Here we are on a hot July day, and I have decided to revisit MASKS. Guh! It is really getting nuts out there. I just might stop making them. That said, I have parents who have had health issues in the past and older friends that have had health issues recently. I feel like foisting a mask on these people will do them more harm then good!

And from a personal perspective is the following story. My little boy, who I have watched grow up and graduate from high school this year and is college bound, has a job at a Big Box Store. When he was smaller, you could say he had the Snoopy cast member tendencies of Pig Pen.
Upon the start of this National Pandemic Health emergency, I critically assessed the layout of my home. It isn’t the best layout for donning or doffing and washing, but I put in place rules to help keep the cleanliness of our little home shelter top priority. Groans, stomping, and defiant lack of adoption were all there. And not just by him but by everyone! I was ‘The Dragon Mom’!
What were the rules?
To take one’s shoes off and spray them with disinfectant and set them in the hall. And now to keep it cleaner as well as to prevent tripping, I have shoe cubbies set out for that very purpose. This area gets washed very frequently too. I have set two bottles of disinfectant out. One that contains hydrogen peroxide and 70% alcohol for shoes and packages and the other that contains three teaspoons of bleach to a pint of water for the floor. I’ve asked them to spray down the bathroom after use and to turn the fan on during use. I also asked that packages get sprayed down and mail to set a side for a day or two. I do a whole lot of other things myself with walls, banisters, doors, knobs, leavers, and windows frequently too. But I am not asking the rest of my family to partake in such additional chores.
After that, I ask that they wash hand frequently. And if they have been out, they must strip and place clothes in a lidded hamper and march off to the shower for a quickie and a don a set of new clothes. Well, this son of mine is quite the outlier. For him this Event we are experiencing is just a Right Royal Pain! He surfs, he goes out to meet with a ‘small group of friends’, oh say, just over a half dozen or so. He goes out on dates with his girlfriend at restaurants, and for the most part, lives life like this virus isn’t there. (Thank God he is not of the bar-scene age yet because that is the key to this most recent spread, but we must have tax revenue! Not such a bright move City Council Members!) His mask is crumpled and reused most of the time. I’ve encouraged him to wear the environmental hat I make and sell on this site instead. But he won’t. He prefers the mask. He tends to avoid my strip and wash rules and he and another in my family are caught fairly frequently with not taking their shoes off in the hall, forcing me to wash the whole first floor more frequently than scheduled. Hmm, am I a designer or a maid? The maid is winning-out. And back to my dear beloved Pig Pen, he is not washing his hands as frequently as I would like, but is using the awful Triclosan-laced hand sanitizer the Big Box Store gives him while he works. The only thing about this emergency that he did mind me on was with isolation from when the Emergency Order was placed on March 15 til his originally scheduled graduation day which was supposed to be June 6th. Only after that could he jump into work again.
So, I had such a moment of ironic laughter when I found out that the Big Box Store put him, of all people, in charge of making people wear masks while they shop! Bottom line, I asked him if he was saying masks or face coverings. Answer: Just masks. Then I proceeded to ask him if he has read up on the law of it. Answer: No.
So short synopsis: Yes, on the 29th of June, 2020, it was a ‘Yea’ Resolution for both Charleston (11-1) and Mount Pleasant (6-2) to create an Ordinance for wearing masks. This Ordinance is to last for 61 DAYS ONLY. So come August 30th, they will not be required unless the Councils work up another. Please see: Ordinance 2020-038 for Charleston and 20037 for Mount Pleasant. There is also a State Bill working its way up for a vote called “Bill 5526“. And it is very hard to find. It is from Session 123 and it is essentially a one-liner on the roster. This Bill 5526 is being sponsored by two South Carolina Representatives Messrs. Garvin and Gillard who are of Orangeburg and Charleston origins, and its wording currently says: Masks or FACE COVERINGS. Masks are not the only citizenry PPE! Big Box Store Managers take note!
Document Name L:\Council\Bills\CC\15782VR20.Docx

One critique. The definition of what is acceptable in Bill 5526 is woefully low on the specification scale. “Face coverings”… “without holes” is an example. But were they medical-trained people crafting it? No. It did not even describe or refer to a best practice CDC make-your-own mask specification. * Though I am not lovin’ theirs either. And these days I am not really fan of the CDC. They have demoralized me with their confusion and ineptness on this National Health Emergency.

I also told him to not be ignorant of the law. You see, we were all told by somebody’s sister’s-friend’s-mother that face masks are mandated. They are not. Yet. Actually, they are city Ordinances with an expiry date. Sixty-one (61) Days from July 1, 2020 to be exact. So, I tried to explain to my son his situation, having been chosen as a Mask Enforcer at the ripe old age of 18 in a Big Box Store with only thoughts of college, surfing, and friends on his mind. If by chance he meets up with the wrong person who knows his rights. It could get ugly. He did not even know the law hazard the Big Box store has placed him in. I quickly rattled off the exceptions for Mount Pleasant and brushed him up about the ADA:
Hopefully, it went in and lodged somewhere in that college-bound brain of his; that he will be mindful of what the actual Ordinance (not Mandate) says while working until he leaves to go to college mid-August. And that he keeps in mind that shields are face coverings. Mix that understanding with a dash of humor, then maybe he will put his Big Box Store Patrons at ease instead of whipping up a Constitutionally sized frenzy and lingering ill will with the wrong patron and his former ignorance of the matter.
Masks – in an earlier post, I said I wore one to the grocery store. I was cognizant of the fact that I was trying to help another. Not myself. It was then I realized a lot of things. (see this post.) I continued to do so while helping my friend even now. This friend represents, to me, a lot of people who have allergies, asthma, heart issues, immunocompromised, etc. that NEED to have an option. Face Shields are that option. They are not gasping for air or getting weak and dizzy. But when the Big Box Store fails to educate their 18 year old Pig Pen-like employee to correctly enforce masks. WOW! This is just a disaster. And I can safely say it will continue to unfold.
One more thing, my parents called in while working on this blog. Another irony! They are in Ohio at the moment. And I made both of them hats with shields to wear when out. Dad is not keen on this mask wearing for other reasons that I have not stated. The Pig Pen at the store they were in yesterday demanded they wear a mask too along with the face shield! Upon hearing that, I ‘Face Palmed’! My dad was riled yet acquiesced so as not to make a scene or worse. And believe me, I’ve seen the worst and that kid got a pass let me tell you!
I’m aghast! We are definitely not Thinking People and Actively Participating Citizens anymore. Case Close.
Mask Facts-AAPS or here if the page gets taken down.
Added 07.19.20*: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/are-anti-mask-masks-legal I am not the only one who sees the issue.