I work in retail in dupage and am seeing the majority of customers are not wearing masks and similar numbers with employees. I expect that number to increase gradually. I am surprised that I still see so many cloth masks. I would think if you were concerned about contracting the virus in crowded places you would wear an n95 or surgical mask at a minimum. Do people feel safe wearing cloth?
Posted Mar 3, 2022, 9:27 PM UTC
Liberal Chicago neighborhood that generally has been militant mask users. Attended my toddlers Chicago Park District class this morning. One caregiver and respective child had masks on, but otherwise kids and caregivers of all ages 30-70ish were all unmasked. Kids 1.5-4. It was shocking to see how more frequently kids were smiling, making eye contact and how less hesitant they were to approach other adults because they could see their faces.
Edit: typo *that
Love being downvoted for stating a factual observation I experienced one hour prior to writing. I am boosted and was very pro mask as an immunocompromised young adult up until JB’s late summer 2021 never ending mandate.
I really think that our experience letting our kids finally go maskless again over the next few weeks/months is going to shock some people. Hopefully it will increase the shame on those who insisted on forcing kids to be masked for so long. Even now, some of them are still trying to hold on to the "Masks are no big deal" defense. This is a gross argument that needs to be obliterated.
Just you wait until all those schools have to close because they went mask-optional! Just Wait Two Weeks^(tm), er, Months^(tm), er, um…
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I'm so glad to hear this!
So I work in a public library and do programming with littles (0-5). And it's varied wildly - The morning moms / caretakers with babies-preK kids that come for storytimes/programming are largely unmasked - I would say anywhere from 50-75% depending. Adults sitting in the library (at computers, studying, etc) are like 95% unmasked. Otherwise, I'd say patrons just walking around are 60% masked still. I walked by a computer class yesterday and only the staff was masked - no adults were. Staff is mixed - our library staff is 97% vaxed - last night no staff member was masked. This morning most were masked in the public areas but unmasked "backstage". In our meeting yesterday we were all masked. I have NOT masked while doing programming or working the public desk. We haven't received any complaints either way. I am enjoying the unmasking SO MUCH - like a cloud has lifted. It's incredible how necessary faces are to connecting with 0-5 - especially the babies who were smiling like CRAZY at me - where normally they are just suspicious / skeptical. I have found myself "looking over" masked kids, compared to unmasked. I think it's because it's harder to hear / understand them, but also they are not catching my attention with their expressions. So I will need to be careful of that.
I am SO enjoying not being the mask police anymore. What a fucking relief that is! Like my cortisol levels have gone down 100% hahaha
My own son who is 9 months would not smile at me when I was wearing a mask. This is going to be so huge for the under 5 crowd to see faces normally especially for those in daycare full time.
Wonder how the parents are going to respond if JB tells them to put their kids back in masks again for the next school year. You know he wants to (he's already indicated he plans to do this).
It will not go over well. I will absolutely fight it. But I’m not sure if he can after the recent lawsuits ?
JCAR, after the lawsuit happened and it'd been little bit of time, finally said he didn't have the power anymore. (That is if I understand JCAR correctly.)
Much as he wanted to claim he ended the mandate, that wasn't the case. It was beaten out of him despite his efforts to claw onto it for dear life.
Really he got lucky that the CDC released its new guidelines the same day the IL Supreme Court said "Your appeal is moot. Stop bothering us."
It is almost surreal to see people's faces again. I had stopped really looking at people and it felt inhuman.
And people kept going on and on about how the masks were fine, they were no big deal, what's your problem, the kids don't care. Some people are still saying that.
These people were, are, always have been, and always will be wrong, plain and simple.
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The fact that this has become their go-to defense and argument in favor of masks over the last few months shows just how weak their approach has been this whole time.
Yup. It will come to light soon how delayed a lot of the little kids are after all this. Masking these little kids is damaging .
People who say ‘ kids don’t mind!’ Are missing the point . Kids don’t know any better. Plain and simple.
It's really gross.
Kids don't complain about abuse, either. That doesn't make abuse fine.
Taking kids' silence about the masks as a sign that they're fine with it and it's a good thing that should be allowed to continue is ickily close to saying that abuse is fine and should be allowed to continue.
And this has been one of the primary arguments the mask-enforcers have been relying on in the last few months to defend their desire for endless masking in schools. It's not even really about the masks' effectiveness in defending against COVID anymore (that argument, which was always questionable, was put to death by omicron). Their rallying cry since January has basically been, "Well, the kids aren't complaining, so it can't be too bad." These people like to say that they're on the "right side of history" about everything. Needless to say, they are very much not on "the right side of history" about this.
It's also interesting how many of these people have been dropping out of this reddit over the last few weeks.
How does it make you feel knowing that there will be a portion of people/kids who will always remember you primarily for being the mask police? And are you looking forward to doing it again if JB tells you to?
Tbh I dont really give a shit who remembers me as the mask police. The only thing I hated more than masks were the people who gave me shit when asked to wear one. I was totally lax in comparison to most, ignoring 2-4 yr olds, anyone who wasn’t within my sight, and only addressing those in my face or brought to my attention by other staff/ patrons. (I’m in a supervisory role). Outside of COVID my job is the best, but I told my husband if the mask mandates are brought back I’m moving out of state. Also my husband is STILL in a mask at his closed door pharmacy for some dumb reason. And everyone there is 100% vaxxed.
I'll one up you on that, I still have to wear one outside. Mandated and will be written up over it. Was praying that would change with the new guidelines but my workplace has decided not yet.
I had my first post-mandate bowling league night last night and it was absolutely glorious.
Compliance with the mandate had been about 75/25 during the mandate because this league tends to be a little more politically liberal, but no one had one on last night and everyone was so much happier and more social. The number of “it is SO GREAT to see your smile again!” comments was crazy.
Everyone said masks had little or no costs, but the social and emotional cost over the last year can’t be understated! I fully support anyone who chooses to continue masking, but there is a palpable sense of relief everywhere now.
I think we’re seeing again that there’s a pretty big gap between the general public and Reddit in terms of socialization, in-person interaction, and masks’ impact on those.
Yeah. Even at the grocery store it was a nice feeling to not be wearing a mask and to be seeing other people's faces. Also nice to see people's lips again for its benefits with communication. (Decided to get a shamrock shake at McDonald's first day of the lifted mandate and was glad when the cashier was maskless. Made it easier to understand her.)
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I went to Kroger, Lowes and an Ace today and about 20% had masks on. The drive through staff at Starbucks had them on too. This is in Kankakee County.
That's only like half of what it was a few weeks ago though, lol.
Went to Ash Wednesday mass and I would say 70 per cent were maskless, priest included. The younger adults were way more masked up than the older crowd. A little while later I was at WalMart and actually saw way more masks there than at mass. Actually surprised me.
Grocery store yesterday was 50-50. Most with the kn95 or surgical type.
Cook county grocery store. A week ago, 90% masked. Today, 80% unmasked and 20% masked. Mostly cloth, some blue surgical types. No n95 types as far as I could tell.
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If people aren’t willing to take it off now that the mandates are gone, literally what are they waiting for? I’ve yet to hear a reason or an end game from these people
I have a 95 year old grandmother that has seen better days, is it crazy to want to avoid accidentally infecting her?
For how long? Forever? “Science” says it’s safe. What are your realistic metrics to stop wearing a mask?
Is it that crazy that I don’t know? I’m just taking things a day at a time at the moment. I haven’t thought about how long because masks have never really been a big enough deal for me to really think about it.
When my grandma (who is a cancer survivor by the way) dies, I suppose.
I don’t really get why everyone cares about who is still wearing a mask. It doesn’t really affect your life in any way. We live in a very judgmental society though so I guess I’m not surprised.
You sound like the state, no clear metrics to go by, just prolonging it until…who knows? Glad they ended the mandate.
at least every flu season?
No, not at all, but what makes you think you were protecting her with a mask?
There are some people out there who have never been able to articulate their endgame.
That said, I highly doubt anyone will be wearing them come summer.
Some people will. And that’s fine, whatever they want, just as long as it’s not mandated.
I was just at a restaurant and one of the workers was wearing a gator! Why bother? The other thing I have seen is a couple people wearing masks below the nose. Again, why bother?
Were the workers being required to wear masks at the restaurant?
No! Other workers didn't have them.
Perhaps that worker never got the memo about gaiter effectiveness?
I know from talking to my father that he overestimates the protective value of a cloth mask, going for the "but it's better than nothing" approach.
Yeah, that makes no sense. I was wearing the thinnest neck gaiter I could find for months, but I still didn’t wear it if I didn’t have to.
I wrote one of the last comments on the previous thread about this, so I might as well copy and paste that comment here. The day in question was Tuesday:
Went to three different stores today: a Walmart, a Schnucks, and an Office Depot.
Arrived at Walmart about quarter till eight am. A small handful of old people were wearing masks, both customers and employees. No one else was. I don't think anyone under the age of 65 was wearing one. My elderly, near 80-year-old mother didn't wear one. Left the store a little after nine, as foot traffic was picking up. No one coming into the store at the time was wearing a mask.
Got to Schnucks about 10:00. No employees were wearing masks. A few customers were, all of them women around 45 or 50.
In Office Depot, all of the employees were wearing masks; I'm assuming there's still a store policy enforcing it for them. No customers were.
Until Tuesday, I hadn't stepped foot into a public building since before the last mask mandate went into effect, so I don't know how my observations compare with what's been happening in these places in the last 7 months.
I live in southern Illinois, in the Metro East area, across the river from St. Louis.
Also, my brother, who has two twin 3rd-grade daughters, has told me that the day after the district made masks optional, practically no students in his kids' elementary school were still wearing masks. Apparently, according to his daughters, a few of the kids still wore them to school in the morning for a few days afterwards but then took them off immediately after arriving (it seems like their parents probably made them put them on when they left their houses that morning). Also, in my two twin 8th-grade nieces' middle school (a different district, by the way), only about 10 kids are still masking, after two weeks of the school being mask-optional.
The pro-maskers really, really, really underestimated just how much people want to be done with these stupid things. A lot of them, like JB himself, took people's compliance with the masks (especially kids) as being a sign of "support" for them, when that was totally wrong. All the talk in the world of "it's all right," "it doesn't hurt," "wearing a mask is no big deal" (which is suspiciously and disturbingly similar to how abusers talk about their victims "not minding" their abuse) didn't make any of those wishes into reality. The pro-maskers have been living in a fantasy world that only exists in their minds.
From 1/2 earlier in the week down to about 1/4 at Menards in the middle of the state today. Cases keep dropping, as of today we joined many other counties in Illinois that are now green on the CDC map. That may not be driving a lot of peoples decision to remove their mask, but it was mentioned in local radio, and folks seem aware that things really are much better than they were even a couple weeks ago.
My work still won’t drop their mask, social distance policy or the plastic guards in break areas.
I’ll probably be wearing a mask at work forever lol.
Where do you work?
Well for me it's interesting.
At the store I noticed voluntary mask-wearers were still a majority. (Though it seemed most of the employees I saw were mask-optional.) Same for this past Sunday at Mass.
On the flip side the Ash Wednesday Mass at my church was a significant majority unmasked. And the demographics of that Mass was older than a normal Sunday. So I'm curious if this coming Sunday will have more unmasked than this previous Sunday now that both the state mandate is lifted in addition to the archdiocese allowing mask optional. Or if that was a fluke for the particular Mass.
I still wear a cloth mask when in crowded places but that is actually covering a KN95 mask just as I've been doing since the summer of 2020. I know that my beard defeats much of the purpose of wearing a K/KN95 mask but having the cloth mask on top of it actually helps keep the KN95 mask closer to my face.
What I don’t understand is what does it matter to you? I’m going to continue to wear a mask. I wish more would too, I wouldn’t mind avoiding their mugs.
Kids have barely even had common colds over the past couple of years bc of distancing and masks. But love all those on here saying masks were a form of abuse and propaganda. Yeah, that’s why now that masks are “recommended” in schools and most are sending theirs in maskless kids are getting sick left and right.
Getting sick, minus covid, is good for immunity, but what I’m more saying is the people spewing mAsKs DoNt HeLp are the same ones clearly overlooking this absolute reality. Source: home w two sick kids now.
were your kids wearing their masks? What are they sick with?
Also, “I wouldn’t mind avoiding their mugs” doesn’t sound like your desire to keep masking really has to do with Covid
Is kids not getting common colds a good thing? How are their immune systems being built.
People seem to have forgotten how the human immune system works (or maybe they never knew in the first place). It actually isn't a good thing to constantly be avoiding exposure to disease.
Also, it's clear people never realized just how full the air is of harmful particles. We've been acting like this is some great new epiphany in the human experience, when it's not.
Sounds like you should just stay home forever if you don’t want to interact with people
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Rules 1, 4, and 13.
It matters to people because they can't pass a timed test with questions about what is the next pattern, next number in sequence, what do these letters spell. They feel smart by doing their own research, even though they don't fully understand. It feels good to tear down things that actually work just so they can guffaw together and say, "Look at that dummy!"
After being vaccinated, boosted, and then infected and recovered, I felt fine wearing cloth only. It was primarily for other people anyway.
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There are actually some masks that look like cloth but have high filtration and are nearly as effective as N95’s. I researched some brands (Enro and Vogmask, for example) so my sons had effective protection when they went back to in-person learning this year.
Cloth masks are for the vibes. Yeah it's not really any solid protection but it keeps me warm and I have some cute designs
Reduces catcalls. At least for me.
Because it’s harder for you to shout through the mask?
^Just ^kidding
Are you saying I'm a cat?
Meow!
Interesting. My face must look more pissed off than usual in one (or maybe I'm just more pissed off?) and I get more comments than ever - at least, in relation to how often I leave my house.
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Wouldn't wearing a cloth mask under an N95 break the seal of the N95 and reduce its effectiveness by a lot?
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Double anything on an N95 is overkill.
Paper + cloth on top is the way to go if you were concerned about safety but also wanna spruce it up lol
My cloth mask has a filter for 95% inside of it
True, some can be outfitted with a removable filter
Many good cloth masks have filters. Mine is about n95 from what I can smell through it.
At worse, they are still better then nothing. A bandanna will still block more then half.
A source for those curious? Would appreciate.
Neck gaiters are better for warmth, and just as useless for protection.
But you take a massive hit to your vibe check wearing a gaiter. You have to think about your fit health as well as your actual health!