Consequences for not following guidelines existed. No shirt no shoes? No service. Wear a seatbelt or get a ticket. Airline rules? Follow them or you aren't permitted to board or remain on a plane. Refuse them when in the air and you'll suffer mighty consequences when local police escort you from the plane.

Enter COVID-19 and mask wearing: Certain politicians made this about personal liberties and a lack of consequences.

So here we are with our personal liberties, edging toward 150,000 dead Americans and denied entry to most other countries because of our infection rate.

We are ridiculous.
 
I remember a Very Big Fuss about being made to wear seatbelts. Living in NH at the time. The state motto is 'Live Free or Die.' No one in NH at that time had to wear a seat belt. They chose the latter.
 
MarciKS said:
i will never understand why people are so freaked out about this. it's just a mask. they act like someone has a pillow over their face & is trying to kill them. it's just a mask. it's sole purpose is to help keep us all alive. i don't know what the big damn deal is. people are acting like toddlers having a tantrum over a mask. it's no different than a panty liner basically. lol! we women wore those all the time when we were younger. people need to stop being stupid little babies & just wear the damn things. all this uproar over what....6 in of material?
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"Like toddlers having a tantrum"- that's exactly the way it seems.
Even if presented with "This can help preserve your health/life and the health/lives of other people," too many individuals simply can't stand being told what to do.
 
There is much data that says the have no real effect ? I'm not arguing with you, just stating what i have heard, some info even coming in emails.

It boils down to what folks believe .... IMO there was to much ambiguity in the beginning .

Just the other day I heard that more & more people are wearing one . Yet at the same time, more & more people are catching the virus & dying. Hard to prove the mask's effectiveness with that being the case.
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Rgp, what legitimate, scientific data says that the masks have no real effect? Everything I have read and heard from sources that I respect says exactly the opposite.

Of course, it's hard to prove a negative. We can't absolutely prove that masks work beyond a shadow of a doubt, just because the rate of spread is lower in populations where everyone, or nearly everyone, is wearing a mask.

But the data certainly seems to indicate that the masks are very, very effective. Large groups wearing masks don't have anything like the rate of infection that is reported in similar sized groups that are not wearing masks. That's about as much proof as we are able to get at this point. We are in an emergency pandemic, with no time for dainty legalistic distinctions. The countries that obeyed common sense and enforced mask wearing have largely recovered from the pandemic, in some cases completely (New Zealand, for instance). Obviously, the masks do work, better than anything else we've got.

I do agree that it boils down to what folks believe. I choose to believe the findings of science, not the ranting of ignorant politicians.
 
P.S. Rgp, if more and more people are catching the virus in spite of more and more people wearing masks, that does not prove anything in itself. That is a vague assertion, not a controlled experiment. Even if it is true, there obviously may be "more and more" people running around without masks, also!
 
rgp said:
Well, it may not be you, or me, ..... but some people say that they just cannot breathe with one on. They feel like they are being smothered . Now if I felt that ? ........ I wouldn't wear one either !

A friend of mine reports that feeling.

To be fair, I do not wear one ,don't own one , but I don't go anywhere either
.
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I have found that due to some respritory issues, I have difficulty breathing when wearing a cloth mask. Especially if fabric is heavy. So, before I go out, I put in some saline mist into my nose, and maybe a bit of vicks under my nose.
It seems to help, but I also carry some paper masks, and if the breathing becomes too hard, I go to a safe place and change masks.
 
Sunny said:
P.S. Rgp, if more and more people are catching the virus in spite of more and more people wearing masks, that does not prove anything in itself. That is a vague assertion, not a controlled experiment. Even if it is true, there obviously may be "more and more" people running around without masks, also!
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Well, I disagree ...... it might well prove that the mask's are not as effective as some believe. Even some medical professionals .
 
Sunny said:
Rgp, what legitimate, scientific data says that the masks have no real effect? Everything I have read and heard from sources that I respect says exactly the opposite.

Of course, it's hard to prove a negative. We can't absolutely prove that masks work beyond a shadow of a doubt, just because the rate of spread is lower in populations where everyone, or nearly everyone, is wearing a mask.

But the data certainly seems to indicate that the masks are very, very effective. Large groups wearing masks don't have anything like the rate of infection that is reported in similar sized groups that are not wearing masks. That's about as much proof as we are able to get at this point. We are in an emergency pandemic, with no time for dainty legalistic distinctions. The countries that obeyed common sense and enforced mask wearing have largely recovered from the pandemic, in some cases completely (New Zealand, for instance). Obviously, the masks do work, better than anything else we've got.

I do agree that it boils down to what folks believe. I choose to believe the findings of science, not the ranting of ignorant politicians.
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I do not have a link to the legitimate proof. But I have heard on the news, quite a few doctors & scientists say that they do believe that the mask is a safeguard for the general public.

And really, it does not matter. If a person believes he or she cannot breathe with it on ? they are not going to wear one.

Have you ever had trouble drawing a breath ? It is one of the scariest sensations there is.
 
Marie5656 said:
I have found that due to some respritory issues, I have difficulty breathing when wearing a cloth mask. Especially if fabric is heavy. So, before I go out, I put in some saline mist into my nose, and maybe a bit of vicks under my nose.
It seems to help, but I also carry some paper masks, and if the breathing becomes too hard, I go to a safe place and change masks.
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I believe that the masks are as difficult , or easy to use, as I believe the simple aspirin is as effective or not for varying individuals .

We are all different , and respond to anything differently as well.
 
Yes, this may surprise you, rgp, but I am one of the people who do have problems breathing through a mask. When I'm alone outside, with no one else nearby, I usually lower it below my chin, at least long enough to breathe normally for a while. I have several masks, and have found that the disposable paper ones do not cause as much breathing difficulty. But the experts on this keep saying we should wear a cloth mask, so I guess those work better. For short periods of time, I wear the cloth kind, as long as I can stand it. I always carry one of the paper ones in my purse, and change to it if necessary.

Wearing masks does not mean that one has to be in love with them. Obviously, if you absolutely cannot breathe with one on, you should just stay home and not expose other people to whatever you might be carrying. Just plain old common sense.
 
I just watched a very effective commercial on television about wearing a mask. It showed a woman shopping in a grocery store ready to pick up a zucchini but she had to sneeze and wasn’t effective at covering up the spray that came out of her mouth. She wasn’t wearing a mask and the spray that came out travelled a distance of 2 to 3 metres spraying all the vegetables that others would be picking up. The commercial then showed what happened when the woman sneezed with a mask on. It reduced the spray by about 90 %.

Considering about 40% of the population won’t show any symptoms while having the virus and others who do show symptoms often don’t show any from a few day’s to a couple of weeks, it only makes sense that masks would help stop the spread.

In regards to the number of cases raising, I’d conclude is mainly due to the pressures set for businesses to open up. Many people took that message to mean that they can relax their precautions about protecting themselves, which were false assumptions which everyone pays the price for.
 
I printed out your graphic and posted it on the bulletin board in the community room of the complex where I live. It makes so much sense!

My husband used to say that Common Sense was the most important asset that anyone could have...and, unfortunately, the asset that was least often seen.

Meanwhile, I bought a cat-face mask. It's black with a pink nose and whiskers. If we have to do this, we may as well have a little fun with it!
 
Sunny said:
Yes, this may surprise you, rgp, but I am one of the people who do have problems breathing through a mask. When I'm alone outside, with no one else nearby, I usually lower it below my chin, at least long enough to breathe normally for a while. I have several masks, and have found that the disposable paper ones do not cause as much breathing difficulty. But the experts on this keep saying we should wear a cloth mask, so I guess those work better. For short periods of time, I wear the cloth kind, as long as I can stand it. I always carry one of the paper ones in my purse, and change to it if necessary.

Wearing masks does not mean that one has to be in love with them. Obviously, if you absolutely cannot breathe with one on, you should just stay home and not expose other people to whatever you might be carrying. Just plain old common sense.
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"you should just stay home and not expose other people to whatever you might be carrying. Just plain old common sense."

That may work for you, & or me. I'm retired, need not leave home really, I go to the drive through at the bank, , drugstore , and grocery pickup .

But some folks still need to work, and find it all but impossible to wear a mask.
 
Sunny said:
Rgp, what legitimate, scientific data says that the masks have no real effect? Everything I have read and heard from sources that I respect says exactly the opposite.

Of course, it's hard to prove a negative. We can't absolutely prove that masks work beyond a shadow of a doubt, just because the rate of spread is lower in populations where everyone, or nearly everyone, is wearing a mask.

But the data certainly seems to indicate that the masks are very, very effective. Large groups wearing masks don't have anything like the rate of infection that is reported in similar sized groups that are not wearing masks. That's about as much proof as we are able to get at this point. We are in an emergency pandemic, with no time for dainty legalistic distinctions. The countries that obeyed common sense and enforced mask wearing have largely recovered from the pandemic, in some cases completely (New Zealand, for instance). Obviously, the masks do work, better than anything else we've got.

I do agree that it boils down to what folks believe. I choose to believe the findings of science, not the ranting of ignorant politicians.
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BTW .... I did find this.......

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/...ore&cid=20200719Z1&mid=DM600307&rid=920157063
 
Sunny said:
Yes, this may surprise you, rgp, but I am one of the people who do have problems breathing through a mask. When I'm alone outside, with no one else nearby, I usually lower it below my chin, at least long enough to breathe normally for a while. I have several masks, and have found that the disposable paper ones do not cause as much breathing difficulty. But the experts on this keep saying we should wear a cloth mask, so I guess those work better. For short periods of time, I wear the cloth kind, as long as I can stand it. I always carry one of the paper ones in my purse, and change to it if necessary.

Wearing masks does not mean that one has to be in love with them. Obviously, if you absolutely cannot breathe with one on, you should just stay home and not expose other people to whatever you might be carrying. Just plain old common sense.
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It really is funny where folks get their news from, this is from the CDC in May 2020. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article. How masks have no effect. It is written by Researchers in Hong Kong and from the WHO, depending ones views about the origins of the virus and possible cover up, it may not be relevant. But is does come from a heavily relied upon scientific source, the CDC.
 
every time big government comes up with a new "rule" or law to follow, we lose some freedoms. I always said people should be able to decide if they want to wear seat belts or a helmet on their Bicycle or motorcycle. They don't need the government telling them. I recall years ago when the government forced emissions testing on us for our cars... going to make the environment cleaner is what they told us... now 30+ years later, our water ways and rivers are just as dirty as they were 30 years ago, if not worse. And now we have another tax or "fee" to pay in the emissions program every 2 yrs. Another program the government uses to pick our pocket and get more of our money. I think with the masks, people just are tired of government micromanaging so many aspects of our lives. Whether the masks help or not depends on who you want to believe. And then you see government officials not wearing masks when they think the cameras are off.
 

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