Freedom!
Well, sort of.
It's freedom, but there are exceptions to the rule.
The first stop along the mask freedom road comes in the form of Federal rules on the subject. But politicians are just as tired of wearing them as the rest of us, so while there are places where they must keep their hot air and germs still corralled behind mouth and nose coverings in Federal government buildings, etc– oh, yeah, they're GONE.
Then come the mandates of each state. Some states embraced the change immediately or within a few days of immediately. Still others have set dates where masks can be tossed in the air like graduation mortarboard/caps, a preparing period and/or wait-and-see what happens approach of several weeks to a few months duration. Basically, though, all the states will have followed suit by sometimes during the summer. County and local municipalities, including school districts, are basically following their state's mandate.
Finally, there are the individual business decisions. Now, while you might think every business would be thrilled to see their customers full-faced and want to greet them the same way, there are still some who are being cautious. I was surprised to find my grocery store still requiring masks or face coverings after the state had eased the restriction. But I also understand it.
Think about it - someone with COVID-19 who has no symptoms just coughed or sneezed on the produce, etc. Granted, just breathing passes the virus into the air and onto surfaces as much if not more, but there's more of an eww factor with the cough or sneeze that gets to us. We like to think that everybody covers their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze. We like to think that everybody without a mask is abiding by the honor system of being maskless only when fully vaccinated. We like to think that we're still as cautious with our handwashing and our food washing as we were when the masks were always required. Reality check - it ain't necessarily so.
Masks, handwashing, social distancing, and now vaccinating are not perfect in their prevention of COVID-19, but they do work. If they didn't, we wouldn't be seeing the numbers infected noticeably decreasing. We're still on the road to recovery from SARS-CoV-2, aka COVID 19, and we can't fully let our guard down yet. So, sometimes you'll see me without mask (fully vaccinated - thank you Pfizer and Walgreens) and sometimes you won't. It depends on where I am at any given moment. If they say I can ditch my plain white multi-layered cotton face covering, I just might (and have). I can only hope everybody is following the rules in doing the same.
