[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jdulej

One last try, then I'm going out to eat.

I think you are correct that an arbitrary social distancing number is not an ironclad guarantee of anything. I also think the likelihood of passing a meaningful quantity of "something" from person A to person B is much higher if they are 2 feet apart than if they are 6 ft apart. The wait person is the perfect storm of badness. They move from 2 feet from person A to 2 feet from person B thus upping the chances of passing something from A to B. In fact, they may pass things from many person As to many person Bs.

So, if anyone should wear a mask, it's the waitperson.

Now, for those who think the whole thing is BS and 800K Americans would be dead now anyway life is a lot simpler but I'm not sure who has their head in the sand

Don't forget your mask!

And you're right----IF anyone should wear a mask, it should be the wait person.----IF

They probably could stay back a bit more, especially when taking an order or giving the check. A little harder to put the food in front of you, but you can lean away a bit. But the "2 feet" you state in a restaurant pales by comparison to the 2 feet you get from the face of the person next to you on a flight where you are crammed in like sardines, which you can now multiply by 200+.

[Nucky]

Vinney - SO confused - YouTube

[Gail zuwala]

Fun to read. Masks definitely work well for judgement and opinion. Two things that data (if not these forums) shows we humans are definitely good at.

Having spent most of my life in data science, my opinion is that there is no data whatsoever. Not even the tiniest, qualified, clean (unadulterated) dataset to qualify almost any opinion about COVID pandemic mitigation or almost anything else to do with it. (The exception is Coronavirus treatment which is panned universally for unknown reasons.) CNN nor CDC are datasets so don’t bother posting a link to more opinion and judgement unless it contains the source raw data reference to consume and reproduce. I know it’s unbelievable after 3 years, right? I thought we were smarter too. It isn’t there because even when data is acquired it’s unqualified or useless when compared to other data taken even in the same facility like a hospital often because standards do not exist for capturing information. Some examples (there are many); Fauci’s recent faux pas about child hospitalization and varying cause of death on certificates. Social judgement of waiters and conflicting opinions are the result of bad or lack of data. In fact apologies are happening almost daily for data or lack thereof.

Good data makes things happen. Take identifying Omicron in Africa very quickly as a good example. DNA databases are good data and an demonstrates that we have proficiency. Hard if not impossible to get judgement, politics, and opinion into the data map of a strand of DNA. For the record, that success really is science and not the kind we here as in “based on” lately.

So back to restaurant masks, is there a controlled study (data) that compares a masked waitstaff to unmasked? High level, I realize but lead me to data and I can figure it out. Which restaurants have had the most or least number of customer infections? How many nurses caught COVID in a hospital wearing PPE vs out at dinner? How many people actually have had covid? How many waitstaff versus the rest of the population? How many self identified via at home tests? How many were false positive or negative?

I’m not judging you for wearing a mask or not because I’m not even sure what it does for you or me. I’ve got nothing for data (yep, I’ve seen the “studies”) other than some great YouTube video showing potential sputum. It grosses me out even if we don’t have COVID to worry about. ������

[NotGolfer]

I heard the virus is polite in various places, such as restaurants. You're safe with your mask on, while you parade back to your table but it's polite once you sit down to converse and eat and won't bother you. Then it backs off while you parade out---maybe to the restroom or leave the establishment. The hysteria with all this is palpable....I've not seen so many folks masked since a year ago. I do suspect it's the snowbirds and renters who've joined us now.

[jaj523]

All the other diners at Belle Glade don't seem to have any problems with the unmasking. Seems there is an easy solution for you. Leave! Maybe you can find someplace else to eat in The Villages that still requires masking, but I doubt it.

[Eg_cruz]

Originally Posted by Wackowilley

So we are out to dine at Belle Glade and select indoor seating. Our group all have on masks. Our waiter arrives without a mask but is polite in introducing himself. One of our group asks him to put on a mask. He replied I don’t need to wear one, my management doesn’t require it. Further, He said he would not wear one and that no other wait staff would either. In view of the fact he moves around a closed environment, breathing the air of all his customers without being masked and then walks right up to our table unmasked is very threatening and extremely inconsiderate. I believe if a customer doesn’t want to be exposed to higher risks of COVID exposure they should be respected by staff who should make reasonable accommodations. This isn’t about trying to make others wear masks, it’s about requesting people who are working for you to comply with your reasonable requests.

Simple answer don’t go out in public if you don’t feel safe

[b0bd0herty]

Did you leave?

[Two Bills]

I saw a lady smoking through a mask!
Do you reckon it's a safer way to smoke?
I only know that after 40 years of not smoking, the first thing I will do when the doctor tells me my time is up, is go and buy 200 cigs.and enjoy.
I still miss my morning cuppa, and that first smoke!

[gettingby]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

If more people would learn how to cook would have these problems .

Couple reasons I give up on eating out around here. Can’t find restaurants worth going back too. I am convinced restaurants are one of places to catch anything going around either by people around you or the food itself.
And usually I’m over paying for crappie food and service, not to mention all the loud mouths in restaurants.

We love living here but I have to agree, most places I eat at are marginal at best. Very disappointed in the overpriced quality of the food. On a brighter note some of the restaurants just outside TV have surprised us. As for the mask, “We don’t need no stinking mask”.

[OronocoCharlie]

I've gone back and forth on the whole mask issue. If I'm required to wear one I will, but I won't otherwise. If you're really worried, I'd suggest staying home.

[donassaid]

So, does the virus just take a break when you remove your masks to eat and drink? So sad that so many people have fallen for the mask routine. Breathing in your own carbon dioxide affects your own immune system, does little to keep the virus out and even less in spreading it, just like the vaccine. Common sense is in short supply.

[Rwirish]

So you left the restaurant?

[Professor]

"I believe if a customer doesn’t want to be exposed to higher risks of COVID exposure they should be respected by staff who should make reasonable accommodations."

I disagree. If you don't want to be exposed then don't go inside. You can't force your desires onto others, but you can use some common sense...

[msilagy]

What does this mean....."which should never have been allowed to get started in the first place". So this pandemic was allowed to start?

[BlueStarAirlines]

Originally Posted by Wackowilley

This isn’t about trying to make others wear masks, it’s about requesting people who are working for you to comply with your reasonable requests.

Your group just needs to stay indoors for the next 5-7 years!

You feel helpless, so wearing a mask is your way of doing something...yet, it does nothing.

Do cloth masks work against COVID? With omicron, N95 and KN95 are best