How do you feel when you see others not wearing a masks or gloves?
My husband always shops at Whole Foods. We like our local Whole Foods store a lot. Every employee wears masks and gloves, along with shields at the register. Tape marks off the appropriate distance between customers.
There are a few products that we buy at locally owned stores. One store disappointed us during this health crisis.
My husband was shocked that absolutely none of the employees at this store had on masks or gloves. Only one other customer besides my husband was wearing a mask and gloves.
My husband sent an email to the store saying that we were loyal customers and wished to continue being future customers.
My husband explained in his email that he was uncomfortable that none of the employees were protected, nor were they protecting others by having bare faces and hands.
So, in a couple of days he received a phone call from the manager in response to the email saying that since it wasn’t a corporate policy that the employees were free to do as they pleased.
My husband replied by saying, “Don’t you feel that it should be a policy since Louisiana’s governor has asked all of us to wear masks in public?”
The store manager said in a cavalier attitude he wasn’t all that concerned. When my husband politely told him that we would be doing all of our shopping at Whole Foods because they chose to follow our governor’s regulations, the manager acted as if he did not care about losing customers.
Has anyone else seen cavalier attitudes among certain stores or businesses in your area?
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I feel better knowing it will keep others protected because some people who have it don’t have symptoms.
Alva, can you explain why some have severe symptoms and some have no symptoms or very few symptoms? I don’t feel it is all age related because our archbishop got it and he appeared on television saying that he only had one of the symptoms. He’s an older man. Then there are younger people who get sick and even die.
I guess it’s a mystery. Too soon to understand it all.
It’s like Alva explained. The masks will help prevent those who are carrying it, to protect others. Some don’t have symptoms. They are unaware that they have it.
The store should be protecting their customers by providing gloves and masks. They should also do what The Fresh Market has done, requiring customers and employees to wear masks.
Rouses said that it wasn’t a corporate decision, so they are letting employees decide if they want to wear them. They don’t care that John Bel Edwards has asked all of us to wear masks.
The Fresh Market is wearing masks, as is Whole Foods. I know my friend that lives in Metairie told me Trader Joe’s and Dorinac had issues and even closed for cleaning. I think they even had employees test positive for Covid. It’s a shame.
I know that Rouses are all over now. They put one in Baton Rouge. My daughter is at her last year at LSU and she said Rouses opened a store in Baton Rouge. She shops all over, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, Winn Dixie and Walmart.
And no limit on liquor or wine!
Are you spending a lot of time sanitizing food and packages? We are.
Yeah, it’s unnerving to think about. My husband is wiping down everything!
He literally wipes everything that he touched too. You know, steering wheel, shift on car, radio knobs, car handle and door knobs, etc.
And if governors want to force everyone to wear masks then they need to get off their asses and secure a supply of masks for their people. It can be done if they try hard enough. I can’t stand our governor but he’s been able to find supplies despite the shortages. There’s a group of CITIZENS in my county that have been able to acquire 200,000 masks to distribute through out the community.
I just wish people would cooperate. Our governor asked for masks for people on the frontlines. We have had donations too. Lots of people have been making masks. I made several to give away.
In our case, our growth rate of Covid was so rapid that it was impossible to keep up as quickly as we needed. It spread like wildfire here in New Orleans.
Stores that serve the public should insist on employees wearing masks and gloves.
Here is a link with some selfies taken by medical staff on this very subject:
https://time.com/5807918/health-care-workers-selfies-coronavirus-covid-19/
When my DH goes to the store, HE wears a mask and gloves, which is all HE can do right now. When he gets home, he unloads the groceries onto the floor in the hallway, strips and puts all his clothing into the washing machine. I unload the groceries and disinfect them, put them away, throw out all the trash, undress myself and add my crap to the wash, then use Clorox on the underside of his shoes.
That's it. Doing our part to stay safe in this pandemic. While it's a 'recommendation' for everyone to wear masks in public, like Worried said, half of everyone is wearing them WRONG to begin with, so what's the point? My favorite was a photo of Schumer wearing a mask out in public while patting himself on the back for doing so.........not even covering his nose; just his mouth.
The people shopping don’t have to wear them a long time and should make a small sacrifice for everyone else around them.
I’m just surprised to see the lack of seriousness regarding so many things relating to Covid.
Recently, when I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for groceries to be loaded into my trunk, I saw a lady brazenly walking into the grocery store to shop. I heard an employee, who was in the parking lot, WITH mask, advise her she needed one. (I had my window cracked and heard it.) I couldn't tell what else he told her when he got closer, but, she continued into the store. I hope he told her they were providing free mask and to get one as soon as she entered. IF you don't have a mask, you can create something from scarves, shirt, or cloth.
My husband said he almost walked out of the store by me in protest but he didn’t want to disappoint me by not bringing home what I had on the list.
You know how the stores are selling out of things so we are all having to go to a few stores before getting what we need.
He was as careful as he could be staying as far away from others as he could.
The cashier did have a shield up by the cash register. That’s the only precautionary measures they took though.
Good luck all. NY appears to be starting to flatten the exponential level of infection.
Laboring, asymptomatic women in NYC are being tested at admission; at one reporting hospital, 14% are COVID positive. A friend at another hospital tells me their rate is 27%.
That's the rate of infection among folks with no symptoms. I'm not pressing anyone to open ANYTHING. We are still in very dangerous territory.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S7G8KoYgniY&list=WL&index=3&t=33s
Seeing a single person drive with a mask is kind of funny. My husband doesn’t put his mask on while driving by himself. He puts it on just before he opens his door.
Do you all have enough masks at your hospital? I hope you do. Stay safe, Pam.
Be safe, earlybird. 💗
i hope everyone is safe and we will come out of this pandemic better and stronger as a nation. Blessings to all..,Liz
I am glad that threats are taken seriously. They need to be.
Returning blessings to you. 💗
Testing has shown home made washable masks using the right materials are as effective for short term use as m95 masks. The fit and using a combination natural and synthetic material is important - most t-shirts apparently have the right "material". If you are going to take the mask on and off repeatedly, it is going to lose much of its usefulness as the surfaces on both sides will become contaminated, as well as your hands. I put my mask on just before rolling down the window for a pickup and leave it on until I have completed all my stops (so I would be one of those single people driving around with a mask on), then take the mask off and place it on one of the bags of stuff I just picked up, then use sanitizer before continuing to drive home.
When I get home, the mask and my purchases are brought into a limited area of the home. The mask goes immediately into the washer and all items are cleaned as they are removed from the bags. Bags go into the trash and the "staging" area is cleaned.
I don't spend a lot of time cleaning my car because (1) I don't use it much so any virus cells should have died during 8-18 days between trips; and (2) it's warm enough now the car interior gets heated each afternoon.
While ideally I think everyone should wear a mask in public areas where they expect contact with others (inside stores but not necessarily in a park where you stay away from others), you need to remember guidance about using masks has been very mixed, masks are not available to the general public in many areas, and many people may believe they cannot make a mask. I love the surgeon general's demonstration of folding a t-shirt around rubber bands to make a mask because it's something everyone can do.
If you are limiting your shopping trips, wearing a mask in public areas, keeping your hands away from your face and using sanitizer when you are out and washing your hands at home, then you can largely offset your exposures from the people who are not wearing masks appropriately. Reusing a mask inappropriately may actually increase spread as people bring virus cells from their hands to the mask and their face.
We can protect ourselves from the less informed and/or concerned by our own considered behavior but we are going to still see people making poor choices and additional confirmed cases and deaths from their behaviors. One unfortunate side effect of decades of life where vaccines and medications have eliminated many disease avoidance behaviors is a society where those behaviors (and the need for them) are not understood anymore.
Everyone has their system in place. As you say, we should go out as little as possible.
You are following useful guidelines. I say the same about hand washing. We must wash, wash and wash our hands. My hands are so freakin dry right now.
My husband carries wipes in car when he uses his credit card to pay. He wipes anything that has been touched.
When he can pay ahead online and then just pop the trunk with no contact with others it is even better!
Thanks for reminding others there are no sew methods of masks making.
I watched an employee of a store at the register scan items, rub her face and continue handling items then cash. When that customer was finished she reached for her water bottle, opened the built in straw with her gloved hands, drank and put the bottle back and proceeded with the next customer. What good are the gloves in this case?
A woman stood in line, with a mask on but every time she coughed she moved the mask away from her face and coughed under the mask then put the mask back on her face. What good is the mask?
The mask, in 99% of the cases protect someone else from your droplets they do not protect you from someone else's droplets.
And are you washing the mask every day? Or when you return from a trip outside the house? Are you avoiding your nose, eyes and mouth when you remove the mask and are you washing your hands when you remove the mask and before you put it on?
And a side note about the store. A large store like Whole Foods has the corporate resources to provide masks, gloves, sanitizer to every employee a small independent store may not have the same resources, they can not afford to supply each employee with these items.
If you like the independent store continue to support them, they need it now but YOU follow good practices when you shop there. Bring a sanitizer wipe, wipe down the cart handle. Wipe down your purchases if you feel inclined. And if you feel real generous make masks for employees and offer them to the employees when you see them. Gloves as well if you can find them.
I also agree about making masks for others. I did this. If it isn’t a store policy we can’t make them wear the mask but at least they own a mask if they change their mind about wearing one.
Offer a mask to customers who don’t have one too! I gave several to my husband to give away. Actually, once an assembly line rhythm is established they are easy to sew.
Our grocery stores are now putting taped arrows on the floor to try to keep people moving in one direction so we aren't passing each other face-to-face. They are making overhead announcements every few minutes about the change.
One woman was going the wrong way in my aisle with no protection. From a distance, I politely reminded her of the new policy. She wasn't happy about it and chose some colorful language to express her displeasure. She then continued on her way past me.
I coughed in her direction as she passed.
Apparently you thought it necessary to sink to her level.
I am very happy with the steps being taken in local grocery stores.
I do not understand wearing gloves in public. They do not do anything to prevent the spread of the disease, unless you change or sanitize them between every single touch. Otherwise you can pick up the germs on a door, spread them to the grocery cart and from there continually recontaminate the gloves. If you sanitize your hands upon entering a store, the cart is being sanitized for customers, sanitize after you load your groceries into your vehicle and after you return the cart, that should be adequate.
I do not change my clothes when I enter the house. I do not Clorox shoes, as far as I know they do not cough and I do not touch them to my face. I unload my groceries and I wash my hands thoroughly when I get home.
I already wash fruit and veggies before eating them, so I am not washing them when they get home. All the meat we are eating is from my freezer, locally produced and pre-Covid, so I am not washing the packaging on it.
If employees in a store are wearing gloves, they will simply be carrying whatever germs on the gloves and to everything they touch, just like they would with bare hands.
When in your home, you do not need to wash your hands any more frequently that you would for regular good hygiene. After using the toilet, before and after food prep, before and after eating and after touching pets. If something comes into your house, depending on what it is you will want to wipe it down or wait a day or so to allow any virus to die off before handling it.
I am glad your grocery is asking others to wear masks.
But if we don’t live alone then others, our spouses are bringing germs in the house.
Maybe I am an obsessive germ freak. It is confusing at times. I think gloves help but we have to follow the guidelines for using them properly.
Maybe some of the nurses on this site can clear this up for us.
I did read to wash our veggies when we get home.
I checked Amazon last night and they had a lot of face masks for sale but I noticed the "reviews" of the items, most gained just one star, so that told me those masks were cheaply made.... [sigh].
I made my own face masks out of those hospital blue sheets, had a relic one-hole punch, and rubber bands. Hmmm, not bad.
Even tried a N95 mask that sig other brought home from work [he works at a cemetery]. Pam is right, one needs to be fitted for those masks. The mask was so uncomfortable for me, but worked well for sig other.
Both the N95 mask and my home made mask created a fogging problem with my eye glasses. In order to read something, I had to hold my breathe :P Ok, good enough for going into a store. Boy, taking it off and breathing in the fresh air felt so good :)