Yes.
We can't.
The rail industry has always had a smattering of staff who behave this way, and this pandemic has allowed authoritarians carte blanche to be rude and obnoxious. If you are rude back you can be removed from the train. The Unions are very strong. They hold all the cards. Be very careful when interacting with such people.
Some authoritarian staff start off by being rude in the hope that things will escalate; they can then say you have committed an offence and must be removed from the train.
Be very careful to remain calm and not to rise to any such provocation; it's not exactly a level playing field...
Northern have instructed their on-board staff staff:
I do not know if any other companies have issued such an instruction.
Of course the vast majority of staff will adhere to this, but I can't see the authoritarian ones sticking to this instruction, and indeed I've heard numerous reports of poor behaviour by a minority of staff. Any instances of poor behaviour should be reported, though it's unlikely to have much effect.
I don’t get why some staff are sticking their nose into masks. They don’t need to.
I'm fairly confident that people wearing masks on their chins aren't exempt.
Or the group of girls that got on a train without masks and only put them on when the security goons turned up.
It’s about time there was an acceptance that masks just aren’t working, and on top of that are causing needless conflicts and making life uncomfortable.
Meanwhile what they are doing is causing de-facto clinical waste to be deposited all over the place, which isn’t helpful either.
Of course the irony is that if people weren't trying it on, those who do actually have issues would have it a lot easier.
Was it this thread or another someone was saying they had a bottle of water next to them on a train so they could claim they were drinking so they didn't have to wear as a mask? That just sounds like taking the mick a bit to me!
I don’t think that arguments holds true.
In fact, the opposite as the more people are not wearing masks the less likely it is for some vigilante to feel they can challenge.
There’s plenty of posts on social media where the topic of exemptions crops up and some Karen replies with something like “it’s tough luck people with exemptions should stay indoors to protect the rest of us”.
Better not to have such an ineffective and inflammatory policy in the first place, which was kind of what the likes of Harries and Van Tam were intimating back in the spring.