In a time with all of the Covid regulations, you sometimes see little funny bits here and there that don’t make sense.
Regardless of your politics around Covid, it’s a story that either side of the aisle can appreciate to some extent.
Just last night, I figured to get some flautas at a popular restaurant in Mexico City known as Casa de Toño.
It’s my favorite spot in the city for flautas due to the decent quality of food, good customer service & very generous prices for the flautas specifically.
Not to mention their agua horchata is pretty good also.
So I showed up and the lady at the front had me put my hand under some machine to take some anti bacteria gel.
Funny enough, these machines are always a hit or miss.
Sometimes they do the job fine.
Other times, they give you so little gel, like in this instance, that it makes you wonder why give any gel to begin with?
In other cases, like with the Walmart closest to Metro Copilco station, they give you some weird gel that leaves a weird feeling on your hands for a few minutes.
At any rate, I order the food and begin waiting to take it home with me.
As I did, I noticed some of the folks sitting down either waiting for their food or eating.
It was a full restaurant that night.
Among everyone I saw, literally nobody had a mask on.
Not even those waiting with no food to eat yet.
Then, behind me, I noticed some older man walk closer to the door.
It was an older man who looked to be retired with a black winter coat and a bald head at around my size of 5’9 if I had to guess.
Which, as a side point, is a funny observation you have again and again of Latinos – how so many prefer to wear winter coats in an area that doesn’t resemble winter.
No snow or ice outside and the temperature isn’t anywhere near close enough to justify a winter coat.
As we get closet to December, I’ve seen more of that lately despite the temperature outside being good enough to even walk around with a short-sleeved shirt and some shorts.
Is this guy taking a trip to the North Pole anytime soon?
Anyway, I saw him take his time walking closer to the exit when some employee by the door reminded him to “put on a mask” as the older man was only about 5 feet away from the exit.
Not exactly like the employee could stop him from leaving without the mask on nor enforce it outside.
For comedic effect, the older man put on a show that almost seemed like he was making fun of the employee.
He immediately made a “OMG” face to such an extreme that he either is deadly afraid of the fact that he took 15 steps without a mask or he was making fun of the employee.
To which he then began doing what looked like to be a “half ass” search among all his pockets with his hands everywhere doing a “where could it be?!?!” performance.
Then the old man continued on his walk out the door without ever finding the mask.
Only to be seen walking into the distance maskless.
Soon after, I saw another customer walk up to the door.
He forgot his mask!
Didn’t have one on him but wanted to eat at this establishment.
The other female employee standing at the front decided to give him a mask free of charge so that he could enter the restaurant.
The young man continued on his walk and put the mask in his pocket.
Didn’t open it.
Didn’t put it on.
It soon found company among the small change and a wallet in his pockets.
And that’s where it stayed assumingly.
No employee following him to make sure he put it on.
Soon to join the ranks of everyone else in the building who aren’t using their mask (except those like me who are taking their food home or the other employees).
Then, funny enough, another couple with their young daughter decided to exit the restaurant.
The employee at the front gave them the stern warning about “putting the mask on!”
The couple stopped in their tracks.
While the man already had his mask pulled down by his chin and complied with putting it up over his mouth (but not covering the nose), the woman behaved almost like the old man doing the old “OMG WHERE IS IT?!?” performance.
Hands all over her pockets.
Couldn’t find it.
The employee insisted they put it on before they leave (even though said employee couldn’t enforce them to have it on outside the establishment and they were already 5 feet away from the exit).
And, if we’re being honest, the employee was probably being paid 200 bucks a month and definitely isn’t going to get physical with anyone to enforce mask usage to simply take the 5 steps walking out of the restaurant.
She gave the employee a look and then opened her purse.
Funny enough, she found the mask pretty quickly!
Put it on herself and their daughter.
Walked on.
The second they walked out, she lowered her mask to below her chin.
Her man took it off.
The kid? I don’t remember if their daughter took it off or not.
At any rate, the employee sure made a positive effort to stop the spread of Covid among those 5 steps out of the establishment!
Lives were saved that night.
I soon turned my attention back towards the restaurant itself waiting for the food to come.
While waiting, I noticed that one dude who was given a mask was not even wearing his that he was given as he was sitting down by a table waiting for his food.
Within the room, there were a few folks heading over to the bathroom without their mask on.
Only the employees, myself and another gal standing next to me waiting for her food to pickup were forced to wear masks.
And it makes me wonder…
Isn’t this all pointless?
To Mask or Not to Mask
Look, Covid isn’t going to kill most of us. We all get that.
Yes, there might be other health complications but we’re all bound to get it at some point anyhow.
And with most people being able to get a vaccine by this point anyhow, shouldn’t we just move on?
That’s how I see it anyhow.
Regardless, we should recognize a few other points.
If you are going to a restaurant like me or anyone else, you have to accept the fact that you have a higher chance of getting Covid.
Noticeably higher chance.
Why the emphasis on the mask though at establishments like this?
Their rules don’t make any sense whatsoever.
So you’re allowed to walk around the restaurant without a mask and eat inside without a mask.
Talk inside without a mask while waiting for the food.
Even if they give you a mask at the entrance, they don’t enforce you to put it on first before entering and definitely don’t enforce it on anyone to wear it while waiting for the food.
Which I don’t think they should anyhow – the risk is relatively low.
And, in my opinion, they should just accept that anyone who goes to a restaurant is taking the risk like they are taking the risk of catching anything else that isn’t Covid but could have some impact on their health.
Such is life – you take risks by going out and doing things.
Either way, it was just silly to watch the employee trying to enforce a “mask to leave” policy even though there was no “mask to be inside” policy and that those leaving either ignored his request for a mask or just took it off as they left.
It’s all a dumb game really.
Probably some bullshit regulation they told the employee to enforce to make it seem like they are doing something but really doesn’t change anything.
Like how they gave the dude a “mask to enter” but it immediately went to his pocket and they didn’t do anything about it.
A common theme in life – people enforcing rules to make it seem like they are doing something even though it doesn’t change anything in practice.
And the funnier detail is that this horseshit is on the company dime.
They’re not only paying an employee to enforce a dumb rule like “you got to wear a mask to take the last 5 steps out of the restaurant despite not wearing it inside ever” but also that they even paid for that one dude’s mask that was never used anyhow.
Can’t we just drop the shenanigans?
If people choose to eat out, they are taking the risk of Covid like they are taking the risk with anything else (food poisoning, flu, the place getting destroyed by cartels, etc).
Because they’re already at greater risk of getting something than not showing up at all and the dumb rules don’t actually make any difference when seen in practice.
And, like it said, it won’t kill most folks anyhow and most of those who wanted the vaccine would’ve gotten in already.
At any rate, it’s just a small little story about life last night in Mexico City by Lindavista area.
Here’s a photo of where the restaurant is by Lindavista area of Mexico City.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt