Three days ago my truck would not start. I thought that my battery needed replacing, so I had my roommate drive me to Autozone. My plan was to have them check the battery for a charge, then purchase a new one if need be.
The Autozone that we went to had about seven customers indoors and two employees at the counter. Every person wore a mask but they did not cover their nose, and they were not wearing any gloves. They were not social distancing. As for myself, I wore a bandana loosely around my face and neck, and I kept my distance and stood on the little spots they put on the floors to help dumb people remember what six feet looks like.
A college-aged male employee tells me that I need to wear an actual mask to be in the store, and he says that I must wear it completely covering my face, as my bandana was loose enough for me to breath properly without any issues. I do not comply, stating the fact that I have asthma and will not do anything more than I already have, and I pointed out that no one else was covering their nose. The employee covers his nose when I say this, then asks me what I need. I explain my situation. He goes on to tell me that they do not have any battery chargers or any devices to check the charge. I literally see the device on another counter and point to it. He says nothing. I grab my battery and leave, because I do not argue with stupid in person. If I had stayed, I would've been banned from that Autozone for railing that poor college-age nitwit.
I go to O'Rileys as an alternative. This store has six people indoors, and one employee, none of them are wearing masks to my surprise. An older, middle-age employee is changing a trash bag, and I ask him if masks are required, pointing to my bandana around my neck. He huffs and puffs for a second to catch his breath and says: "We don't enforce those kinds of laws here."
I thank him and he eventually helps me at the counter and checks my battery. Good news, the battery was charged. Bad news, I need a new starter. Anyways, this older employee is kind to me and I ask him why they do not require masks, aren't they fearful of legal repercussions?
This man proceeds to explain to me that he has emphysema and cannot wear a mask. He has personally been kicked out of his bank, his local Walmart, and even the hospital for refusing to wear a mask. I told him he can get a medical card and wave that around. He showed me his card and said that most folks who are brave enough to tell you to leave for not wearing a mask are also brave enough to question your medical card. He told me that the only place to accept his medical card has been the hospital and the bank, and the bank only let him in after a lengthy argument (where I am certain he huffed and puffed the whole time).
I asked him: aren't you scared of getting covid? You are the exact demographic they say is most at risk.
He laughed and said that if he was going to catch it, he would've caught it already, because once customers sees O'Riley employees without a mask on, they follow suit. He said that he has already gotten sick once this year, and that he expects that he will get sick again, as is normal for a man at his age working retail.
I saw the divide at these two car-part stores. On one side, we have hypocritical college aged employees denying service to someone, lying to them and saying they do not have the tools needed to provide service. On the other side, we have an older man with health problems who is simply living his life at he sees fit, putting no one at danger except for himself, as is his right to do.
Furthermore, we also see groups of followers in both situations. After guilting the Autozone employee, he covers his nose. And, after seeing a maskless employee at O'Rileys, people will come in without their own masks.
This is the divide, and this divide will do nothing but further the collapse of society. There are too many people who will simply follow the herd for no good reason, and yet there will always be those people who have to live freely for health reasons. The GovCorp say these impositions are for our safety, but I just met a man who laughs at these measures, knowing full well that if there was an actual pandemic, he would have to quit his job at retail or risk dying.
I hope you enjoyed my story, because I will not forget that old man, huffing and puffing, laughing at Autozone for claiming that they did not have any battery chargers.
there doesn't seem to be anything here