I was shopping in Sam’s Club in Augusta, which has a poor record of enforcing mask wearing, on a recent morning when I encountered a woman with her mask below her mouth. I reminded her that her mask needed to cover her nose and mouth. She informed me that she couldn’t, and suggested that I stay home.

No, madam. That’s not how this works. If you cannot wear a mask, you should stay home.  If you need to shop, then you need to make arrangements with the store to get your items without entering the store.

Stores need to step up and make sure that their customers are protected. No one should be in a store without a properly-fitted mask.

Harold Booth

Hallowell