Coronavirus Diary Day WTFK: May 25, 2021

Mask Requirements Lifted, Restaurants at Capacity, Bars Open

Fourteen months after lockdowns began, the CDC now says that vaccinated people in the USA no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, except in special circumstances. That makes perfect sense to me, and I’m not sure what took us so long to reach this conclusion. Having said that, here in Pennsylvania many municipalities and most businesses are still requiring masks for everyone. So, we don’t listen to the CDC, which is nothing new.

Look, I’m not here to argue with anyone, and I’ll just go with the flow, I guess. But at some point, we need to accept that vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors.

Last week, France reopened their restaurants and cafés. They’d been closed for the past 6 months. Oh, and vaccinated tourists can soon visit all the countries in the EU. In America, our borders are still locked up tight. I guess we’re afraid that vaccinated people from other countries won’t wear masks indoors or outdoors.

Oh my god, I know. I sound like a curmudgeonly bitch. I’m just sick and tired of the whole thing, that’s all. I mean, aren’t you?

There are good things, of course. The Hubs embarked on his first business trip last week. Ryan finished his freshman year of college with distinguished honors. I enjoyed a 5-mile walk with a dear friend, followed by a leisurely lunch at a quaint café (where we wore masks).

The weather has been gorgeous. My backyard garden is coming along nicely. We have 6 tomato plants, 1 cherry tomato plant, 1 cucumber vine, and 2 jalapeño pepper plants. The dog hasn’t dug them up yet, so things are looking pretty peachy from where I sit.

Next month, I’ll turn 50. I’ve decided to throw a big fat party in my backyard, and masks are not required.

And for all my complaining, I’ll admit that The Hubs and I spent Sunday bar-hopping through our little suburban-Philadelphia town, and we didn’t wear masks at all. Not once. Not ever. In fact, there was even one bar where the servers didn’t wear masks either. I applaud. On the other hand, at Wegmans yesterday, everyone was fully masked up. Because I guess (??) it’s easier to catch Coronavirus from a vaccinated person in the grocery store than in a bar/restaurant.

Anyways. It’s easy to forget that some other countries are still struggling with Covid. Highly problematic areas exist in India, Nepal, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Here in the United States, life is returning to normal. For that, I am grateful. I hope for zero setbacks as we forge forward into a brave new world.