REPORTAGE
It was reserved for hospitals a few months ago facing coronavirus, but the mask has now become an everyday object. For a few days, it is even compulsory in several cities in France.. which is not suitable for everyone. If not wearing the mask has not yet become a political symbol as in the United States, where President Donald Trump refused a few weeks ago to see any use, some also refuse to wear it in France. For reasons of self-esteem or simple questions of comfort, as noted by Europe 1 in the hall of the covered market of Herblay-sur-Seine, in the Val d’Oise.
“With the mask, I sweat a lot”
Here, as in other covered markets, everyone has a mask. On the face for the great majority … but in her bag, for Maria. She would like to protect others, but, according to her, wearing a mask is too unpleasant. “I have trouble breathing, I feel like I’m passing out,” she says. Especially since the strong heat that France has recorded in recent days does not help: “With the mask, I sweat a lot”, she argues.
However, wearing a mask is compulsory on market days. “Obligatory, but that does not prevent being intelligent”, retorts Alain, side primeur, which has his in the pocket of his shirt. He considers the decree which requires him to put it on his face as an attack on his free will. Suddenly, he removes it “when there is no one left in the stalls and when a trader is more than a meter away”. “We have the right to think anyway! ‘Systematic’ is for people who cannot reason,” he says.
Some stores only accept masked customers
Some young people do not respect the wearing of masks, like Cyrianne. However, the young man has never been fined, while he is rather very careless with his mask in transport. “It’s more focused looks, often from the elderly,” he says. Except that sometimes the tone rises …. And tensions erupt at the entrance of some stores, says a hairdresser who accepts only masked customers.
These tensions sometimes turn into drama. A father lodged a complaint Monday after being beaten by four people in a laundromat in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, in Val-d’Oise. The man claims he was beaten after asking another customer to wear a mask.
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