Businesses like In-N-Out Burger are banning staff from wearing masks (unless they provide a medical note)
🇳🇱
Considering the huge amount of harm masks has done to the deaf community, who rely on lip reading, and the excessive nature of mask wearing in general, I have to say I support this.
inb4: Obviously masks serve a purpose, particularly in a medical setting. But improper mask use (particularly all day use of the same mask and reuse) has the potential to spread disease as well. So even from the perspective of reducing the spread of germs its not a particularly good choice given the down sides IMO.
I generally support mask-wearing reflexively, but I appreciate your perspective
interesting & unexpected take - thanks for posting
If your going to be responsible and wear it correctly and throw it away (or disinfect it) after a few hours.. then the deaf issue aside you are probably helping with disease. Im not against that.
My issue here is wearing a mask all day at a job isnt good since it is harmful to deaf customers and the procedures for masks require you to only use one for a few hours max, and since they are probably touching their mask all day long too they probably arent helping much anyway
Basically I have nothing against proper mask use, but be aware of the nuance here with deaf people and the effects of dirty masks.
I am not an expert on the deterioration details, do you have a favored link so I can check that out?
Thanks
Deterioration? Do you mean the fact that masks are usually intended to be worn for a few hours max?
@freemo @luckytran also I don't know how often customers at In n Out Burger are really gonna need to rely on lip-reading to place a burger order.
Generally it's pretty predictable transaction, but maybe I'm being insensitive 😬
@dannotdaniel @freemo @luckytran yes, you are.
The deaf generally rely a great deal on lip reading, at an in and out burger with high volumn probably most of all.
@freemo @luckytran true. I had a deaf roommate in college.
but still, to order a hamburger.. plus now most people are probably ordering ahead using their phones..
I think the whole notion is a bit silly, especially compared to preventing the spread of a communicable disease, TBH
Thinking its silly to want deaf people to be able to talk to other people rather than to have to resort to apps and cant just walk in and buy a burger without a whole ordeal... sorry no...
We could also just argue that everyone can just use the drive through and not need a mask to go in at all then if they want masks.
@freemo @luckytran i don't mean to trivialize anyone, be it deaf people or immuno-compromised folks ✌️
So the mask guideline of a few hours is the one recommended by the CDC for nurses in medical situations. It was the normal guideline before COVID.
During covid there was a mask shortage so they generally recommended to the general public relaxed guidelines and suggested 24 hours max.
But considering these guidelines were chosen particularly in light of a mask shortage I would say the original guidelines, which had years of data to back it, is the better choice.
Anyway here is a study addressing the topic and some relevant quotes showing the short-term nature of disposable masks:
"...demonstrates a noticeable humid air filtering degradation during the first 60 min of use."
"...the practice of wearing an FFR disposable face mask for excessive time is not only uncomfortable but can affect the health of the wearer."
"From a morphological point of view, our results show that using a disposable face mask for several hours, without proper disposal or cleansing, may lead to collecting, growing, and cumulating inorganic as well as organic matter. "
"Our reported data confirm the urgent need to inform the general public about the importance of wearing single-use face masks for shorter periods of time with respect to the current common practice"
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20692-9
@luckytran
@freemo @luckytran yes I would generally wear one for the duration of my time in the office, whatever that is.
I've been known to re-use them as well, and I might need to stop doing that at least.
So far, I've dodged this thing. Despite exposures - and I'm inclined to believe the mask didn't hurt here.