Reactions to wearing/not wearing masks

From a distraction in another thread…

OK, so I’m talking about now, not five months ago.

So,

  1. Do you get the stink-eye (an answer on a recent Jeopardy episode!) for not wearing a mask?
  2. Do you give the stink-eye to those not wearing a mask?
  3. Do you get the stink-eye, or, as someone noted, a “Please take your mask off; you’re making people nervous” remark for wearing a mask?
  4. Do you give the stink-eye to those wearing a mask?

OK, my answers:

  1. I wear a mask when I am out of my home and either: indoors, or in a densely packed crowd (FTR, I have not been in a densely packed crowd). I don’t give a shit if people give me the stink-eye for doing the safe and right thing. Am I wearing a mask at my local several-acre park that has ten people in it? No. I’m just staying away from them, going off the path when passing them.
  2. Of course I do.
  3. this has not happened to me, because I wear a mask when I’m supposed to.
  4. Never. I often wonder why people walking in my neighborhood near no one are wearing masks.

My answers:

  1. Dunno. I’m almost never in a situation where a mask is required, and when I am, I’m always wearing a mask.

  2. Yes, although I generally refuse to go into places where I see non-mask-wearing (or wearing-mask-improperly) people. Also, Mrs. Sidekick has set off some family drama because she canceled our plans to attend her family’s holiday shindig this year due to COVID risk, and her parents’ refusal to take even basic precautions against contagion (they bought Trump’s COVID gospel hook, line, and sinker). We both refuse to spend time around people who aren’t sufficiently careful…and it looks like we’re extending that to family obligations now.

  3. No.

  4. Only if they’re wearing the mask improperly.

  1. The only time I don’t always wear a mask when I maybe should is when walking down the street. I put it up and down. My glasses fog up! This is an extremely densely populated city problem. Anywhere else and you wouldn’t be passing by people constantly for this to be an issue. nobody ever gave me the stink-eye though.

  2. Have done that on the express bus and if I don’t think I’ll get my ass kicked once outright asked someone to put the damn mask on.

  3. no thankfully. my borough isn’t filled with dipshits. my parents live on staten island though. it’s still NY, so not sure they go that far with the stink-eye for following the rules with masks, but people there are far more cavalier about any social distancing/ mask wearing/etc and as a result their infection rate is one of the highest in the state now.

  4. no, only the worst of humanity would do that.

  1. no, I was one of the first kids on my block to wear a mask. I’ve never been the person who is unmasked when masks might be expected.

  2. no, I guess I’m more confrontational and less passive-aggressive than that. When I need to get within 6’-10’ of someone who isn’t wearing their mask, I say, “excuse me, your mask has slipped down your nose”. (By far the most common issue.) The HVAC guy did reply, “yeah, my glasses fog up”, and I gave him explicit advice on how to properly wear a mask.

Oh, I did once, in my doctor’s waiting room. Guy wouldn’t put his mask on even after one of the employees told him to. (Well, he did after she chewed him out, and pulled it down as soon as she went away.) Yeah, I stared at him with hostility.

If I don’t need to get within 10’, I just avoid them, I don’t stink eye. Waiting room guy only exception.

  1. nope. Being the first (and now, often wearing a reusable respirator when most people are just wearing a surgical mask) I have gotten a lot of comments. But they’ve all been neutral or positive. I guess a couple kids stared at me early on, but it was more “what’s that person doing?” than a stink-eye. I did have one or two kids ask their accompanying parent directly why I was wearing a mask, but the parent (unmasked) told the kids I was trying to protect them. So my “lead by example” crusade was mildly effective.

A lot of hospital staff have admired my respirator. (Which I covered with their surgical mask, as per hospital rules that I must wear their mask. But you could still see it was there.)

  1. nope.
  1. I don’t wear a mask when outside walking/running. For the most part, I’m 6+ feet away from anybody. Occasionally I’ll get an older person walking toward me that steps off the sidewalk to let me pass. I’ve never been given the stink eye though.
  2. No.
  3. I’ve been passing through an area where I was the only person in the gas Station wearing a mask and people were looking at me but I think they were most curious about me ‘not being from there’.
  4. No.

[quote=“dr_t_non-fan, post:1, topic:1035”]

  1. I dunno, I wear a mask pretty much everywhere. Go to get a drivethru coffee, I wear my mask as I pay and pickup. Pump gas, I put on a mask. Go to meet the amazon drive to get a package, wear a mask.
  2. Yep, I get all judgy when i see people not wearing masks. Which is pretty rare these days.
  3. Not around here. Most everyone wears a mask, any social pressure is to put a mask on, not take one off.
  4. Nope, Mask wearing is socially acceptable here.

I wear a mask a lot. When I take walks I tend to carry it, unless someone is near. In restaurants (outdoor only, no tents) I put it up when the server comes to the table. I wear it and insist when in the car, with anyone but my wife

I give the stink eye, especially people walking on the left, so they are coming right at me.

Have never received it or perceived it for wearing a mask

  1. Unknowable since I always wear a mask out in public.

  2. Yes, absolutely. If I am with someone I will passive-aggressively loudly state: “watch out, that person isn’t wearing a mask”.

  3. Not that I’ve observed, but I probably don’t pay enough attention to notice.

  4. Never, why would I do that? I smile at them but they probably can’t tell because I am also wearing a mask. Maybe I should switch to giving them a thumbs up, but that might be weird.

I was talking to a friend in Iowa this morning. He said he gets the stink eye for wearing a mask, and is often the only masked person around.

I don’t wear a mask for any of those things, but will if I go inside anywhere (its also required). This is in line with the vast majority of people I see out.

I don’t buy drive thru coffee, but I wear a mask for the others, and to pay the parking garage attendant. (I had to park in a garage for some necessary hospital visits.)

This is in line with what I see others doing here, not that I’d necessarily see others… Hopefully, it helps us.

I’ll probably start wearing one going to the drive thru with cases surging and the weather turning colder.

I haven’t been wearing a mask on walks, but perhaps I should start. With the weather getting colder it might be nice to have something on my face anyway.

True dat. Nothing keeps your face warmer than your own breath.


?

  1. No. I wear masks when I ought to.
  2. No. I just give them a bit wider berth. Maybe they have a good reason, who knows.
  3. No. I don’t think that’s a common thing where I live.
  4. No. That would be a silly thing to do.

:mask: :eyeglasses: :fog:
Please provide said advice. Foggy glasses is a really annoying problem for me.

Same here. If nothing else, it lets the other people know that I’m thinking about their health too.

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It really does make for a hot face. It makes my whole head hot.

  • Wear a mask that fits. Surgical masks fit most people. Fabric masks are all over the place. I love the Starks masks, but they are too large for my daughter. It should go over your nose, below your chin, and around the sides, fitting the sides of the face snugly. (A mask with some shape to keep it from glomming onto your face all around can be more comfortable, though.)

  • Pull the mask up over the top of your nose – mine rests atop my glasses where the glasses are lowest. The most common mistake I see is wearing it too low – that encourages air to leak out and up, and fog your glasses.

  • Use the metal piece and press it down to fit to to your face. You should bend it down on either side of the nose, and back up where it hits the cheeks. (You can do this by just pressing it against your face.) Teh Stark’s mask has a little “sleeve” to cover your nose that works well for me, but for my other fabric masks, I inserted a thin aluminum wire into the seam at the top to fit them to my face. I happened to have a box of thin aluminum wires around (to tie aluminum tags to trees) but before I found it, I used twisties from which I removed the paper. You can also buy thin wire strips with some adhesive that should do the same thing. I’ve seen them for sale on-line.

TL;DR: Usually I see a surgical mask too low, and just suggest that the wearer pull it up to the top of the nose and press the metal to fit snugly to the face.

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