4 ms·

Looking at human faces greatly enriches our sense of connection to the people around us. I feel much more isolated when everyone is wearing masks.

by dilap 5y ago

everdrive 5y ago
Is this really true in Wal-Mart, though?
- bradlys 5y ago
  The problem is - mask mandates are not just in big box stores. If that was the case, most of us wouldn’t give a shit. It’s just that it’s everywhere. And to make it worse - these mask mandates are preventing a lot of social venues from happening because very few people want to go to some of these social venues with a mask on. It’ll likely be two years since I’ve been able to go to a social dance by the time we are getting back to “normal”. Tons of events people were planning for September are now back to cancelled indefinitely. People aren’t able to commit to big events anymore because now the government is acting unpredictably and causing a lot of panic among people. Dancing is a super high risk venue. And btw - people are cancelling these events when they required all attendees to be vaccinated. So, it’s fucking over people who are 100% vaccinated and take plenty of precautions.
- aantix 5y ago
  I enjoy chatting with the cashiers. We're all just trying to get through our days and be friendly.
eej71 5y ago
I agree very much with this. Many of us rely on facial expressions - both sending and receiving - to improve communication. Its a big loss for some of us and I look forward to masks going away.
aantix 5y ago
Agree. I want to see smiles. I can't even tell if someone is laughing at my jokes. Tones are muffled. They're awful. And eventually I will just stop. My time is finite. Eventually I will just experience life how I want to, and stop living indefinitely for some other vague, "we're all in this together" goal.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- jollybean 5y ago
  "stop living indefinitely for some other vague, "we're all in this together" It's not 'vague' - it's completely stark - it's a pandemic and it affects us all, systematically. It's more 'math' than 'vague'.
HabitUnaware 5y ago
As a lip reader the mask mandate has made me feel incredibly isolated, but I know it's for safety.
justwanttolearn 5y ago
I take my 2 year old swimming weekly and last week one of the lifeguards didn't wear his mask and he was smiling, laughing and making facial play expressions with the kids. The kids LOVED it. Prior to that when he wore his mask, he looked really scary and pissed off all the time. Sure other culture may cover their faces (I am from Asia myself so it's common to wear them due to air pollution) but coming from that to a Western country where emotions and feelings are valid and starting to be recognized, it's a lot more liberating than what I grew up in.
- jollybean 5y ago
  I think we all understand that. The question posed was 'why are people vehemently opposed' and the context is 'a pandemic'. It would be 'vehemently ridiculous' for people to arbitrarily wear masks, but missing your swimming instructors smile is a relatively small price to pay for controlling a pandemic which is still unfortunately ongoing, and which has major consequences. If wearing masks for 6 more months can materially push COVID out of business, then the trade off is a 'no brainer'. The arguments made here seem to really lack context, it doesn't give confidence. We already know wearing masks sucks, that's not the point. The point is wearing them in the context of a deflating but nevertheless persisting public health crisis.

Looking at human faces greatly enriches our sense of connection to the people around us. I feel much more isolated when everyone is wearing masks.

by dilap 5y ago

Looking at human faces greatly enriches our sense of connection to the people around us. I feel much more isolated when everyone is wearing masks.

everdrive 5y ago

Is this really true in Wal-Mart, though?

bradlys 5y ago
The problem is - mask mandates are not just in big box stores. If that was the case, most of us wouldn’t give a shit. It’s just that it’s everywhere. And to make it worse - these mask mandates are preventing a lot of social venues from happening because very few people want to go to some of these social venues with a mask on. It’ll likely be two years since I’ve been able to go to a social dance by the time we are getting back to “normal”. Tons of events people were planning for September are now back to cancelled indefinitely. People aren’t able to commit to big events anymore because now the government is acting unpredictably and causing a lot of panic among people. Dancing is a super high risk venue. And btw - people are cancelling these events when they required all attendees to be vaccinated. So, it’s fucking over people who are 100% vaccinated and take plenty of precautions.
aantix 5y ago
I enjoy chatting with the cashiers. We're all just trying to get through our days and be friendly.

eej71 5y ago

I agree very much with this. Many of us rely on facial expressions - both sending and receiving - to improve communication. Its a big loss for some of us and I look forward to masks going away.

aantix 5y ago

Agree. I want to see smiles. I can't even tell if someone is laughing at my jokes. Tones are muffled. They're awful. And eventually I will just stop. My time is finite. Eventually I will just experience life how I want to, and stop living indefinitely for some other vague, "we're all in this together" goal.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jollybean 5y ago
"stop living indefinitely for some other vague, "we're all in this together" It's not 'vague' - it's completely stark - it's a pandemic and it affects us all, systematically. It's more 'math' than 'vague'.

HabitUnaware 5y ago

As a lip reader the mask mandate has made me feel incredibly isolated, but I know it's for safety.

justwanttolearn 5y ago

I take my 2 year old swimming weekly and last week one of the lifeguards didn't wear his mask and he was smiling, laughing and making facial play expressions with the kids. The kids LOVED it. Prior to that when he wore his mask, he looked really scary and pissed off all the time. Sure other culture may cover their faces (I am from Asia myself so it's common to wear them due to air pollution) but coming from that to a Western country where emotions and feelings are valid and starting to be recognized, it's a lot more liberating than what I grew up in.

jollybean 5y ago
I think we all understand that. The question posed was 'why are people vehemently opposed' and the context is 'a pandemic'. It would be 'vehemently ridiculous' for people to arbitrarily wear masks, but missing your swimming instructors smile is a relatively small price to pay for controlling a pandemic which is still unfortunately ongoing, and which has major consequences. If wearing masks for 6 more months can materially push COVID out of business, then the trade off is a 'no brainer'. The arguments made here seem to really lack context, it doesn't give confidence. We already know wearing masks sucks, that's not the point. The point is wearing them in the context of a deflating but nevertheless persisting public health crisis.