"Masks = handicapped parking spaces"

  • Thread starter Thread starter The_Old_Maid
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
You bring up a good point on the fact that not all masks work on all faces.

My daughter is required to mask at work…a grocery store…and she wants to always be wearing one as she’s a primary caretaker for her immunosuppresed fiancé. But, she has a very round face with prominent cheekbones…almost all masks we tried stuck into her eyes! I found a pattern online that looked like it might work but I still had to modify it further. It scoops up at the nose and then curves dramatically down around the cheek. Finally! It was comfortable and wearable and I made her a weeks worth.

I wear glasses, too and have a very narrow nose bridge. I too had to try different varieties to find ones that sealed at my nose without steaming my glasses.

@Peeps , I do want to thank you for being one of our medical hero’s. I know the lab doesn’t get near the recognition that others do…so thank you! And sorry to hear you lost another tech! The shortages just keep getting more and more critical! Thanks for hanging in there!
 
stpurl said:
So the next time you see something driving by with a mask, it might not be that they’re stupid or paranoid; it might be that they are trying to remember to follow the good practice of wearing a mask ‘in public’ and that this is a way they’ve developed to help them remember to do so.
Click to expand...
If I have to run a couple of errands, and it’s a short distance between them, I just leave the mask on until I’m done. It’s easier than on & off, on & off.
 
Peeps said:
I personally believe that the mask doesn’t protect me or anyone else.
Click to expand...
And you work in a microbiology lab? That’s odd. One would think you would know the recommendations from the CDC better than that.

Now I don’t know the situation in your lab and if masks are appropriate or not. But when people go out to a bar or nightclub, where they are in close proximity to strangers, indoors, for a long time, the masks are definitely appropriate, and should be mandated.
 
Last edited:
LeafByNiggle said:
Now I don’t know the situation in your lab and if masks are appropriate or not. But when people go out to a bar or nightclub, where they are in close proximity to strangers, indoors, for a long time, the masks are definitely appropriate, and should be mandated.
Click to expand...
Isn’t the point of a bar to be drinking?
 
Peeps said:
I wear a homemade cloth mask, and I simply cannot breathe with it pulled over my nose
Click to expand...
Aren’t the disposable ones easier to breathe in? I have very sensitive skin prone to inflammation and I live in a perpetually hot and humid country, and surgical masks were better. But because they don’t fit my face, I realised certain types of cloths worked better (100% cotton).
By any chance, were you using polyester/hybrid clothes?
Peeps said:
I personally believe that the mask doesn’t protect me or anyone else
Click to expand...
This isn’t really a matter for opinions though isn’t it? You would have a point if you’re referring to masks that aren’t worn correctly or masks made of certain materials
Peeps said:
I think the best way to protect ourselves is eat right, get your blood sugar and high blood pressure under control, exercise to the extent that you are able
Click to expand...
All well and good, but it won’t prevent you from carrying the virus and/or spread it around. It’ll just help with the symptoms I suppose, but that’s not the purpose behind the masks in the first place.
 
LeafByNiggle said:
And you work in a microbiology lab? That’s odd. One would think you would know the recommendations from the CDC better than that.
Click to expand...
I have worked in a microbiology lab since 1980, except for six years that I took off to raise my children when they were babies/toddlers.

I am not the only one in our department who believes that the masks are do not protect us. Our supervisor is of the same mind, and she is quite knowledgeable and has worked at some pretty large places.

Our hospital is part of the UW Madison system, so we’re not a hick hospital.

I think that going to bars or nightclubs, or any event that is crowded with people in close proximity–e.g., protest rallies, or political rallies, is going to put people at high risk, even if they wear masks.

I think that people who are in a high risk group should take great care and avoid large social settings. So far, the high risk group includes people are obese, diabetic, have an underlying ongoing health problem e.g., COPD, HIV, cancer, asthma, etc., and people who are eldlerly.

I think that it might be worth investigating adding a few more high risk groups

–being drunk and drinking alcohol to excess
–smoking pot, or using any kind of medication that effects judgment
–sleep-deprived (reason does not matter e.g., taking care of babies, staying out past the normal bedtime)
–inactive lifestyle
–under extreme stress; e.g., grieving over the death of a citizen who was killed by police

I personally think, based on years of experience with viral diseases, that hand hygiene is the major factor–when we touch anything that has any kind of virus lingering, and then touch our eyes (which we often do if we are wearing a mask, especially if it is hot/humid like it is now). I think that we need to be putting as much emphasis on hand washing (not just swishing so-called hand sanitizer on our hands) as we do on masking.

(continued next post)
 
(continued from last post)

And above all else, I believe that hospitals should be immediately directed by their governors to STOP FURLOUGH POLICIES IMMEDIATELY and schedule ALL available employees, as well as ask for retired employees to consider returning if they are in good health and able to work at non-complex tasks (e.g., unpacking and putting agar plates away, filling out paperwork, registering and ordering tests (on the computer–once you’ve learned the process, it’s the same thing thousands of times over and over), etc.

These furlough policies are crippling us. I am returning to work tomorrow after a week-long furlough, which I asked for because of the vist of a family member from out-of-town. I was granted that time-off request because the other people in my department gave up their mandatory furloughs, which they did NOT want because they don’t have any annual leave time in their “bank” and will not get paid for their furlough days!!! I have over 300 hours of leave time (because we never have enough staff to take extra days off–believe me, I would if I could!)), and the paid-leave time has just been building up like, pardon the expression, a virus, in my account!!

Of course, it’s more exciting for politicians to advocate for mask-wearing than to advocate for the end of furlough policies in hospitals, and to find the funds to pay hospitals who are only doing the furloughs to try to avoid going broke. I can’t even imagine the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. But at this point, it doesn’t matter–we don’t have enough health care workers in the U.S., and those who are available to work should be able to work without having to take mandatory time off to save money for the hospital. The burden on those who are working short-staffed on any given day is horrible. And so far, even though many of my co-workers wear masks “under the nose” (as I do), and take them off entirely to talk on the phone or to each other–no one has gotten sick. However, for years, we have washed our hands constantly, many times a day–hmmm.
 
Last edited:
I honestly don’t understand the controversy. Is it really asking too much to wear a 1.00$ mask when you go out to protect others?
 
OKComputer said:
I honestly don’t understand the controversy. Is it really asking too much to wear a 1.00$ mask when you go out to protect others?
Click to expand...
Any inconvenience is too much for me if a pro abort asks for it. They have been encouraged, but not mandated here. Soon they will be mandatory on public transport, so I probably will wear one when I need to take public transport. I will also be avoiding it where possible though.
 
Elf01 said:
Any inconvenience is too much for me if a pro abort asks for it.
Click to expand...
That’s a great point, and one I didn’t think of. Catholics rightly and admirably care about protecting the right of the unborn, and I’m with them 10000%. Well, it’s time to care about the rights of the weak and vulnerable who happen to be alive, so lets wear a mask for that reason too!
 
OKComputer said:
That’s a great point, and one I didn’t think of. Catholics rightly and admirably care about protecting the right of the unborn, and I’m with them 10000%. Well, it’s time to care about the rights of the weak and vulnerable who happen to be alive, so lets wear a mask for that reason too!
Click to expand...
A good point, but I want the chance to say My Body My Choice to a pro abort who yells at me for not wearing a mask, and wearing one would be inconvenient for me - so I won’t.

I also think I would end up fidgeting with it, and that would make it useless for protection.
 
Elf01 said:
but I want the chance to say My Body My Choice to a pro abort who yells at me for not wearing a mask, and wearing one would be inconvenient for me
Click to expand...
This actually helps them more than sticking it to them, tbh. I’ve seen pro choicers gloating at these slogans when used about masks.
 
Last edited:
puer.dei said:
Yes. They say it shows the hypocrisy of “pro-lifers.”
Click to expand...
To me them wanting me to wear a mask shows their hyprocosy. I’m letting them see the logical implications of their slogans. Will it work? Probably not, but neither will wearing a mask and knowing I’d fidget with one, I think personally me not wearing one is safest.
 
Well, fortunately, most of the people around here wear masks when out in public. We’re not going to risk spreading this thing just to make a point to people who won’t see it,
 
Last edited:
Pattylt said:
It’s why I think it’s silly when I see someone driving in their car wearing a mask!
Click to expand...
I keep hearing people say this, or post memes on social media poking fun at people wearing masks in cars, but if I am out running errands with only a few minutes between each store/service, I leave my mask on rather than keep taking it on and off and dirtying my hands/touching my face several times during an hour’s time.

Frankly I don’t understand why anyone is making fun of people or putting them down for wearing a mask. I’ve been jeered at, coughed on, laughed and and videotaped for wearing my mask in public, even as the number of cases is soaring in my state.

Every time someone posts about people being “silly” when they wear a mask, they are encouraging some person to NOT wear one, lest they be the target of jest.

It does everyone around me zero harm for me to have a mask on. I’ve never once chastised, made fun of or harrassed anyone for not wearing a mask. Non maskers go on about personal freedom, yet they snark at mask wearers as if we are someone offending them.

I honestly don’t get it.
 
Only in America do people conflate personal opinion and scientific validity, as if opinion has the ability to shape matter. While I have 30-40 people who work for me, we are responsible for the health and lives of 700. If I have one person who is unwilling, can’t, whatever, wear a mask around those people, they will be sent home without pay. I will not let stupidity kill people, at least where I have a say. We now have a local epidemic with exponential increase for two weeks. Only now are masks mandatory. People will die because others were careless.
 
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made fun of someone wearing a mask in a car. You’re right, they may be running multiple errands or even have someone in the back seat that I can’t see. The only issue is I frequently see this, so many people are running multiple errands, etc. I’m a devout mask wearer and I have no right to criticize someone wearing one even in their car!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top