Poll: Are you wearing a facemask?

[Hoji]

I was wearing a mask to go into stores and at work( work I am being paid to wear one so a little different)
After driving from Texas to Pennsylvania and back and seeing that most of the states ( at least AR, TN, KY, OH and PA)
Residents are actively ignoring the mask order I have decided that the only place I will wear one is at work.
I was in HEB the other day and I swear I think I was the only one not wearing a mask. Made me very disappointed

 

[W_kemp]

I wear one where required and to be respectful to others. IMO it is really not a big deal to wear one when in a business. I take it off when seated at a restaurant and pull it down a bit during a set of heavy lifting in the gym... but I am not about to do some crazy bullshit like wear one walking around outside, at home or in my own damn car.

 

[Glenn B]

Yesterday, while walking my dog, we ran into a guy and his dog that we have not seen in months. If I had to guess, I'd say since August or September at the height of my illness back then. He looked different - very different in as much as he was truly white as a sheet. I could not believe it - he (a medium skin toned white male) had zero pinkness to his skin tone - he looked like some alien or as white as Casper the friendly ghost; if you woke up in the middle of the night and saw him in a darkened room you'd think your house was haunted - I kid you not. He told me he had COVID-19 back in October and while he had that, he also had a stroke. al. Apparently the COVID-19 caused the stroke, or helped it happen, as he explained. He said he was lucky that they injected him with a drug (damned if I can recall the name that is a three letter wonder drug for stroke victims, maybe APT but don't quote me on that) and that they had gotten it into him within 4 hours of the onset. Thus he explained, he could use his left arm. He suddenly wavered his left arm in a jerky movement, hand shooting up in the air over his head, almost like puppet master had pulled the string hard on his marionettes left hand. I already had been wondering, a moment before that, why he kept jerking his left hand & arm up and down as he spoke - he was never so animated before. I think he just was pretty happy he could still use it - it had been badly affected by the stroke from what I gather but the drug they gave him prevented permanent uselessness. He spent only 4 days in the hospital due to the stroke & the COVID. I am guessing he is in his seventies but he could be in his late 60s; he is one tough old coot. I did not push him for info, just let him tell me what had happened on his own. Told him I had been ill too and we parted soon after that wishing each other well. Back to this neighbor of mine in a moment.

Now, getting to the mask thing. I was sick for almost a year, maybe more than a year, before they found out what was wrong with me and I am not sure they got it all correct yet because I am still nowhere near fully recuperated. I also supposedly have at least one auto-immune illness,RA and have tested positive for Lupus but with very low titres (aka: titers) so they are not sure I have that too. I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever; I was sick as a dog. I tested negative for COVID-19 both for the illness and for the antibodies, thank goodness. You think I was/am not going to wear a mask, you are out of your mind. A mask may or may not do a thing to prevent it as some see it but I see it differently and I do not care what others think on it. After having sneezed and/or coughed several times while wearing one, I am absolutely convinced WITHOUT THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT - wearing a mask cuts down on what the wearer spews out. The evidence was inside my mask more than once. So, I wear mine when out shopping or even sometimes while at the dog park because while it may not stop everything, it stops some of it and that may be enough for someone not to catch it from a person who has it and wears a mask.

Back to the ghostly apparition looking neighbor of mine. He lives in the same apartment complex as me. Hundreds of folks live here. I now know four (4) of them who have had COVID-19 and been very ill. (I also know - or knew - 3 folks in NY who have not been as lucky - they passed on due to it.) Does not seem like many, does it? Well, just the 4 in my apartment complex is too many for my comfort. I know for sure 3 of them have survived and as for the other - she moved away so no way to tell but she was young so my guess is she survived (I hope so she owes me well over $1000 for damages to my car from when her daughter drove into it while mine was parked - not that I ever expect to get it but one can hope). She lived in the apartment directly adjoining mine. I saw her frequently - on an almost daily basis and spoke to her almost as often - more so than I saw the older gentleman who I saw a couple or few times per week. Then there were the two ladies in the complex office; I saw them and chatted with them several times a week (it's that lonely old geezer thing, I stop by and chat them up, bring them cookies & flowers and such just to be nice) inside their office. Both of them came down with COVID-19 at the same time a couple or few months ago. One recovered quickly, she is young. The other, in her 60s was very ill but also has recovered.

There is a common thread between all four of them. None were ever seen by me to wear a mask. The ladies from the front office told folks who went into the office they did not need to wear a mask. My guess is at least a few, if not several, more folks here also have had it. No one talks much about it and most folks here are not very neighborly. I do know some apartments have been vacant for months - like my next door neighbors who moved out while she had COVID as I understand the timing. Odd how that apartment has been vacant since about May or June and it seems they only rented it last week or so when they normally rent very quickly - other apartments here have rented fast. My guess is the few other apartments I have seen vacant for the long term also housed COVID patients but as I say that is my guess. Anyway, it all just convinced me more that wearing a mask when in stores and such is the right thing to do.

 

[kbaxter60]

I was in HEB the other day and I swear I think I was the only one not wearing a mask. Made me very disappointed

Agree. Wife and I were in one day and this masked gal was just frozen in the aisle right in front of what we needed to grab (important phone business for her). I am trying to look/get around her and she huffs: "Well! I guess there's no social distancing in HEB."

 

[sidebite252]

I wear a mask where they are required and recommended. I also practice social distancing. I believe these things can “reduce” the risk somewhat. I don’t think twice about it but I also strongly believe that no government official has any right to force me to wear one, force me to close a business, or force me to stay home. It’s has to be my choice.

So far, we’ve been able to keep this virus away from mom and that was our goal from day one. If she get this virus she won’t survive. That alone makes this easy for me.

Do what you got to do but to shame anyone who chooses to take precautions is just as bad as trying to mask shame someone who doesn’t take any precautions.

I’m so ready for this to all be over.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

" I wear one where required and to be respectful to others ".

The 'to be respectful to others'...nah...that's part of the people conditioning propaganda. It's the new mantra...

Respectful to others...ppppppfffffffff!

Doing something utterly ineffective to be part of mask theatre isn't being respectful - it's going along with something akin to the Emperor's New Clothes".

 

[deemus]

I am currently not wearing mask as I sit in my kitchen. I wear a mask at the grocery store because they require it. I don’t wear a mask when I walk my dog or ride my bike. I wear a mask at Walmart because they require it. I wear a mask into restaurants because they require it. But I don’t wear it while I eat. I wear a mask into church, but take it off when I get to my seat.

 

[Charlie]

" I wear one where required and to be respectful to others ".

The 'to be respectful to others'...nah...that's part of the people conditioning propaganda. It's the new mantra...

Respectful to others...ppppppfffffffff!

Doing something utterly ineffective to be part of mask theatre isn't being respectful - it's going along with something akin to the Emperor's New Clothes".

I disagree with all of the above.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

deemus,

Yeah, at times we just can't get around mask theatre.

But the 'respect mantra' is so very bogus...ugh!

Since this mask craziness kicked in, I've been forced to wear it 3 times in total.

All 3 times were doctor visits.

I damn sure don't wear it otherwise, but some nutters even want you to wear one while eating, like yanking it down to feed yourself is effective... or in your own home...gdammit!

 

[rotor]

Let's assume that the average mask has no value in protecting the person wearing it. That is an assumption. Let's assume that if you had an asymptomatic case (but could infect others) that a mask might (I say might) lower the risk of you spreading it to others, would you wear a mask as CDC recommends?
A simple question. Please no more philosophical responses. Just an answer to my hypothetical (possibly true) question.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

So, in this scenario, we know that we are asymptomatic?

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

ZX,

What scenario do you mean?

 

[Hoji]

Let's assume that the average mask has no value in protecting the person wearing it. That is an assumption. Let's assume that if you had an asymptomatic case (but could infect others) that a mask might (I say might) lower the risk of you spreading it to others, would you wear a mask as CDC recommends?
A simple question. Please no more philosophical responses. Just an answer to my hypothetical (possibly true) question.

Pretty major study out there that says asymptomatic people do not spread it.

 

[TJjerry]

I believe a business person has the right to "call the shots" and do so by placing a sign on his front door. After all he is the one that put up the capitol, and it's success or failure is on his butt. A patron to his business has three choices, follow it, ignore it, don't go in. So the person I respect is Him/Her, the business owner. I will play by his rules, or not go in.
I don't give a rat's ass what Politicians or other business patrons think or what they do.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

TJ,

Unless the business owners says no, no blue eyed, white people can't come in, and no Orthodox Jews, or flamboyant alphabet people, or........yeah, they can call the shots...ok, they can't...

 

[TexMex247]

I wear one in stores and public areas as a show of respect for others more than believing it will keep me safe. They're cheap enough and I don't get out much anyhow. As an o positive blood type I'm even more confident that if I get it I'll pull through or be asymptomatic.

 

[deemus]

I spoke with a nurse last week who told me about a study she had just read that said in a study of those recovered, patients with a high level of Vitamin D in their system recovered faster than others.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

ZX,

What scenario do you mean?

This was in regards to post 551.

 

[Fishkiller]

I have not worn a mask unless I must. Doctors office is a thou shalt wear a mask, so I do to get treated.. Grocery store, restaurant etc, no mask.

 

[Glenn B]

Let's assume that the average mask has no value in protecting the person wearing it. That is an assumption. Let's assume that if you had an asymptomatic case (but could infect others) that a mask might (I say might) lower the risk of you spreading it to others, would you wear a mask as CDC recommends?
A simple question. Please no more philosophical responses. Just an answer to my hypothetical (possibly true) question.

Of course I would wear a mask but not sure if I'd follow CDC guidelines about it since they seem none to certain as to which guidelines to give out.