Adventures in Social Distancing

This is the post-pandemic era. Business is not as usual. Everything has changed. Recently, some friends and I went to a casino. It is located in Oklahoma, otherwise known as Far North Texas. There were at least 100 Texas license plates for every lone Oklahoman plate.

I was not as excited as my friend and her girlfriend about the casino reopening. It is just another business going back to work. However, the excursion was planned and off we went. You know things have changed when shortly after picking me up they asked “Do you have your mask?” like it wasn’t even something that was discussed before hand, it was just taken as a matter of fact that this is the accessory you will need when going certain places.

The casino requires everyone to wear a mask while inside. With good reason. I should have worn a chemical respirator because I totally forgot that smoking indoors while gambling is apparently still a thing.

There were announcements over the loudspeakers reminding everyone to keep their masks on. Of course, it is impossible to follow the rules when you’re trying to drink your adult beverage of choice, but it certainly made me look twice at the areas where people were congregated playing the slots or watching the tables.

I am not a big gambler so I was ready to leave after 2 hours, but since I didn’t come alone, I hung out with my other friend who was also flying solo. Penny slots is as high rolling as I am willing to go, and it is really a misnomer since the penny slots require you to play in some denomination of “credits” which can be from 15 cents to 88 cents or almost a dollar. False advertising at it’s finest!

But I was impressed with how regulated the inside of the casino felt. For starters, at least 75% of the chairs had been removed to parts unknown. So there were no two seats right next to each other and in some places there were lone perches in front of a machine with several around it that were either disabled, or standing room only. Touch free hand sanitizers and signs on the floor reminding folks to maintain the 6ft social distance.

Who knew 6 feet would be the new standard of measurement?

At work, we sit 6 feet apart in the break area. They have separated all the tables and each table only has one chair. All these islands in the big open space. It was awkward at first, sitting there pretending you weren’t so far away from the person next to you as you surfed that fine line of eating alone versus carrying on a long distance conversation through muffled shouting.

But used to it we became, and now it is the new normal. I almost dread going back to the way things used to be. At least in this new environment, if I am not in the mood to socialize, under the guide of social distancing, I can sit 6ft away from someone else and eat my meal in silence while staring at my phone, or meditating.

I spend a lot of time talking to other people in the course of my work. Sometimes it is nice to just be silent.

Which brings me back to the casino trip. It was not that loud inside. I noticed that the sound/volume on many of the machines had been disabled or set to low. It was unusual to find a loud machine. No longer having to compete over the general din of a crowd, you could actually hear the music being piped into the space. And when you did encounter a loud machine, predictably, it scared the bejeezus out of me.

There was this suprisingly jarring kitty cat themed slot machine. It was all purrs and silent meows until something happened and then it was all screeches and howls. Yeah, I quickly cashed out of that machine and moved on to something more sedate.

There were fewer seats around the bar area. People were not encouraged to sit and linger. The restaurants were open, but with fewer seats available inside to maintain distances between people. Different businesses take different stances to people wearing masks. Some encourage it, some require it, and then there are others where if you dare to wear a mask, you will be viewed as some godless pariah threatening their very beliefs by daring to cover your face.

Case and point, we stopped to get something to eat before we arrived at the casino. it’s not a super long trip from DFW – like I said: Far North Texas, so only about an hour. But that was long enough to require sustenance when you hadn’t eaten all day. There was a Rosa’s Cafe, which in my opinion is just a slight upgrade from Taco Cabana, Taco Bueno, and Taco Bell, in that respective order.

But to hear our friend talk about it, this place was the bees knees. Not so much. I had been to one before and was not impressed. But though the workers were all wearing face masks, not a one person inside was wearing a mask. In fact, you could feel the saloon vibes as we stepped in the door like the populace was waiting for someone to pop on a mask and be labeled an infidel.

It was a jarring experience. I felt naked and conspicuous being in a public space without a mask. The seating arrangements had not been altered in the least. No tables had been removed, but there were paper signs designating some closed for social distancing.

Their determination of the 6ft spacing seemed arbitrary as the tables that were the farthest apart were closed off and the ones right next to each other were available to sit. It made zero sense. So we chose the remotest table that was as far from the family of 20 that had commandeered one side of the restaurant for their raucous meal gathering. This was probably the first restaurant I had been in since COVID for a dine in option.

At work they require us to use a new cup when getting refills from the coffee machine, and the cold drink machines have been shut down for the foreseeable future.

At this restaurant which serves many more people, there was no such rule. It was as if the virus did not exist.

Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to leave.

Going out now is like being in a bizarro world. One where it is perfectly okay to shun your neighbor and no one thinks anything of it. One where reduced capacity is a win and avoiding crowds is the new normal. It is literally my ideal scenario, but now everyone is doing it.

Went to lunch with my mother. Took her to the Mexican restaurant we usually go to since she likes their margaritas. You know you’ve acclimated to Texas weather when you opt to eat outside in 92 degree weather. But it was a nice day. Dry heat with a breeze, practically ideal for Texas in general.

I was glad to eat outside because eating inside anywhere other than work just makes my skin crawl. Like at Rosas, when I was with my friends, I couldn’t wait to escape the confines of what I imagined was a recirculating cloud of germs trapped inside the four walls of the restaurant. All the employees were wearing face masks, and it was perfectly normal to me. Did not even feel the slightest bit weird.

Mask wearing feels right. Not wearing one feels wrong, and I feel I will give my business to places that encourage the mask wearing, or require it. I would rather be safe than sorry.