Wednesday 25 August 2021

Black or Blue?


I imagine that mask wearing will be with us for a very long time to come.

Yesterday (Tuesday is my shopping day) I needed to replenish my supply, and I noticed at the supermarket checkout that they sold two types; Black or Blue. Seeing as I'd previously always bought blue, I decided to throw caution to the winds, and buy black.

Black ones cost €2.97 for 50, and the blue ones cost €1.59 for 50. Both as cheap as chips, and presumably it's just the colour that is different. Whether they do what we hope they'll do is another question.


I shall continue to wear one, even if I'm told it's not necessary. It gives me some feeling of security, but at the back of my mind I know it wouldn't protect me from an infected person 'coughing' at me.

It does say on the packet that they're for single use only, but they would say that wouldn't they! I use mine until they begin to look 'used'. I only use them once a week for 30 mins, so they last a good while.

I'm hoping that the black masks will offer better protection than the blue. At nearly twice the price, they ought to!

They are, of course, all made in China.

52 comments:

  1. The wearing of masks is not to protect YOU from catching the virus but protect others catching it from you. Which is the very reason it pisses me off big time how many people now don't wear masks, by which I mean in shops, or any other enclosed public spaces.

    As to colour: I wear black - mainly because it matches my favourite leather jacket. They are fabric, washable; reusable. The blue, disposable ones are mandatory should you, for whatever reason, enter our University Hospital, A&E, eye clinic, any ward. This is policed strictly when entering. They'll make sure you take a new one (for free). I won't tell you off for wearing the disposable ones repeatedly. I'll leave that to blogland's resident nurse.

    U

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    1. I am quite aware that masks are of more use to the infected that they are to the uninfected, but what the hell. Do remember not to take everything you read here as Verbatim, occasionally it's to be taken cum grano salis! I do have a sense of humour.

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    2. Can someone, please, help me out. Rachel?

      Masks are NOT of MORE use to the infected. We wear them to protect each other. Remember, just because you don't cough and haven't tested positive (yet) doesn't mean you ain't a Trojan horse; asymptomatic. Merrily, unaware, spreading the goods.

      Why is this so difficult to understand?

      U

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    3. Let me try to explain. Masks are more for people who have or have had Covid, to stop them spreading the infection. They are less effective for people (such as myself) who are Covid-free; even though they do offer minimal protection. They are no more, or less, than that.

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    4. It is no good asking me about masks, I know nothing about them. I know nothing about Covid except that it came from China and they lock up anybody who tries to tell the truth about it or they disappear either into hiding or get beheaded.

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  2. Black are excellent, mine has lasted since the start. It is cotton and is a multi-purpose item. It demists the windscreen and cleans the door mirrors.....Stinks a bit but it hardly seems worth changing as I rarely wear it.

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    1. I wonder if it would bring up a nice shine on your shoes too? You obviously have a valuable model to pass on to your grandchildren.

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  3. I always wear the blues. Kids have masks in all sorts of colors.

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    Replies
    1. I don't like all the comic face masks. Big teeth, smile, sticking out tongues, etc.

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  4. Someone suggested that most masks are as good for protection (both ways) as chain link fence is from marbles.

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    Replies
    1. I don't suppose they do much good, but it makes us (and our governments) feel better.

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  5. I've found also camo (army shades and shades of pink!) masks as well as solid pinks, but there's a lot of different patterns (in disposable masks, too) so you really can match your mask with your outfit or attitude or whatever. I wear black ones, at work I wear ffp2 or ffp3 masks.
    Wearing a mask will reduce the amount of viruses you inhale, and that might lead to less severe symptoms. So even if mask don't prevent covid19, it will still protect you.

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    Replies
    1. I just cross my fingers and hope they do protect a bit. But who knows!

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  6. I made our mask which we can wash and reuse, I used T towel cotton fabric on the outside, with a 3rd inner which is very tightly woven cotton. I was able to make them to size so the wearer does not have to keep adjusting them. I won't preach as we are all different, but I just could not work with disposal ones.

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    Replies
    1. I really pity the poor checkout girls who have to wear them all day long. 30 mins, once a week, is enough for me.

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    2. I wear one 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. You get used to it.

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    3. We were working 10 hour days in ours. You do get used to it. It's not nearly as impossible as some folks would have you believe, although I do understand that people with pre-existing breathing problems might have a more difficult time.

      Delete
  7. Mask wearing appears to be a very contentious issue everywhere.
    It is mandatory here only in healthcare settings but we do see several people wearing them out and about, even when driving their cars with no passengers. I wear mine sometimes but we are usually outside and not in enclosed spaces.

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    Replies
    1. I only wear mine to go shopping, because it's obligatory. I've also seen lone people in cars wearing masks; I think they've got something muddled.

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    2. Sometimes I wear mask while driving. If I'm going from shop to shop, I don't bother to take away my mask. And to be honest, sometimes I just forget I wrar one. And same thing while walking in streets, if I need to wear mask in different places, I just don't bother to take it away. I'm not bonkers or overly cautious, I'm just lazy and/or absent minded...

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    3. We'll forgive you! I can't wait to take mine off as soon as possible.

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  8. I have worn the same black disposable mask for months! ( only when I go to a shop...about 3 times a week). Probably time to break out a new one!!
    Can anyone explain why some people, on their own in a car, wear a mask? I saw a young woman cycling , on her own, with one on the other day. Why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See JayCee's comment above, and my reply.

      The amount of people who wear their masks only once must be miniscule. I get full use out of mine.

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  9. Shaving off your beard would allow the mask to fit more closely around your mouth and therefore give you greater protection from the virus (also Made in China).

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    Replies
    1. my beard acts a a supplementary filter.

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    2. Also somewhere to store crumbs, bits of egg and raisins for emergency consumption.

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  10. I just got a note from a friend who grabbed a black mask off the top of her dryer on her way out, stuffing it into her purse. When she got to where she was heading, she pulled her mask out of her purse and shook it out and discovered she had grabbed a fancy pair of her black underwear.

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    Replies
    1. Well, I suppose that would give the lads a cheer!

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  11. Surgical masks will offer you some protection but their main reason for being is for protection to others, originally surgeons etc operating on patients. I'm sure you knew that already.

    Lol at Debby's story.

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    Replies
    1. Of course, but there's no harm in a bit of joviality concerning masks.

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  12. We have black masks but then, I wear a lot of black so it’s the obvious choice for me !!!!! XXXX

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    Replies
    1. In Winter I wear little but black, so they will suit me too.

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  13. For many years it has been common to see people in the towns in China wearing masks as a matter of course - in the days when I went there was such awful pollution. Here in our little town now hardly anyone still wears one although our Co-op asks for them inside the shop as does my Hairdresser,

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    Replies
    1. In Japan too they have always worn masks. I used to wonder why! I think here we're still supposed to wear them in group gatherings, but once there, it is more relaxed.

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  14. I have a few cloth ones of various colours and patterns but I prefer the disposables. I wear the blue ones because I've never seen the black ones (at least not as disposables).

    Masks are mandatory in my province and will be for the foreseeable future. I have been wearing one since before our first lockdown went into effect on March 17, 2020 so I am quite used to them by now. I have to admit that it is more difficult in our very hot and humid weather at the moment - 32C but feels more like 40C!!!
    I am very glad that the price has come down considerably. My first box of 50 cost me over $50 - but I can now get 50 for $10.00 My next purchase will be some N95 masks as I ride public transport (I go into the office 3 days a week at the moment) and they are pricier. We are at the start of a 4th wave with numbers rising again (mostly among the unvaccinated) and I am hoping that a 3rd booster shot will be available by the New Year. My province has a vaccination rate of 80% with at least 1 shot and over 70% fully vaccinated and I am sick of being held to ransom by the selfish 20% or so who aren't vaccinated! I fully support (as do the majority of people in this country) a vaccine passport for those of us who have followed the rules and done the right thing!
    A NY Times article the other day referred to the "Quiet Rage of the Responsible" - I have a feeling that we won't be quite so quiet for much longer!

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    1. We have the 'passports' here. I can't go to a restaurant or any gathering without showing my passport. I agree with you about the irresponsible few. We see protests here every weekend (Paris) against masks and passports.

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    2. You can't just "buy" N95s. Well you can buy masks marked N95 but they aren't effective or probably even real.

      You have to be fitted for an N95. It's a huge process in the healthcare and the military. You need to be able to get a seal with the mask on.

      You are enclosed in a hood and sprayed with Bitrex until you can't taste it while wearing the mask.

      I required a special fitting and am one of only 15 people in my hospital who wears that particular model.

      Go ahead and buy an N95 off the shelf but it won't be effective.

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    3. I understand the difference - but we are recommended some that have those "names" and are certified more effective than the simple disposables. I do research this sort of thing.


      I also realize that you just be offering some info - but you come off as rather patronizing and I don't appreciate being spoken to as though I'm an idiot!

      Delete
  15. Cum grano salis! I've learned my new favorite phrase for today. Me, too. Chain link for marbles? Well, here on the prairie where I live, we put up 'snow fence' in the fall. It is slats of about 1-inch boards spaced about the same distance apart. It stops little snow flakes from making big drifts on the roads. Masks work. Vaccines work. I stay home mostly because lots of people around me wouldn't know what cum grano salis meant. Cheers!

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    1. We now hear that our double vaccines become less effective in time, and that boosters will be essential. I was hoping to avoid any further jabs, but it now looks inevitable that we'll be having boosters for ever!

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  16. We wear both the cotton cone-shaped masks (which I make with a double layer of cotton and a coffee filter in-between the layers) when in public. And did go to double masking at first with the paper medical masks under the cotton one when the Delta variant started spiking (both of us have the big C).
    But recently we found KN95 cone shaped ones approved by the FDA that are very comfortable, fit well, and don't fog up your glasses!! My 8 year old granddaughter wears them to class and loves them! As to wearing a mask in the car... or out when walking. Found it helps me not to cough from the air-conditioner in the car as well as prevents scratchy throat from pollen. So why not?

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    1. It says Type 11R on my new pack, and EFB>98%. I have no idea what these mean, but I hope they mean that they are reasonably efficient!

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  17. I am so use to wearing masks when with my family in Japan. Lots of people in close quarters the masks come out.

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    1. The Japanese seem to have been wearing masks for ever!

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  18. I'm with you on masks. I just feel a bit more secure. I wear a black or white cloth mask. Last year I washed them after every use and ironed them too. Now they get stuffed back in my bag.
    Looks like we'll all be wearing masks again here in September, inside and out.
    Not that everyone will comply, especially here.
    It's a bit of 'been there, done that' attitude

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    Replies
    1. I shall continue with masks, hand washing, distancing, etc. I'll also keep my fingers crossed behind my back!

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  19. Mask wearing is being mandated more and more. To gain access, the mask is required. Our schools will start after labor day and they are mandating masks too.

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    Replies
    1. They are mandatory here too for most gatherings. Restaurants, Cafés, Social gatherings of all sorts. All require masks and proof of double jabs.

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  20. The people/companies who make these masks must be smiling now every time they check their bank balance.

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