I'm (hopefully) entering a new org soon. Only a few comrades there mask. At my workplace, or anywhere else really, nobody masks. The only people I see mask are like goldfish, and I only see them occasionally in public transit. It's disheartening by the day to see Covid trivialized, and AES like even China not care anymore, in spite of their good policies beforehand.
Just makes me feel like I cannot relate to people anymore, they all look at me like I'm supremely weird for masking, so it's even harder to convince people of anything politically, especially when I'm discriminated all the time and receive verbal abuse for masking. I really dont get how to talk to people when they wont understand the concept of masking to protect themselves/others and it makes me feel stuck politically, to the point I feel I have a one sided view of many social issues, through the POV of Covid consciousness and masking, and I dont see how a movement can be built if no one acknowledges this. I feel like I've become more disconnected from everyone, including comrades, especially them, because they wont listen or want to mask in the first place, and I dont know what to do. I use an N95 every day when going outside, and so does my partner. We dont eat out, etc. I get the fact many wont do this choice to sacrifice their lifestyle or whatever.. but :(
I remember before masking I was taken seriously, now it's impeding me in all my life's aspects just cause we live in an extremely ableist society. It's hard and alienating from others, and no one irl seemingly understands. It's very hard to see how to build a mass movement in these conditions, or to even socialize with others (and I'm very sociable!) when you're instantly labeled as weird. I'm so dissapointed in people sometimes I give up on interacting because of this.
Even among comrades, the moment I mention masking, everyone is suddenly awkward and tries to move on. I'm tired to act like it's a secret or such
I wish things were different. I wish I could connect with people again. And that comrades would take this seriously, because I feel alienated even from those I share the most with, and its painful. I dont want to create a struggle session or whatever, just wanted to feel heard, I hope most people here mask anyways. It's bad enough for my mental healtg to give up on all social stuff cause of masking, and other activities like swimming, it's just tough. Thanks for reading
Hi! I'd be glad to talk with you^^, so basically, on types of masks:
They come in many variants, such as with a headstrap or ear loops, valve or without valve. Reusable masks sadly arent there yet, but N95s are quite economical as you can reuse them a lot before the filters becomes clogged!
The best N95s, and the cheapest where I'm from, are the https://zimiair.com/ it's made by a Chinese engineer, and they're wayyyy more comfortable and breathable (and fashionable) than other N95s. As a rule of thumb, black N95s get you way less harassed than white ones, like way less. Highly recommend the zimis. I've used both 3M Aurora and Draeger Xplore masks, Zimi beats them all. The creator is also working on a follow up product named the Ziga Air mask, and it's modular. The Zimi is already modular, you have a frame and just buy the filters. Highly recommend compared to any other KN95/N95.
For articles and resources: https://covid.tips/ https://clarion.unity-struggle-unity.org/let-them-eat-plague/
Feel free to ask any questions! Thanks for wanting to be informed:3 and yea agreed constant education and self education, no matter how hard it is.
Thank you for that fast and thorough reply. One less plague rat in the streets now (as soon as the masks arrive). I like black better than white anyways. Colorful would be cool, maybe once the next plague from industrial farming hits and the normies join us for a while.
I will no do some reading up. Maybe I got some questions afterwards but mostly I want to be able to educate people if I am asked and that's hard if I am still ignorant^^'
One question: When do I know if I should use a new one? Does the breathing get worse or do you use a certain amount of hours usage as guideline?
Statistically, the current data tells us they start to lose efficacy after 25-30 hours. Realistically, you can stretch that a bit if you're not in high-risk situations. Things that cause them to break down faster are moisture (sweat, rain, mostly sweat) and use.
I use V-Flex myself and the straps tend to stretch out on my bowling ball ass head before the masks actually start to go. My system is I take out 10 at the start of the month and use 1 a day. Used ones go into a paper bag. At the end of the 10 I rotate them back and start again, and just keep going until they crap out or enough time has passed. People have much more elaborate systems but this is simple and works for me.