Ok, but seriously...when will masks go away.

I think we'll know by November or December if one of the current vaccine candidates is successful. If one works decently well, then my guess is we could lift mask restrictions by this time next year. If there's no vaccine, then we might be dealing with this for years to come.

I go into Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, Lowes, my bank with no mask and no one says anything.

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The only place that is weird is TJ's so I don't bother to shop there anymore. My friend has seen them spraying their food with the toxic hand sanitizer that they spray on the carts!

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There's no reason to wear a mask unless you're trying to fry your brain and poison your body, which seems to me to be a dumb thing to do.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

dunes runner wrote:

If you don't like the masks and you're wearing one anyway, you're perpetuating the problem.

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Take of the mask and don't wear it anymore!

Yeah, it sounds pretty cool until you’re the guy causing a scene at the entrance to Menards where the staff is respectfully telling you that you must wear a mask inside the store while you’re throwing a hissy fit, and other shoppers are starting to look at you. And then you march out in a huff and go to Home Depot instead, where an employee asks you to wear a mask and you begrudgingly agree.

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I kinda like the masks because they seem to increase the number of sexy women. Is that weird?

This ^ is actually true!

Unfortunately, what that really means is that most people are not very attractive. As a result, they look better when they hide most of their face.

There will always be "maskbots" from now on and I am fine with that. I might even become one when a genuinely lethal disease strikes.

Forced maskedness will go down in history as one of the biggest propaganda coups ever.

Science never claimed colds or flus were spread significantly by healthy people slobbering "droplets" onto each other in public. In March the experts were carefully explaining only sick people needed masks - but what they should really do is stay home.

By June, the Democrats had the public believing the opposite, and the Republicans eventually caved in and started wearing them too. Once they were both doing it, the risk of it going on for years began. This is like the War on Terror, perpetuated as a political football for who knows how long.

Saying you're going to save lives by poisoning your body and your brain is a strange and irrational thing to say.

seth demoor wrote:

Maybe never. It’s quite possible you will be wearing a mask during fall and winter of every year for the rest of your life.

If this is true I will move to a red state. I’m over this crap.

Thank you for saying this. People talk about 'freedom' and it's just laughable. Go talk to some people who really have experienced a lack of freedom, they would either laugh in your face or be really offended by the idea of wearing a mask to help other people affecting your 'freedom' as some people claim. There are people in the world without clean drinking water, food, homes, in unsafe places who would love to be living our lives going about wearing masks (for a lot of people, maybe 10-15 minutes a day).

I understand people hate them but they are necessary unless you want to sacrifice a large part of the population. People talk about the old and people with underlying conditions as if they aren't human, a separate category to be sacrificed. But what if that is 25% of your population?

At what point are the deaths OK? 2 million... 5 million... 10 million?

Unless this virus is stamped down on, it will become endemic and we will deal with this every year. There is a very real risk of this happening. The reason? Well, we know what would clamp down on it to almost negligible levels. The problem is that people do not comply. So I guess ultimately you made your bed and you are going to have to sleep in it. You as a population made your choice. Sadly, the people who were irresponsible made it for you.

It is not hard to wash your hands. It is not hard to wear a mask (unless it is all day at work, in which case, yes, it is horrible, I agree). It is not that hard to social distance. Your freedom is not being affected, that is semantics. It is our luxuries. Our luxuries are being taken and we whine. I don't really agree with lockdowns but I think unfortunately the powers that be hand has been forced because they are the step after non-compliance with all of the other things (social distancing, masks, hand washing) that aren't put into place.

How many people are you willing to sacrifice?

Maybe never. Millions in Asia have been wearing them most of the time in public for 20 years. No big deal.

How many people are you willing to sacrifice?

I have to wear them everywhere. Work, park, playground with my kid, stores, running. Everywhere. Probably 8-10 hours a day.

I would be willing to sacrifice A LOT of people to be rid of these things. A lot more than 200k, that’s for sure. 7 million people die every year in the US, so an extra 200k is just blip on the death radar.

Oh and for understanding what losing freedom really is, try this:

https://personalliberty.com/one-year-in-hell/

There is a huge, undeniable amount of evidence that masks work to stop the spread of disease. Why do you think surgeons, doctors, dentists etc wear them? It's not because they are comfortable. Why do surgeons scrub up before surgery? Not because they want their hands to smell nice.

I would want everyone to ask themself this: is it really THAT much of an inconvenience to wear a mask when inside, in public? In a shop? Compared to what goes on in the world? It is ultra clear they stop the spread of disease in a lot of cases. There will be no vaccine. Why on earth would there be? There aren't vaccines for many similar viruses after decades of work. Without a vaccine, we cannot ge therd immunity. So the options are: in becomes endemic and we sacrifice a percentage of the population. This could be anything - we simply don't know - what if it's 10% of the USA? Option 2; we stamp down, masks, social distancing, hand washing - and cut the numbers down, as has been proven to work in other countries over and over again.

Secret Asian Man wrote:

Maybe never. Millions in Asia have been wearing them most of the time in public for 20 years. No big deal.

As I understand it, the expectation in Asia is you wear a mask if you are actively symptomatic. That I have less of an issue with.

You do understand that the whole point of this is that people (myself including) desperately want things to go back to normal, right?

The only way through this is to stamp down on it hard... otherwise I just don't see it going away.

We aren't talking about 200 million deaths. If we were, I don't think there would be this hoo haa.

I just want this to be over.

I would want everyone to ask themself this: is it really THAT much of an inconvenience to wear a mask when inside, in public? In a shop?

It's not just in stores. For me, where I live, it is everywhere. Walk down the street? Mask. Park? Mask. Playground? Mask. Work in any kind of people-facing job? Mask all day.

Everywhere you go that is not your own home, you wear a mask. And if you live in a multi-family building, you have to wear a mask to even step into the hallways of your own building. It is awful. It has really ruined any kind of enjoyment from being outside of my home.

People on this thread literally said they want to wear masks forever if it’s necessary. Do you guys really never want to go to a concert again, a football game, run a race or simply go to a large wedding???

I guess I’m not adaptable for wanting to live normal life.

OK, well, that is silly. You should not have to wear one in a playground, in the street. That is stupid. The risk outside is v low, especially if you are far away from people. Walking down a street, you pass someone for maybe 2 seconds. I am sorry you are in that situation. Here is is mainly in shops. You should not have to wear one in a park - that is nuts.

And I am sad because this kind of rule is what makes people not want to wear them in situations where they are needed (close contact with people indoors).

That is horrible.

In our apatrtment the rule is the all of the windows have to be open, essentially making it an open air corridors.

This thing will not run through the population and burn out. People have been getting it twice. Most viruses (well, similar ones) mutate after about 12 months. I don't think herd immunity will happen. I don't think a vaccine will happen. Hell, maybe you are right. Maybe there is nothing we can do. But I want to try. And I am selfish too - I want to protect myself.

So you are in a park... on your own... it is deserted - and you have to wear a mask? No wonder people are rebelling against this. Your policy makers need a knock to the head.

ploop wrote:

So you are in a park... on your own... it is deserted - and you have to wear a mask? No wonder people are rebelling against this. Your policy makers need a knock to the head.

Yes. That is the literal law in many Boston-area towns. People even wear masks running (that to is a formal law in some towns, cyclists and joggers must wear masks), and you’ll get Karen’d to death if you don’t.

I take my kid to the playground, it’s all 2 year olds in masks with parents in masks standing as far away from each other as possible.

It’s really hell living here.

I'm sorry that's happening. That is totally daft.

TBH I think I would rebel against that too.

That is not based on any science.

What is this Karen'd to death?