//...rising to the occasion of berating the use of face masks,//
I don't think I've ever berated anybody, sqad. I've questioned their reasoning (as I'm doing now). The debate now is different. The government has removed the mask mandate. It has left the matter to individuals to decide (as it should have done all along, but that's another argument).
The science behind face masks (such that it was) said they principally provided little protection for the wearer. The advantages, if there were any, came from protecting those around them. The WHO report, which was produced a while into the pandemic and which altered that organisation's view on the use of face coverings in community settings from negative to ambivalent, said as much.
With the lifting of the mandate far fewer people are now wearing face coverings. In many settings it is virtually zero. So the question with intrigues me now is, with the main advantage of wearing masks gone (because of the low rate of adherence) what advantage do those still wearing them hope to gain? All the responses seem to centre around self-protection and I don't think the message that they provide little or no protection for the wearer has ever got home.
// In my town you would think Specsavers were performing major surgery.//
Strangely, Sandra, I posted some remarks about Specsavers on another forum a couple of days ago. Here's what I said:
"My local Specsavers is similar [to the one in Colchester, mentioned by another poster]. In fact, throughout the pandemic, with the possible exception of Boots the Chemist (who, in the early days of the pandemic, treated their customers as criminals for wanting to enter their store) Specsavers was, and continues to be the most bizarre. My local branch is adjacent to the bus stop and I often see what's going on there as the bus waits for passengers to board and alight. Only two customers at a time are allowed inside the (quite large) shop. Customers must enter alone. They have chairs on the pavement outside. The door has a rope across it (as in Colchester) and it is manned by a bloke who appears not to know whether he wants to be a surgeon or an abattoir worker when he leaves school. He wears a face mask and a full face visor, a plastic full length apron which extends almost to his ankles, and purple latex gloves. He has a clipboard (presumably containing appointment details) which is covered in a transparent plastic sheet. I've not had occasion to use them but I understand that you are given a timed slot for a consultation with an optician but you cannot linger after that to choose your glasses. You have to do that online. And all this is still going on (at least it was last Tuesday). Fortunately my eyes are OK."