That male masks reminds me of a guy I saw crossing the street while I was in San Francisco a few years ago - It was summer and he was completely nude except for one colorful sock.

Wow! What a sight!

Of course my friend and his friend who has it now said, 'She must have made this for someone much smaller than us!' Men! :-)

🤭😁

Just read this:

Imagine Londoners during the Battle of Britain in 1940 saying, "I'll keep my lights on if I want to."

Outside, that tweet just went on the family text thread. Too funny! (And too dumb!)

M3D, hilarious!

My state was doing very well initially when many other states were struggling. We certainly did not lock down early but did eventually lock down in the most populous counties. Of course as soon as our state moved from "orange" to "yellow" the cases immediately skyrocketed. I fully believe people saw that status change as a free-for-all to return to their pre-COVID behavior. Well, finally our governor approved allowing the most populous counties to mandate masks. It's definitely not fully enforced but I have seen a significant uptick in people wearing masks in stores. I try not to have an emotional response when people are not wearing masks or wearing them improperly, but somehow I still do.

This chart shows the 7 day running average cases in my state broken out between the most populous county SLCo and all others. On June 25 SLCo (most populous county with most infections) mandated masks while the rest of the state did not. I realize this is not a controlled study, but at least from the data it seems pretty clear that there is an impact. I am curious if the impact is 100% attributable to the wearing of masks or if some of it is also reduction in other risky behaviors (parties, social gatherings, etc) because the mask mandate has more clearly communicated how critical it is for people to change their behavior now before things get worse. The red line is SLCo with mask order and gray represents all other counties without the mandate.

One of the things that saddens me is that the nature of the evolving / changing scientific data about COVID is causing a lot of the distrust. Someone close to me specifically said he would not trust any information out of the "scientists with political agendas" because they keep reporting new changing information. It broke my heart to hear it. If you can't trust scientists regarding scientific data, who can you trust?

Many of us have being "carrying the weight of the irresponsibility of others" for decades with our taxes.

Masks are no different.

It's just life.

I would not recommend accosting anyone about wearing a mask or not wearing a mask. We should not assume anything about anyone. Some people have good reasons; regardless, we're not judge and jury.

What are good reasons for not wearing a mask?

What are good reasons for not wearing a mask?

Suffering with interstitial lung disease

Certain pulmonary conditions

Having PTSD, especially people who have been bound and gagged, psychiatric conditions.

I actually would love there to be a 4 week mask mandate EVERYWHERE in the U.S.

I wish as a nation we could do this now, before kids go back to school.

Ok, so I went to Walmart today (don’t judge, they have been consistently having our brand of TP lately.)

Anyway, I noticed that almost everyone was wearing a mask, customers, employees, the whole damn store! 😊

But...as I dutifully stood on my social distance decal in line, scrolling through my emails, the woman in front of me turned around, looked at me, and said,”Do you have a headache yet?” It took me a step too long to process such an odd comment. I automatically smiled (of course she didn’t see it, lol) and said “No, ma’am,” very politely. (I‘ve been to WM before, and have learned not to drag out conversations by asking questions, may seem unfriendly but it’s for the best.) Anyway, it slowly dawned on me that this woman was UNMASKED. And she was looking for an audience. And -oh sh-t- *I* was the one she decided to enlighten with her worldview. 😳 She proceeded to tell me that her SIL worked for the CDC (😳) and that I was breathing in my own CARBON MONOXIDE and was slowly poisoning myself.😳😂

As much as I believe in life-long learning, I resisted the urge to tell her humans do not indeed expel carbon monoxide. And as she told me that I needed to stand up bc our country was just about to slide into Hitler’s Germany, I just kept maniacally nodding my head and saying internal prayers that the person in front of her would HURRY UP AND PAY so she’d leave me alone. Yes, I am a complete wuss. 😂 But I have no interest in ending up on GMA as the victim of some crazed antI-masker on a rampage. I felt guilty for being relieved when she turned her attention to the cashier. 😂 She told the cashier she should be looking for another job bc WM would go bankrupt bc they were requiring masks.

I was really amused after I was safely out of the store.

Anyone who is incapable of wearing a mask in public should not be mingling with the general public until the crisis is over. Sorry, but there is no excuse for putting other people's lives at risk. The sooner everyone complies, the sooner this will be over.

I agree with Lars. While the conditions Stan mentioned above are legitimate, I would think those people unable to wear them especially due to an already established physical ailment should not be risking their own lives by exposure. I do believe that most people who go around unmasked in populated places do so because they see it as a statement about their freedoms or rights, not because they are medically incapable of masking up.

Well, some people live alone with these conditions, and need and/or want to care for themselves.

The fact of the matter is it shouldn't make a difference to anyone else if someone is not wearing a mask if they don't have COVID-19.

Now, we don't know who has it, at any given time, even someone with it might not know.

We also don't know exactly how much masks work or don't work, or even the primary method of transmission. I understand wearing masks, in most instances it doesn't hurt so why not. But, I don't believe anyone has the right to make that decision for anyone or accost them about it.

It would be no different than me stopping a group of women or men in a bar or restaurant that I watched inbibe two or more margaritas, beers, or drinks, and lecturing them how they could kill me if they got in a car and drove and they shouldn't drink because their actions could kill me.

They might not get in a car drunk, they might and make it home without killing anyone, or they could drive drunk and main or kill someone, but that's not my right to tell them they can't drink or to lecture them about it.

Same thing--we all take chances, there are no guarantees, and the fears of "what if" don't allow us to deny other people of their rights. We work around it, which is what I do. The death rate is very low, I'd rather take my chance with COVID than driving after midnight in most any city, from inebriated people and criminals.

We all have to pick our battles--masks isn't the right one, in my opinion. Anyway, if you're accosting anyone, you're too close to them and defeating the entire purpose. These days people are stressed, some are armed, and some might knock someone's block off for not minding their business. Just saying--stay smart, people are not themselves--or, probably more accurately, they ARE themselves.

Hope everyone stays safe in the way they each feel they should for themselves. Peace.

I guess I don't see why it's a matter of "accosting" if someone is asked to wear a mask. I have as much right to ask someone to wear one as they have to make their own decisions. Accosting is a weighty word that carries violent or at the very least aggressive connotations, and none of us are even suggesting any such thing.

You don't see it that way.

Others might, and there are instances where some have not taken so kindly to being spoken to about it; I'm sure you've seen them. You're not going to change many minds at this point as it's been rehashed and argued; additionally, there is no positive data to make anyone believe they might kill someone by passing by them, or being near them for a few minutes and not wearing a mask, especially when they have no symptoms. I get it--if I go anywhere around people I will wear a mask, but that is my business.

No one wants to be told by someone else that that somebody else knows better how to run their life.

Stay safe.

Do you wear a mask, Stan? Just curious.

I've only worn a mask once, the only time I have been in any building at all, since March 10, the post office, to mail my federal income taxes, return receipt, certified mail.

I have enough masks, shop towels to go in some of them, some with them already sewn in, if I do go out anywhere near anyone I will wear a mask, and stay away from anyone that doesn't have one.

I've never seen anyone accosted for not wearing a mask. I've seen people, including low-paid store employees, remind customers who aren't wearing one, to wear one. The accosting I've witnessed is the customer's retaliation, as if they were just waiting to pounce on whomever brought it up first.

That's the correct answer to the problem IMO. If you see someone not wearing a mask, you avoid them. Simply do not go near them. I like to give people the benefit of doubt - if they are not wearing a mask there is a health reason. If they aren't wearing a mask because they don't want to, they are probably argumentative and from what I've seen online and heard about lately, I would not want to pi$$ someone off.

As an example, a long time friend (who is one of the sweetest people I know) was behind a pick up in a double turn lane. This person was in the center, therefore blocking both turn lanes. A car came up beside my friend that could not get past the small truck, so my friend lightly tooted her horn. The guy in the truck started waving his arms, got out of the truck and took two steps towards her car... luckily he got back in, but only to drive a bit, then slam on his brakes. At this point, she wasn't sure what to do or what he was going to do... then he went forward, only to stop again. This time getting out of his truck and starting towards her cursing and thrashing his arms. He got back in the truck, then shot her two birds out the sliding back window before taking off at a high speed and getting on the interstate. Who knows why he was having a bad day, but the slight tapping of her horn set him off. She is lucky he didn't hurt her, or worse.

So just be bothered that you've come across someone not wearing a mask, and just do your best to avoid them. And, yes, I am wearing a mask when I go out, but we've basically been home since the second week of March.

Trying to control other people seems like a trying, frustrating past time.

The traffic incidents are becoming more worrisome, too--leave yourself at least 10 feet behind a car at a traffic light and don't pull right up next to someone where they can see you. Car jackings have increased, as have road rage incidents, in many parts of the country.

Unless you're armed and ready to protect yourself, and even if you are not, best to not start in on someone because they're not doing things the way you want them to, which is always good advice even in the best of times, but particularly in these times.

What's that Disney movie character, "Let it Go?"

And Beatles--"Let it Be."

There's going to be Walmart health ambassadors everywhere chanting "Let it be..." "Let it go..."

I also have hardly been out of the house since the middle of March, and I only get groceries once every 2 weeks or so, and only at a store that requires masks for all employees and customers. I'm very grateful to the store for having this requirement, and I tell them that every time I am there. We have no problem with the "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" policies, or the laws requiring seat belts. Why this mask issue has gotten so polarized is just something that makes no sense to me. It is the only thing we have right now, until we get better treatments or vaccines.

Oh yes, businesses should have every right to require masks or refuse service, have people escorted out.

Thank goodness for internet shopping!

Our little town passed an ordinance penalizing businesses pretty severely if they allowed folks in who were not wearing masks. I had to wonder how the store owner was going to comply with the ordinance if the patron refuses to leave. Are all the little old ladies who run antique shops going to have to hire bouncers? If the non-mask wearer claims he/she was injured while being ejected, is the store’s insurance going to defend the store owner?

The penalties against businesses are generally not constitutional, especially those threatening to revoke operating licenses and shutting off utilities of businesses that let people in without masks.

There has been litigation already and restraining orders have been issued pending the outcome of the litigation. Mostly, mayors don't have the constitutional right to shut down businesses over a mask order, neither do governors. Every state is different, so there's that.

You pose very salient questions, bbstx.

Stan, I don’t know if the constitutionality of our ordinance has been challenged yet or not. I haven’t heard that it has been. I do know that it had to be amended to allow for due process, but that was done on advice of counsel and without litigation.

Just today I was in a store and I saw a man not wearing a mask, even though the store required it. I said to him, "No mask?" And he made some excuse about leaving it in the car. I walked away, but made the point....and that was without my "safety leader" hat on!

And he still had no mask on when you left, right?

That's some point you made.

Good for you, Annie. I believe you did the right thing, regardless of what anyone else thinks about the "rights" of those who go maskless. Besides, perhaps NEXT time, the man will wear the darn thing, preferring not to be called out in public again by someone who is following protocol. You never know, and can choose to think positively.

Please, I hope the quotations around "rights" is not serious--because our rights are very serious.

Does anyone honestly think this man will put on a mask because someone chided him about it in a store? He already knew he was supposed to and didn't.

Seldom do strangers treating other strangers like children they are correcting have any influence to cause a person to change the behavior they made a conscious decision to engage in to begin with.

One can always hope they taught someone a lesson, seems to be a need these days.

I honestly don't think it's wise to confront someone who is not wearing a mask. As Allison mentioned, there are people with health reasons for not wearing a mask. We don't know who that is. Besides that, you hear about people getting pretty riled up over their right NOT to wear a mask, I would hate to see someone hurt. I agree with Stan that it that person already has the mindset not to wear a mask, you saying something to them more than likely will not make a difference.

I wear a mask and I really don't understand what the big deal is and why can't we just look at as being considerate to others? Why can't we "love one another"? OTOH, I am responsible for my own actions, and mine only.

I would never confront someone or say anything, there's a reason Home Depot allows shoplifters, and it's the stores responsibility to enforce policies.

I would hope that for that man, simply knowing others noticed would be enough to make him think twice before he went into the store the next time. Maybe not, but maybe.

But why would he care if others noticed or not?

The point is he didn't do it to begin with.

If a single stranger in a store can turn someone's entire thinking and actions around with a word or two to them admonishing them, I'd say bottle and sell that talent!

This just proves that we all have varying temperaments and approaches. Your way isn't right all the time, my way isn't right all the time, and her way isn't right all the time. But our ways aren't necessarily wrong either. This is a generalized statement to merely suggest that we try not to communicate in generalizations. 😉 Anyway, I believe this group to be wise beyond words on the whole, and would trust each of us to take the appropriate action (or inaction) as situations warrant.

I have to wonder .... where or why one would come up with PTSD because they've been bound and gagged??

In a psych ward? Does this even happen?

Masks dont have to feel like medieval torture. Its much ado about very little.

Its only important medically

. Thats it, nothing more.

Read a book or two about London in WW11. Those people knew how to behave to save themselves and people around them.

Read or reread Diary of Anne Frank to get perspective.

My daughter told me about this website where you can post your experience with masking at a particular business, and find out which businesses in your area are complying.

https://www.themaskmap.com/

But why would he care if others noticed or not?

The point is he didn't do it to begin with.

This is hardly worth arguing about with you. Just because you would react differently doesn't mean everyone would react the same way. And just because he wasn't wearing a mask that day doesn't mean he might choose differently next time.

IAC, one study

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2009/handwashingday.html

found that the most effective sign for getting people to wash their hands was making them aware that others were watching:

A quarter of a million people were counted using the toilets and their use of soap was monitored by on-line sensors. Only 32% of men washed their hands with soap whilst women were twice as good, with 64% washing their hands.

A variety of messages, ranging from ‘Water doesn’t kill germs, soap does’ to ‘Don’t be a dirty soap dodger’, were flashed onto LED screens at the entrance of the toilets and the effects of the messages on behaviour were measured. ‘Is the person next to you washing with soap?’ was best overall, showing how people respond to whether they thought others were watching.

I can see where the same awareness may work with masking.

This from the study was interesting too...There were intriguing differences in behaviour by gender, with women responding to reminders, while men tended to react best to messages that invoked disgust, for example ‘soap it off or eat it later’.

So perhaps the "mask it or casket" message may work even better with men.

I prefer what is happening here--company by company -- many are making the call to require masks in their establishments. Personal rights are not under government control--but safety of workers and shoppers is supported!! Plus I still contend if masks are required when in buildings people will choose to stay home more than they are at present!!! Again not under Government's thumb but personal choices being made. Sometimes these things are better finessed than FORCED.

arcy, I don't agree that the government should stay out of this when those getting ill will be using government funded facilities and/or services to help care for them once they're ill...be it medicare, medicaid, govt subsidized hospitals, insurance, emergency services, and more. Also it's those getting ill and spreading the disease by not masking who are causing the contagion to skyrocket, forcing states to shut down economic activity leading to loss of wages, jobs, incomes, bankruptcies, hunger, homeless and loss of health insurance. I might agree with your argument if not masking meant that only that individual was at risk from their behavior....but they aren't....if only they bore the costs of their behavior, but they don't. Their choice puts everyone at risk, so they have a responsibility to the community to not be an unnecessary burden on it. With freedom comes responsibility.

I also don't think telling people they have to wear a mask is any more infringing on someone's personal rights than telling them they have to wear pants.

I also don't think telling people they have to wear a mask is any more infringing on someone's personal rights than telling them they have to wear pants.

Or not drive drunk, not smoke inside businesses, wear bike and motorcycle helmets, not drive over the speed limit, not drive the wrong way on a one way street, wear seat belts...

^^^^ Yes, EXACTLY.

Annie Deighnaugh:

This is hardly worth arguing about with you.

LOL, no one asked you to!

We are each entitled to our opinion!

Additionally, when have people been FORCED to wear pants?

You can't legislate everything and to my knowledge, legislatures have NOT passed laws about mask wearing.

I totally agree with wearing masks and I think Arcy makes a good point. Many businesses in my area are now starting to require masks. BUT, it really depends on if the requirement is enforced. I can see a small business (such as my hair salon) asking someone to put on a mask or leave. I cannot see this happening in my local grocery store. It could cause a big disruption and as far as I know, there are no security personnel in the store. I just can't see the store manager making someone leave. There are just too many people out there who are so against being told to wear a mask. I don't understand it, but I have seen so many comments on line where people are stating they absolutely will not wear a mask and "you can't make me". There are many who do believe it takes away our personal freedom. Actually, I have a friendly acquaintance that has always been a wonderful person, helps others, goes that extra mile, etc. I was quite frankly shocked when I read a FB post where she (very nicely) explained that she does not believe the masks are helping and that it is her personal freedom to not wear a mask. While I just cannot fathom her thinking, it is something we will have to agree to disagree on. It just blows my mind, but there seem to be alot of people with that mindset. Again, I am only accountable for my own actions and I try not to judge others (and sometimes that's really hard!). Today I will go to the produce market and the post office. If I come upon someone without a mask, I steer clear, even turn my head from them.

Additionally, when have people been FORCED to wear pants?

It's simple Stan...just try walking down the street with nothing on from the waist down and see how far you get...

Actually from a health point of view, being maskless presents a lot greater health risk at this point than being bottomless....though I don't recommend either.

Those pesky, infringing indecent exposure laws really chap my hide.

LOL, we might be in more danger from people not wearing pants than masks!

From what I have seen these last years, wearing "pants" or dresses do not necessarily prevent indecent exposure, or gross exposure, especially when pants tops are allowed to start at the knee!