The coronavirus pandemic, now almost in its fifth month, has been challenging everyone’s Perfect Propriety, from grooming to shopping to work habits to personal interaction to technical support. As absolutely awful as it’s been, the only Perfectly Proper thing to do at this point is to stay the course. It’s not easy! Just look at Etiquetteer, clearly fraying at the edges.
You would never have seen Etiquetteer without a bow tie before the pandemic.
A rare weekday morning trip downtown - a place not known for excessive sanity anyway - revealed many - too many - people wearing their masks as chin straps. And that is simply not the Perfectly Proper way to wear one, as you very well know. No wonder everyone’s on edge. Not only that, Chivonne Washington, a supermarket employee, reported seeing a customer take off her mask to sneeze in the supermarket. “This is what we are dealing with — a lack of common sense,” she said.
It’s also interesting to observe how many subway travelers remove their masks to do things they aren’t supposed to do on the subway to begin with: eating, for instance, and talking on the phone. If you have to take your mask off to do it, you shouldn’t be doing it on the subway. Etiquetteer witnessed one young man who took off his mask to read his phone; what need could there be to do that? Thank goodness Etiquetteer hasn’t had to witness anyone flossing — yet.
Yesterday Etiquetteer encountered two Completely Maskless Men near the neighborhood baseball diamond, where they were watching a game from across the street. “Nice mask,” one of them said as Etiquetteer passed. This earned a “Thanks” in response, but no questions about where their own masks were. Just when is it OK to ask where someone’s mask is or why they aren’t wearing one? Etiquetteer considers the risks in any given situation. In this one - just walking by outdoors and not being near the Maskless Men for more than a few seconds - it would not have made sense to bring it up. Indoors, there’s not only the risk of more prolonged contact, but also whether the Maskless Person is packing a gun and ready to brandish it, as Vincent Scavetta did in Florida. Frankly, Etiquetteer is not willing to take that risk. More power to those who are.
Urban residents are also learning to deal with the Loud WFH* Neighbor and the al fresco Zoom call. This summer outdoors is definitely the place to be! But for Heaven’s sake, wear earbuds if you’re gonna do that. You may not be able to keep your own voice down, but at least don’t broadcast your colleagues up and down the street. Nobody wants to hear it.
In a lighter vein, yesterday Etiquetteer found a Lovely Note of Thanks in the box from a neighbor Etiquetteer had assisted while traveling. Lovely Notes are always welcome, but perhaps they are even more so now because of our greater sense of isolation, our inability to be together in person. Don’t forget to express gratitude during this crisis.
Readers, how are you coping with the Summer of the Coronavirus? Has it posed a unique or special challenge to your neighborhood, family, workplace, circle of friends? Etiquetteer wants to help. Please reach out.
*Working from home.