A Simple Solution To A Confusing Situation
To mask or not to mask?
It’s a question being asked all around America after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully-vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask – even indoors – while several states and counties still have a mask rule in place.
So what do you do, follow the CDC or your local government officials?
Legally, the local authorities have the right to make the call here. The CDC does not have the authority to issue orders and the latest statement was only a recommendation anyway.
But many Americans are taking the “well if the CDC says it’s okay, then the heck with the state and county guidelines” and are going to restaurants and public places facemask-less. Still others have their masks handy and are putting them on and taking them off as clumsily as they were on their first date in high school.
To cut through the confusion, here is what you should do when it comes to mask or not to mask.
You should follow local protocol. You should have your mask with you and when you have close encounters with other people – such as standing in a line or passing a crowd on a sidewalk – put on the mask.
If the rules are to wear a mask when you enter a bar or restaurant and to wear one when you get up from your table to go to the restroom, do it. Same thing goes for grocery stores and other public places.
The reasons are simple:
• It makes other people feel comfortable.
• Workers are still having to wear masks and this is a way to show respect to them.
• It is proper social protocol.
Here’s more on that last point: there are certain things one must do in order to make society function on an everyday basis. Certain structures are in place to make things go relatively smoothy in society.
Take walking across the street, for example. An orderly society follows the protocol of using crosswalks. Even waiting on the lights to change.
Now yes, there are people who are jaywalkers, who say the heck with the rules. Some societies, too. But that often leads to a chaotic environment.
In conclusion, wear your mask when you’re in question about the situation. Look around and – if you are fully vaccinated and comfortable going without it – pull it down. Don’t make a scene (which some will do just to get views on Tic Tok, Instagram and YouTube) and go about your business.
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