Coronavirus - Remain Calm. Do Not Panic

Well said, Ger. 

Roy Curtis is that you? 

“Remember the good old days when you could go without and mask and wolf whistle at women whenever you liked”* 

*sarcasm alert*  

Said as someone who has had his groin groped, arse squeezed and unsuspectingly being jumped on by a woman when sitting down minding my own business in a club. When I was younger, I was also pressured into kissing an older woman on a hen before her and her friends would let me pass them on the corridor to go to my hotel room.

That's just a sample. And, no, I'm not tooting my own horn here. I'm not a ladies man at all. But I'm not making stuff like this up out of whole cloth.

And men's attitudes in relation to stuff like this - comments about your masculinity or sexuality - are also a problem. "Why are you complaining about it, don't you like women?"

Anyways, yes I don't like wearing masks. Like the poster above, I also wear glasses sometimes and it's a pain in the hoop when they fog up. I also attribute skin problems, such as facial hair loss and acne, that developed since I started wearing them to face masks. And I think we've reached a point where usage should come down to personal accountability rather than mandate.

Anyways, I'll continue wearing them and continue moaning about it. I've taken all the vaccines so surely I should be able to have an opinion without being mocked for it.

They do nothing though, if there's full mask wearing, omicron spread only reduces by 10% by latest studies.

Time to ditch them for those who want to IMO. 

If it's non existent hassle, you probably would have worn them for every winter bug before Covid as well. 

And it's not just a piece of cloth either. No, to Taoiseach Tony, there's a difference between masks and "higher grade" masks. Any idea how much they actually cost, or how much damage they're doing to the environment when they're disposed of on footpaths and hedges and gutters across the country? It's impossible to have any conversation in public beyond the absolute essentials because people can't hear you, with 6 foot high, thick glass walls between people. There's no respect for both the unvaccinated, and the fully vaccinated. Everyone is still treated as if they're not vaccinated, and as potential killers, rather than relatives, neighbours, colleagues, and friends. 

Omicron turned out to be nothing worse than a cold for most who got it, it was certainly no reason to shut the country down for the busiest time of the year. Hopefully lessons will be learned from it, from those who need to learn them.