Just based on my own experience the workers are probably refusing it too. My wife works retail and practically begs her coworkers daily to wear something, anything. We give them our own supply and they say no. Americans of all stripes are genuinely unwell.
I can’t get my co-worker to use the fucking hand guard when operating a meat slicer. There’s also the constant using of milk crates instead of ladders. There is absolutely no reason to neglect safety to get the job done faster. You’re hourly
Beyond propaganda, this is also the sad reality that a lot of PPE is uncomfortable as hell. I’ve never worn a comfortable pair of steel toes, face shields get fogged up in un-airconditioned warehouses, and let me tell you how nasty your hands will smell after a day of sweating into protective gloves. It fucking sucks, it’s necessary but it fucking sucks.
Yeah, that’s true. I had really comfortable steel toed Doc Martens though, for what it’s worth. But they were for concerts, not labor. People kept stepping on my toes so I upgraded.
I have a feeling it’s more ideology than discomfort though.
It’s also motivated by dogshit working conditions. The discomfort of wearing PPE can be managed by offering more breaks and planning for time lost to ensure proper safety. Now, how many places allow for any of that?
I am not very sympathetic to this perspective at least as it pertains specifically to respiratory PPE for two reasons:
I have an autoimmune disorder that means I don’t really have a choice in the matter if I do it or not, regardless if it is the most uncomfortable thing in the world. If I can do it, any one else can, too.
My wife works on her feet for eight hours a day with a total commute of about three hours on public transportation round trip, never taking the N95 off at any time in this window aside from a half-hour isolated outdoor lunch break, and by her own admission it is not bad & she seems to manage just fine with all the discomfort people seem to hoot and hollar about. I just don’t buy it.
Oh I wasn’t referring to masks specifically. Those generally aren’t that uncomfortable. Only time I’ve had an issue with a mask at work is when I got so sweaty the thing literally melted off my face. That was an edge case though.
I just re-read your response and I feel I ought to at least apologize for not realizing it sounds like you’re in real rough manufacturing or engineering of some kind which I understand the discomfort more. I just have such a hair trigger anger response to hearing this same shit from teenage cashiers and middle-aged managers who sit in their back offices all day, saying shit like “it’s so uncomfortable” for a couple of rubber straps on their heads. It’s ridiculous.
I used to work in industrial brewing, which yeah is pretty hot and sweaty. And yeah masks can caffe a bit in this conditions. But even there I managed to deal.
Now I’m trying to get my masters degree. So don’t worry about it.
Just based on my own experience the workers are probably refusing it too. My wife works retail and practically begs her coworkers daily to wear something, anything. We give them our own supply and they say no. Americans of all stripes are genuinely unwell.
I can’t get my co-worker to use the fucking hand guard when operating a meat slicer. There’s also the constant using of milk crates instead of ladders. There is absolutely no reason to neglect safety to get the job done faster. You’re hourly
Propaganda is a hell of a drug.
Beyond propaganda, this is also the sad reality that a lot of PPE is uncomfortable as hell. I’ve never worn a comfortable pair of steel toes, face shields get fogged up in un-airconditioned warehouses, and let me tell you how nasty your hands will smell after a day of sweating into protective gloves. It fucking sucks, it’s necessary but it fucking sucks.
Yeah, that’s true. I had really comfortable steel toed Doc Martens though, for what it’s worth. But they were for concerts, not labor. People kept stepping on my toes so I upgraded.
I have a feeling it’s more ideology than discomfort though.
It’s also motivated by dogshit working conditions. The discomfort of wearing PPE can be managed by offering more breaks and planning for time lost to ensure proper safety. Now, how many places allow for any of that?
I am not very sympathetic to this perspective at least as it pertains specifically to respiratory PPE for two reasons:
I have an autoimmune disorder that means I don’t really have a choice in the matter if I do it or not, regardless if it is the most uncomfortable thing in the world. If I can do it, any one else can, too.
My wife works on her feet for eight hours a day with a total commute of about three hours on public transportation round trip, never taking the N95 off at any time in this window aside from a half-hour isolated outdoor lunch break, and by her own admission it is not bad & she seems to manage just fine with all the discomfort people seem to hoot and hollar about. I just don’t buy it.
Oh I wasn’t referring to masks specifically. Those generally aren’t that uncomfortable. Only time I’ve had an issue with a mask at work is when I got so sweaty the thing literally melted off my face. That was an edge case though.
I just re-read your response and I feel I ought to at least apologize for not realizing it sounds like you’re in real rough manufacturing or engineering of some kind which I understand the discomfort more. I just have such a hair trigger anger response to hearing this same shit from teenage cashiers and middle-aged managers who sit in their back offices all day, saying shit like “it’s so uncomfortable” for a couple of rubber straps on their heads. It’s ridiculous.
I used to work in industrial brewing, which yeah is pretty hot and sweaty. And yeah masks can caffe a bit in this conditions. But even there I managed to deal.
Now I’m trying to get my masters degree. So don’t worry about it.
I wear a pair of steel toed Puma trainers at work. They’re very comfortable. Comfort costs money.
Do they wear a seatbelt when they drive?
Probably, but growing up I knew people in my family only one generation prior to me who never wore seatbelts as long as they could get away with it.
Same. Isn’t that the same thing though?