I have been sitting here eating at a local restaurant watching folks give lip service to the mask mandate.

The bartender who is wearing a mask is serving people who took off their masks as soon as they sat down. She is at times about 3 feet from them. Per ordinance people can take off masks to eat. I guess they assume looking at the menu and ordering falls under eating. One guy who is neither eating nor drinking is engaged in conversation with her in between playing on his phone.

Outside half the people are walking around with no masks in sight.

Social distancing is expected but not required. Thus, a family group can theoretically walk closely by others while coughing and sneezing and this is acceptable.

A call to the Aiken Department of Public Safety verified that this was perfectly OK as long as people put on masks before entering a restaurant (or store). Once seated in a restaurant they could take off masks. I guess the health of waiters is of no consequence. The mask mandate is a joke.

We are supposed to wear masks to protect others in case we are asymptomatic and unaware. We do not wear them to protect ourselves from others. Only hospital-grade masks are proven to protect us from others.

It would seem the golden rule should apply, or at least Southern hospitality. Neither are present today in an otherwise lovely downtown Aiken.

Seth Quick

Aiken

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Letter: Not a mask in sight | Opinions and Editorials - Aiken Standard