Seniors more ‘mask-friendly’ than youngsters

 Seniors more ‘mask-friendly’ than youngsters

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Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

Bhopal:

Who are  the people wearing masks and who aren’t? An answer to this question will have to be divided into several categories age, gender, area, income and professional groups.

Anyone observing the pattern over a period of time can tell you that elderly or middle aged persons are more particular about wearing masks than the youngsters, women are seen wearing masks than men, residents of new Bhopal are seen in masks more than the residents of old city, residents of posh colonies and housing societies wear masks more than the residents of slum areas and colonies inhabited by lower middle class or poor people and more doctors or teachers are seen in masks than the policemen.

“You can blame it on their age. Youngsters obviously don’t fear disease or death so much , may be it is the reason that they are not seen wearing masks so much as middle-aged or elderly persons. I think their parents should insist with them that they wear masks to protect themselves from Covid-19, which makes no distinction of age or any other factor”, said Akash Agrawal, while talking about age group of youngsters sipping tea at a tea stall outside his office, none of them wearing masks or observing social distancing.

Gender-divide in observing the mandatory mask norm can also be clearly seen. Girl students in a college or school are seen in masks even after they have come out of their college or school while boys can be spotted going into the college or school without wearing a mask.

“I think girls have always been more disciplined and it reflects here, too, You don’t have to ask them to wear masks but boys, they often take out masks from their pocket when asked to put on a mask”, said Prerna Shama, a teacher in a private school.

In markets and other public places, too, women are seen in masks more than the men in all age groups. The area you are in also makes a big difference in terms of compliance to the mandatory mask norm. In a market at Hanumanganj or Ibrahimpura, you rarely come across shoppers or even traders wearing masks while in upmarket areas like 10 no. stop market, traders and shoppers wearing masks is much much more.

“We have seen it right from the beginning of Corona times. Residents of the old city could never come to terms with wearing masks even when many localities were Corona hotspots in the area. More people in the new Bhopal area are seen in masks than the old city”, said Tausif, a resident of Shahjahanabad.