An elderly shopper in Fife, Scotland, turned a few heads as he went out grocery shopping in his makeshift face mask: a sanitary pad, later identified for incontinence.
The elderly man, who was spotted at an ASDA franchise, was seen receiving assistance in putting on the sanitary mask from a woman in the parking lot, according to The Daily Mail.
The sanitary-pad-mask-clad elderly man was later spotted calmly carrying out his shopping, leaning over his cart with a walking stick while surveying the fish counter.
A witness to the elderly gentleman’s mask antics told how other shoppers would look on perplexed at his choice in coronavirus protection.
Despite the elderly man’s unintentionally amusing choice of protective face gear, Scotland has taken a rather draconian approach to dealing with non-essential shoppers.
Reports of officers trawling through shopper’s purchases to ensure only “essential” goods are bought.
Fines have been issued to people for buying “non-essential” goods such as wine or potato chips, raising questions about government overreach during the pandemic.
Although the unconventional mask may seem peculiar, it is not the first time somebody has elected a sanitary pad, of any description, as their plan B.
Other head-turning bizarre homemade face masks were posted on social media. Some had used their creativity to make masks out of unusual items such as grapefruits, water bottles, cabbage leaves, plastic boxes, shopping bags, and tin foil.
At the beginning of the outbreak, National File reported on a man in China using a sanitary pad for the same end, as mask shortages forced panicked individuals to turn to less-than-satisfactory alternatives for coronavirus prevention.
A high-flying Nigerian anatomy student was mocked on social media for creating a mask for people who struggle with breathing while wearing a face mask–the only problem was: the mask was made of beads, and filled with holes.