The CDC has updated its recommendations for masking, having heard the vaccinated masses cry out with one voice: Let my people go! The federal recommendation has been liberalized, but retailers, restaurants, municipal transit agencies, and the like still will have to work out rules of their own. The politico-spiritual warfare over masking rules is far from over — because it was never simply a question of public health and prudence.
In the pre-vaccine era, I took a summer trip with family to Aspen. It’s a long drive from Texas, but we have a convertible and a dachshund who likes road trips. Most of the public accommodations were closed or restricted, but the restaurants with the ability to do so were serving outdoors, which meant a fair amount of foot traffic. Aspen decided to manage that pretty aggressively, erring on the side of caution. The local powers basically drew a circle around the middle of downtown: Outside the circle, you were free to go around without a mask outdoors, but, inside the circle, a mask was required of everybody in public unless they were seated at a table for a meal or a drink. It was probably excessive, but it was straightforward. Given that our plans mostly involved hiking and cribbage, the tradeoff was acceptable to us.
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