Publix
 

I had to go to store today (hadn’t been for couple weeks) and was shocked seeing people shopping in the store with no masks on? IMO inside building where lots of people are in prefect environment to catch the virus. Especially when they are polluting the air I’m walking through.

What I heard wearing mask protects other’s and not you (IMO mask does offer some protection) why Publix allowed people in store without masks. I can’t go into Walmart without mask?

Looks like you have two options.
Steve

It's kinda odd, when this virus stuff started we were told that a mask would protect you from infection and when some questioned this they were scolded and ridiculed. Now the powers that be tell us that the mask only helps to prevent an infected person form spreading it to us. When you constantly change the story the validity becomes questionable.

Part of the learning curve.

As long as wearing a mask is optional and inconsistently applied and lack of any enforcement....some people just will not comply.

No mystery at all!

Let me guess??? Move and don’t go to Publix. I said I was shocked :shocked: not looking for options. :)

Or theory

OK, sorry, four options then.
Steve

Last Sunday Walmart on 27 had a number of people not wearing masks does not seem like its a requirement at all

I was there this morning, it's not.
Steve

I've been going there regularly for weeks and it hasn't been a requirement at Walmart at all. They do have one-way aisles but many people disregard them. I don't "scold" people for not complying but I do point it out to them in a "oh excuse me I need to pass you, and by the way you know the next aisle you go down you'll probably want to look at the arrow and make sure you're going the right way."

Sort of a passive-aggressive way of kindly telling them they're "doin it wrong."

I'm not very confrontational about that kind of thing. Though - one woman did get me to snipe at her last time I was there. She had JUST turned into the aisle in one of those driving-carts, and was heading up the wrong way. So I told her she might want to come around the other way since it's a one-way aisle and she had JUST gotten into it. She said "oh well I guess I'll take my chances" and continued down the aisle. She wasn't wearing a mask (I don't wear a mask when I'm shopping unless the store requires it, but I DO make every effort to keep my distance from other shoppers). That just bugged me something fierce. So I called out after her that she is forcing everyone in the aisle to take their chances with HER, and called her a snowflake.

Because the rules only apply to people who obey them, obviously.

Grrrrrrrrr

At some point some folks will get that wearing a mask is for your fellow human's safety.

When folks do not wear a mask where it is recommended to do so....what does that tell us!!!

Rhetorical question we already know the answer!

Walmart Neighborhood Market today. It seemed about 50/50 on mask usage.

Which Walmart is that?

once again its not a law to wear one only a suggestion .. do you see how may dirty nasty masks are breeding grounds for more issues.. relax and breathe.. if you have copd/etc then wear one if you desire.. shoot I see people on O2 lighting up a smoke.. that's heathy .. don't be brainwashed by the media

the]recommended is the key here..

Brainwashed
 

No one is being brainwashed by the media; wearing masks is recommended by medical experts. It appears that many people here have turned into adolescents and think that no harm can come to them. Sad.

According to the Florida Dept of Health statistics, 85% of Covid-19 deaths in Florida occurred in individuals 65 and up. I would assume the younger crowd would feel that if you feel at risk then stay home.

Have to say.... I had to take someone to the VA in Gainesville yesterday and while he was in surgery, I decided to go to Walmart in search of toilet paper. I have been using Instacart for home delivery from Publix for the last seven weeks here in TV. Alachua County has tighter restrictions than State or Federal guidelines. It is mandatory to wear a mask at all times in any retail , restaurant or indoor facility. You may remove your mask to eat while in a restaurant. All employees must wear masks and gloves. McDonalds would only let 3 people in at a time. Walmart,Target and Publix had you waiting six feet apart on tape marked positions and counted people going in one door, then you exit out of another door and counted out. Average wait time was 3-4 minutes to enter, sometimes none. Tape on floor with directions. Tape at check outs reminding you to stay back six feet and you do not place your items on the belt till they wipe it down after the customer ahead of you. Plexi glass protectors at the registers. Self checkout counters were sprayed or wiped down in between customers. You were offered hand sanitizer coming out and a sanitized cart going in. In the stores there was plenty of room to allow social distancing. After, several stores, I did find TP in Target. I actually thought the processes they had in place made shopping SO easy and I felt that these processes definitely were designed to eliminate risk for me and the employees. Everyone was friendly. No complaining. I definitely see that by going the distance..... more and more people will start eating out and shopping because they become confident and comfortable seeing that actions are being taken to keep them at a minimum risk of getting sick by entering inside facilities. That being said, will help our economy slowly get back on our feet and keep businesses and the public working back to a new normal while our medical researchers find a vaccine or cure. So it is easy for those that say “ If you don’t like it, stay home”, but if enough people stay home, and follow your advise, the economy will suffer, the businesses and employees will suffer and eventually, it will take far longer to get back to any kind of normalcy.

At Walmart I guess once you get in the store you can take it off put it in your pocket

we went to Publix yesterday at just about 7pm...the store was almost empty of shoppers...we were able to get everything on our list

I really didn't notice anyone that didn't have a mask on

perhaps those of us that really choose to stay safe should consider shopping during the "off" hours

Masks work best at preventing those who have the virus and may not know it from spreading it further. Since it is impossible to tell if you have it or not before symptoms show, everyone should be wearing one for now when out in public. But this is America, currently the land of “me first” and the land of “my freedom is more valuable than yours.” I hope in time we will become an America where we have gotten over those childish traits. BTW, interesting that can tell which channel a poster gets their news from by their comments here.

You might as well quit complaining about the masks. Some people will wear them and some won't. You're not going to change anyone's mind at this point. If they were mandatory, either the store or government would have to supply them. Just add masks to the long list of what people complain about here.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Monday, March 2 that wearing face masks could actually increase a person's risk of contracting COVID-19, echoing remarks he made on Saturday that called for people to "stop buying masks."

Uh, what changed? The story never really changed and certainly not constantly.

The masks are only slightly protective and they were begging people to not buy up all the N95 masks because hospital workers needed them. Plus, they wear other protective gear. A mask alone won’t help much if someone coughs all over you. It will be all over your body. The masks for the general public are to protect people from caring, considerate people who may not know they have the disease. Wouldn’t you like to be thought of as a caring, considerate person?

You certainly can go into Walmart without a mask. I guess there are lots of people not buying into this mass hysteria.

That just begs the obvious question. How does the Surgeon General know that?

Let’s see, we have the opinion of the Surgeon General, or this quote from the person who started this thread “(IMO mask does offer some protection)”. Whose opinion would I feel was probably more reliable...?

No, he didn't say that. He said wearing a mask IMPROPERLY could increase your chance of getting it, because people tend to touch their masks with unclean hands, and then breathe in the germs placed there by their own fingers. That's what he said in February.

On March 2, he tweeted (and rightly so at the time) that people buying up cases of masks meant fewer medical professionals having access to them, and THAT could also spread the virus faster, and that wearing masks wouldn't help anyone from catching it anyway.

He later retracted his statement about it not helping, because new information had come in about people with no symptoms spreading the virus. He then stated that wearing a mask provided at least SOME risk-reduction, but that it had to be done correctly.

Wearing a mask is like wearing pants - if you wet yourself and you have pants on, only you will get wet. If you don't, then the person next to you gets wet.

Masks. Survivor tip or "let's show everyone how uncaring we can be"
 

Yep there are ... and more that a few of them have been cremated or buried.

You know what opinions are like!

Across the hwy from Colony Center.

Snowflake? Really, like all the bad parking are snowbirds or snowflakes too? You show yourself for what you really are with that comment.

Ohiobuckeye
 

The people who don’t wear mask don’t care about others & the people who wear mask do care who gets the virus! Be safe & don’t take chances,wear a mask, even if others think they’re a waste of time!

What you heard is not correct. Regular surgical masks DO NOT PROTECT you or any other person from catching a virus. Viruses are 1000 times smaller than the smallest bacteria. The holes in a mask DO NOT stop a virus from going out from your mouth OR coming into you mouth or nose from someone else. The statement that a mask protects others from you but not you from others is ludicrous and defies all logic if you know anything about viruses. How can a mask stop a virus from going out of your mouth but not stop a virus from entering through the same mask???? C'mon folks use some common sense here. Either a mask stops viruses or it doesn't...and it doesn't. If you feel a mask works, then by all means wear one...but you can't have it both ways. If it works, than you are protected from getting a virus AND you are preventing others from getting it from you. We can't have the heard mentality that you are somewhat inhuman if we don't wear a mask...they don't work!

Confession! I went to pick up a prescription at Publix but needed one grocery item that's shelved at the very end of an aisle. There were no other shoppers nearby and I nipped three feet in the wrong way to pluck my item and dash.

But I had a mask and gloves on, so maybe that evened out my misdeed. ;-)

The pharmacy clerk asked me to sign the credit card machine using my finger instead of picking up the stylus. Either option seems to carry about the same amount of risk, if you ask me. Ideally both the touch screen and pen are being sanitized throughout the day.

I've thought and heard the same. Nor do they protect others as much as people think. Those germs are inside and outside of the mask and are on their hands. Sneezing or coughing won't stop the germs on the outside of the mask from flying. There is a reason that hospitals put on new masks and gloves before entering each room. In the stores, given that social distancing is respected, if someone has the virus with no symptoms the bigger issue would be touching the same areas the infected person did. Even with the mask on, the person had touched the mask and has the germs all over them self. Social distancing and washing hands is the best approach.

What is saddest to me is that people have chosen to be so verbally nasty to their neighbors over this virus. I used to expect more from the seniors, but learned long ago that some never learn how to choose the higher road.

That's the problem right there and why they can be more dangerous, few know the guidelines as to how to wear them. The germs are all over the mask inside and out, on their hands, etc. There's a reason why medical staff puts on new masks prior to seeing each patient, wash their hands before doing so, and never touch it while its on and wash their hands. Distancing and washing hands are the key.

Medical staff does not put on a new mask prior to seeing each patient.