Both Menards and Costco requiring face coverings to shop

[Brian Elfert]

I was at Menards today and they are now requiring face coverings to enter the store. They had a huge banner just inside the store entrance announcing the new requirement. (No idea why banner was not outside the store.) They also had an employee with a very loud voice letting everyone know about the new policy and letting people know they could buy a mask. I didn't check the price on a mask as I had a mask on and just wanted to get my stuff and get out.

The news media has been reporting that Costco will require face coverings starting Monday. I also stopped at Costco today for groceries, but after seeing the line of 100+ people waiting just to get in I decided I didn't to shop there that bad.

[Andrew Seemann]

Thanks for the tip on Menards. I'll need to remember to keep a mask in the truck in addition to the one in the car.

I wouldn't mind wearing masks as much if other people wearing them knew how to wear them correctly. I actually saw some one pull their mask down, cough into their hand, wipe their hand on their shirt, and the use that same hand to move the mask back. Kind of defeats the entire purpose of wearing a mask

[Barry McFadden]

Thanks for the tip on Menards. I'll need to remember to keep a mask in the truck in addition to the one in the car.

I wouldn't mind wearing masks as much if other people wearing them knew how to wear them correctly. I actually saw some one pull their mask down, cough into their hand, wipe their hand on their shirt, and the use that same hand to move the mask back. Kind of defeats the entire purpose of wearing a mask

I also see many people wearing a mask but it is pulled down to just below their nose..... If it doesn't cover your nose you might as well not wear it...

[Jim Becker]

A little off the wall, but... :) :D

432026

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A little off the wall, but... :) :D

432026

Blunt but on point!

[Jon Grider]

Michigan's protocol is everyone must wear a mask inside a building open to the public.

[Mel Fulks]

Some cities have laws against wearing a mask in public. I doubt the language of most make any distinction about what
type of mask.

[Frank Pratt]

A little off the wall, but... :) :D

432026

That's actually the best, most clear & concise explanation of what masks will do that I've seen yet.

[Greg Funk]

Some cities have laws against wearing a mask in public. I doubt the language of most make any distinction about what
type of mask.I suspect those are for masks which hide identity.

[Jim Becker]

In most situations where masks were prohibited, there's been some leeway...banks come to mind. A lot of bank robbers don't bother to wear them anyway...LOL

[Mel Fulks]

I suspect those are for masks which hide identity.

Well sure, and perhaps you are better at "reading eyes". I would not be able to do that. Have to add that the masks
used in all the "western" films convered no more than covid masks.

[Edwin Santos]

Some cities have laws against wearing a mask in public. I doubt the language of most make any distinction about what
type of mask.


Come on. The laws you're talking about have an intent aspect to them. Many were adopted after incidents in history such as the Ku Klux Klan, or rebellions involving people who attacked police while wearing masks to conceal their identities.

If the police and/or a prosecutor were going to try and claim that someone wearing a hygienic face mask were violating one of these laws, they would have to show intent to cause harm, injury or violate some other civil or criminal law.

[Mel Fulks]

Sure Edwin, the next day it would all be straightened out. That's fine if you consider a night in jail with a spam
breakfast equivalent to a good bed and breakfast. I'm betting there are quite a number here who have spent a night in
jail as a kid guilty of having a car.

[Michael Weber]

An emergency proclamation requiring face masks (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/europe/germany-face-mask-mandatory-grm-intl/index.html) in stores and restaurants in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was nixed after store and restaurant owners received threats. From CNN online. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/face-masks-stillwater-oklahoma-trnd/index.html
i can see it happening elwhere

[Nathan Johnson]

An emergency proclamation requiring face masks (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/europe/germany-face-mask-mandatory-grm-intl/index.html) in stores and restaurants in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was nixed after store and restaurant owners received threats. From CNN online. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/face-masks-stillwater-oklahoma-trnd/index.html
i can see it happening elwhere


America: Land of the selfish and shortsighted.

[Barry McFadden]

America: Land of the selfish and shortsighted.

It's like I saw on the news last week. I think it was around Washington DC .... hundreds or thousands of people gathered to protest the stay at home orders. It's like they are saying "We are Americans, you can't tell us we can't go out and get sick!!"

[Nathan Johnson]

It's like I saw on the news last week. I think it was around Washington DC .... hundreds or thousands of people gathered to protest the stay at home orders. It's like they are saying "We are Americans, you can't tell us we can't go out and get sick!!"

I understand there is some concern for rights being taken away and how hard it is to get them back.
But sorry, asking people to wear a mask to protect others is the absolute minimum of human decency right now.
You have no idea if you're an asymptomatic carrier and no idea who you may be infecting.

Frankly, my position right now until we know way more is, if you're entering a store without a mask on, you're an a$$hole.

[Andrew Joiner]

In most situations where masks were prohibited, there's been some leeway...banks come to mind. A lot of bank robbers don't bother to wear them anyway...LOL
In our town we had a guy who robbed a bank WITHOUT a mask recently! He will be charged with robbery and :)failure to wear a mask within 6' of a person. :)

[Jim Becker]

In our town we had a guy who robbed a bank WITHOUT a mask recently! He will be charged with robbery and :)failure to wear a mask within 6' of a person. :)

Ironic, eh? :) :D

[Andrew Joiner]

Ironic, eh? :) :D
Absolutely! When his face was broadcast on the video several people I know called in to identify him. We all joked about his IQ and slapping a mask violation on him.

[Ronald Blue]

Banks here aren't open to the public. Drive thru services only. Passing the note along that it's a stick up will be challenging to say the least. Masks are required in any location where the 6' separation isn't possible.I just automatically put it on when going into any business. I have a hard time believing anyone is going to be ticketed or arrested for wearing a protective mask even if there happens to be a law on the books saying it's not allowed. Some places have suspended those laws and even if they haven't intent has to be proven.

[Dave Lehnert]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87SGO5gRqGw

[Rob Luter]

Lowes is encouraging them too. I was there this weekend and waited in line 15 minutes to get in. They limited the store to 150 shoppers at one time. Yet none of the cashiers were wearing masks.

[roger wiegand]

The folks working in those stores are risking their lives to keep us in screws, sandpaper, and weed-n-feed. Wearing a mask to help protect them seems the least we can do. When you go out you are exposed to a few people, a checkout clerk on a store is exposed to hundreds. With our infection rate around here that all but ensures that they interact with an infectious person every day.

[Rod Sheridan]

Where I live hardware stores are curb side pickup only.

When your order is ready you drive to a designated parking spot, open your vehicle trunk or hatch, get back in the vehicle and someone loads your purchases in.

At grocery stores, (you’re allowed in, one person per family) and should be wearing a mask...Rod

[Patrick Walsh]

One of three of my local sources of groceries is just like you suggested rod. Call two weeks ahead “yeah two weeks” they call when they are ready. You drive up pop hatch trunk whatever and they load. Payment is made over the phone.

I have not been to any other brick and mortar store in two months not even a gas station. I have been out to my place of employments shop off hours when nobody is there to pick up materials. I have noticed a mix of people wearing and not wearing masks. Lots of masks though but I’m in Massachusetts and generally it seems we have not lost our minds..

Honestly at this point I’m avoiding at least “dreading” leaving the house as I’m just gonna get pissed off at people not wearing masks. I’m fully expecting to be walking around with my blood boiling for the next 6-12 months..


Where I live hardware stores are curb side pickup only.

When your order is ready you drive to a designated parking spot, open your vehicle trunk or hatch, get back in the vehicle and someone loads your purchases in.

At grocery stores, (you’re allowed in, one person per family) and should be wearing a mask...Rod

[Andrew Seemann]

The mask thing is a tough one. I help out at the family biz in the spring, a small retail greenhouse. When we first opened last weekend, I dutifully put on my mask, a cheap nuisance dust one, but the best we have and probably better than a cloth one.

Where I was standing it was around 95 degrees and a bit on humid side. After about a half hour it got very hot to wear. After an hour I was starting to get dizzy. After an hour and a half, I got to where I couldn't even use the adding machine. I gave up and pulled it down long enough to clear my head, and then dutifully put it back on. A half hour after that I realized that my heart was racing and I was getting short of breath. I was starting to get a panic attack; rebreathing the warm humid exhale in the mask triggers a claustrophobia reaction in me, which I know from using masks in woodworking. In woodworking I can deal with it for 20 minutes here or there, but I have never tried to wear a mask all day.

At that point I gave up an just kept it around my neck, putting it back on when I was around obviously high risk people. I'll probably get mask-shamed for this, but I just can't handle wearing a mask for more than about 15-20 minutes; it just triggers panic attacks from claustrophobia in me. I'll wear one when I go to the doctor this week, but that is a high risk situation for me and the people around me.

What I have noticed at the local grocery store, is that last week, nearly al the staff and about two thirds of the customers had masks on. Yesterday, it was closer to a quarter of the staff and about a third of the customers had masks on. It is easy to mask-shame from your house, it is a lot more difficult to wear them all day long when you are not used to them. Even the people wearing them typically have them down below their nose to facilitate breathing. And most people pull them down when talking, which kind of defeats the purpose of wearing them. But at the same time, it can be difficult to understand people while wearing a mask, especially if there is a lot of background noise. My wife has particular difficulty with this, since she has difficulty hearing people with lower frequency voices.

While having everyone wear masks would be ideal, it seems to be difficult to realize in practice.

[Philip Hine]

N95 masks without an exhalation valve help to a degree. Simple cloth masks do not protect anyone from the virus. The bad stuff still gets thru. In both directions. They are a false sense of security. Distance does work.

Phil

[Brian Elfert]

Cloth masks will stop the larger spittle and such that carries the virus. No, they aren't perfect, but they help. In an ideal world everyone would have a N95 mask, but we don't even have enough N95 masks for medical workers.

[roger wiegand]

Simple cloth masks do not protect anyone from the virus. The bad stuff still gets thru. In both directions. They are a false sense of security.
Phil

What are the data to support this assertion? It's contrary to a lot of experience and research on other similar viruses. Yes, viruses can pass through a mask, but many aerosol-size droplets are blocked and they very much help in keeping you from touching your face and transferring virus either direction on your hands. Why would these mechanisms not work for this corona virus?

How would you feel about having your surgeon go unmasked? Surgical masks are similar in performance to a well made cloth mask, they are not N95.

[Nike Nihiser]

Philip Hine, I disagree that cloth masks don't protect anyone, if you have the virus and cough or sneeze with one on you won't expel the virus near as far as you would otherwise.

[Steve Demuth]

The folks working in those stores are risking their lives to keep us in screws, sandpaper, and weed-n-feed. Wearing a mask to help protect them seems the least we can do. When you go out you are exposed to a few people, a checkout clerk on a store is exposed to hundreds. With our infection rate around here that all but ensures that they interact with an infectious person every day.

Exactly. I'd only add that those workers aren't just endangering themselves for us, they are putting their entire family in danger, and in particular any elderly or health-compromised people who are dependent on them.

I went to the local farm store this weekend past, after having accumulated over more than a month of stay-on-the-farm, a list of things I wanted for various Spring projects around the place. I went equipped with mask, prepared to be covered, sanitized and distanced. The place was busier than I've ever seen it in 40 years of patronizing the place (I mean this literally - one would have had to park in their outside-the-fence overflow lot, which I've never seen before). There were unmasked, undistanced shoppers in the parking lot, crowded at the store entrance and in the plant tent. I never got out of the truck - just looped through the parking lot and went back home. My list was wants, not needs. A letter to the store owner followed, explaining why I'd be buying my posts via order to their competition (who deliver) even though more expensive, and other stuff will come from competitors who either deliver or take the need to protect employees and shoppers seriously (assuming I can find them).

This is the work of store management who doesn't care, and an Iowa governor who thinks we're immune because we're not NY.

This country needs a functioning economy, and these businesses need firm guidance and rules from the authorities on how to open up and facilitate commerce while keeping employees and patrons safe. It's hard, but it's necessary. It's also been the biggest single focus of our ramp up plans at the hospital and clinic where I work - how to bring patients back in for diagnostic and treatment without putting every doctor, nurse and technician and their families at risk. Tough to do with many people furloughed due to lack of money, and in an environment that is full of sick people by design, but we're doing it. Other economically essential services need to do the same.

And, for God's sake, who are all these idiots in the store who think the rules shouldn't apply to them?

End of Rant for today.