I wish we were as polite when we were sick as the Japanese.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

We were just watching this really cool synchronized dance video on Wimp.com, and saw a guy working at an airport. He apparently had a cold that day because he had on a face mask. It was just a simple cotton one that would probably be worn in surgery. Why don't we do that here instead of getting everyone else sick because we are so barbaric? The humidity and heat generated I would think would be good for your sinuses and actually help you to get over your cold faster, or at least the stuffiness.
Anyway, it was just a thought I thought you guys might like to weigh in on. I'm watching this hoping all of the people in the video are safe. I watched videos this morning of the tragedy, and I keep hurting, thinking if it had to happen, why did it have to happen to people who, on the whole, are far more polite and less assholey than other cultures.
Sorry. Weird thoughts in my head this morning. Feel free to dump on me.
Duckie

[Godhumor]

1. Most people in japan don't wear them to keep other people from getting sick, but to keep others

from seeing their goopey noses. Trust me, those masks don't actually prevent anyone from getting sick.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. Good to know.

Goopey noses? Don't they have Kleenex over there?

[Godhumor]

7. Considered extremely impolite to blow your nose in public...really n/t

[YellowRubberDuckie]

8. And at the dinner table.

But people do it anyway.

[Godhumor]

9. I mean, Japanese manners. You don't blow your nose in public, so they hide what's happening

Masks don't come with bacteria screens or anything else (Some have the equivalent of vapor rub on the inside for the person who is sick.). Their entire function is related to good manners--in this case keeping others from seeing runny noses, etc.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. We so need to adopt this in America.

I am so tired of watching people hack and blow snot.
Duckie

[Duer 157099]

3. I've noticed those masks a lot in Japan and China

I've thought they were being used to prevent the wearer from getting sick. People with a cold can't possibly keep a mask on for very long, they'd have to blow/wipe their noses too often.

Or else I've thought it was because of smog.

I recently went to the doctor when I had a cold and they made me wear a mask while in the waiting room. Made me feel really weird. I wonder if it's only for show, since they didn't also ask me to put on gloves.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

6. I was told it was to keep others from getting sick.

That's why I thought it was a manners thing. :shrug:

[quakerboy]

4. I could have it all wrong

But I thought the common practice of wearing those came about during the bird flue scare, on the concept they might help prevent the wearer from getting, not giving disease.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. I've seen them doing it as far back as I remember...

:shrug:

[quakerboy]

11. Apparently I am wrong

Hmm. I had never noticed it before Sars or Avian flu.

Apparently it is also common to try and reduce allergy issues.

[kimi]

12. I lived in Northern Japan during the late 90's

Saw people wearing those masks quite often in public. I always assumed - probably was told but I don't remember - that they did it to keep others from catching their germs. That was my assumption, anyway. I always thought it was quite civilized.

Japanese culture is very much based on courtesy and being polite to those around you. I read that it's because people live in such close proximity to others, that it just makes life easier to be civil and kind to one another. Which makes an awful lot of sense, really. I agree, I wish we could be as altruistic as some other cultures, in some ways.

We can do our level best to play our own small parts, though. :)