Day 28 - California Covid spike - mandatory masking
Stuck in the car wash…
Monday. 6/22/20
7:00 - 8:30 - I’m up so I take the dog out - just like old times - even though L. has to leave at 7:45 and could probably do it herself. I cut up a lot of cheese for my ex to give to the dog while we were gone, but it seems like most of it is left - I’m not sure if he gave her any treats. L. leaves for work at the art studio.
I check work email and discuss with the MC and my supervisor what to do with my case since the subject canceled. We decide on a plan and I take the steps to execute it. I was supposed to be at work today, so I keep my momentum going by taking advantage of the day to handle some much needed maintenance on my state vehicle. This month is the quarterly audit and I’m also turning in the car soon since I’m retiring, so I have to complete a few mandatory tasks, which I’ve been putting off for months.
Since Covid 19, I now vacuum out my own car - I really don’t want strange people inside the vehicle, even though the car wash employees are masked and gloved. If I clean my own interior, not only is it cheaper, but I never have to get out of my car - I simply take it through the Express wash, staff wipes down the exterior, and I drive away. It’s cost effective and I’m not expected to tip as I’m inside the vehicle with the windows rolled up.
I vacuum and wipe down the interior of my state vehicle.
8:30-10:00 - I drive to the car wash, with my coffee, and wait inside my car, in the Express line. Everyone is masked and I feel relieved to be back in California after spending time in rogue Arizona. Yesterday, as we drove through the state towards home, traffic message signs, at various places on the freeway, instructed us to “Mask Up, Arizona!” Nobody did.
I check the outdoor waiting area, from inside my vehicle, and see the customers are masking and social distancing while they wait for their cars. This was NOT the case two weeks ago - maybe everyone is finally taking the pandemic seriously.
As I wait in line, I see an unmasked “frat boy”, amongst a sea of masks, in shorts and a tank top, standing outside his car in the full service line. He’s around 6 ft., tan, and totally ‘jacked.’ The tiny female Hispanic employee who runs the lines steps away from him when she notices he is unmasked and tells him he has to mask if he wants a car wash. He goes ballistic.
He approaches an older Hispanic female and says he wants to speak to the manager. When she says, “I am the manager”, he demands a car wash ticket. She says he has to mask and he yells, “You can’t order me to mask! It’s against the law! I want to speak to the owner.” The owner appears at the window - I should mention that everyone is completely masked, even their nose is covered which is unusual, quite frankly, for men.
The frat boy demands a ticket and tells the owner it’s illegal to force him to mask. Seriously? We’re in California - most Californians are only too happy to mask and the Governor issued a mandatory mask order a few days ago. The owner tells him it’s NOT illegal to require masks and if he won’t mask, he has to leave. The frat boy yells, “I’m sorry for your business!”, gets in his car and peels out of the parking lot. The entire incident is so unnerving. Just wear a fucking mask - don’t worry, your civil rights are still intact. I told you…people are disgusting. I wish I was inside the Mii Amo Spa magic bubble right now.
I go through the car wash and it shuts down, in the very middle, so I’m stuck in there for awhile. I’m terrified it’s the frat boy - what if he came back and decides to execute a mass shooting? - but then the car wash starts up again and I make it through.
10:00-10:30 - I fill up my state vehicle’s tank, on the state’s dime, and head home. Three Hispanic gas station employees - 2 females and 1 male - are on their break, leaning against the wall outside, near the delivery door, talking. Their masks are pulled down and they are not social distancing. When I finish filling my tank, it appears that their break is over - they put their masks on and go inside. That’s not exactly how masking is supposed to work…
10:30-11:00 - I grab the dog and we go to the clinic so she can get her rabies’ shot. Although the clinic’s website says they are open today, a sign in the window says, "Covid hours - Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00-1:00.” Damn. This is the second time I’ve come here, to no avail. What a waste. The dog and I return home.
11:30 - 12:30 - I take my state vehicle to Jiffy Lube for the 6-month mandatory oil change. I tell the employee I heard that customers could wait inside their car while staff perform the oil change. He said that’s true, but customers aren’t allowed to turn on the air conditioner when they’re changing the oil, so they’re allowing customers to sit inside the shop since it’s about 102 degrees outside. I debate this, then decide to sit inside.
I’ve been to Jiffy Lube many times and the lobby is a small square. There is a couple seated at one wall and a woman across from me at the other wall - everyone is masked, but the man in the couple keeps pulling down his mask to talk to his wife, thereby defeating the purpose of masking. None of us are 6 feet apart. I note, sadly, that the free coffee is gone, but why? After 6 months, it’s been largely determined that Covid is airborne. Is it truly unsafe to furnish free coffee to customers? Is it truly unsafe to furnish free samples - AND coffee - at Trader Joes, which have since been eliminated? I get removing all buffets, but coffee???
The oil change is complete and I leave.
12:30-1:30 - I return home, switch out the cars, and fill my personal vehicle with gas while the price is still low (Not). Gas is now $2.99 - just like old times - but it is 10 cents cheaper if I pay in cash. I take a risk and go inside the store to pay in cash - I’m masked.
I go to Kohls to return the pair of yoga pants that don’t fit. All of the customers are masking, but a young mom pulls down her mask, right in front of me, to scream at her kids in the little boy’s section, thereby defeating the purpose of masking. Coughing, sneezing, shouting, and singing are the absolute worse for Covid spread. People are so disgusting.
2:00 - 3:30 - Home and I snack and read Panic and Joy.
4:30 - 5:30 - I shower and get ready, which means undoing all of my braids.
5:30 - 8:30 - L and my ex arrive and we go to Olive Garden so we can take my ex out for a belated Father’s Day (I left a card for him on the counter several days ago). He’s flying out at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. We dine inside - it’s too hot to eat outside - and the tables are social distanced. Our waiter is masked and veiled (I call it “veiled” when they wear a plastic visor over their face). I have the all-you-can eat Toscana soup and salad and L. orders the cheese ravioli. My ex - who is vegan - is forced to get the eggplant parmigiana. Dinner is really nice and it’s easy to forget that 120,000 Americans have died to date.
Although masking has become political, how political can it be when every airline orders all customers to mask. What do you say to a Delta flight attendant if you’re a ‘trumper?” Do you say, “I’m not going to mask because it violates my civil rights”? As a corporation, the airlines can implement any protocol they want as long as it’s not blatantly discriminatory. You can wear a MAGA hat all day long, but if you don’t mask, you’re not getting on a plane.
I read that airlines are ensuring social distancing by making sure all middle seats are vacant. My ex says the article I read is full of shit. On both flights, he received a notification, on the day of each flight, informing him that “the plane is full and you are welcome to reschedule for a different day.” How many people have the luxury of rescheduling a flight days later? Usually, when people purchase plane tickets, it’s because they have to be some place at a certain time - there’s a deadline or appointment of some sort, a set obligation. A passenger cannot arbitrarily change their flight to a different day. How stupid! At least the airlines are making masking mandatory. They are out to lunch on the social distancing.
Dinner ends and we return home where we talk for a bit. My ex invites L. and I to South Carolina for a vacation and says we can stay in their pool house. I’m down. South Carolina is a hot spot right now - especially Myrtle Beach - so I’m inclined to wait, but why should I? California is a hot spot. In fact, 26 states are now hot spots. I guess I’m cool going to South Carolina whenever.
8:30-9:30 - L. drives my ex to his brother’s house and I talk to B. on the phone for awhile.
10:00-11:30 - L. and I watch Love After Lock-up and scream at the TV. I missed this show…