Yesterday I braved the Great Viral Unknown as puppy prep continues here in western Montana.
This was one of my early stops and unfortunately, it presented a dilemma.
In spite of their sign, I was not there to buy a missile nor is safety one of their primary concerns. I was there to pick up a small tank of just-in-case oxygen for the puppy arrival(s).
I went in to discover the employees were not wearing masks.
Mind blown.
I had not considered calling a medical supply place to ask if their employees were masked — I simply assumed they would be, given the nature of their customers. Not many people need medical supplies unless they are in a vulnerable group, after all.
How could I give them my business and feel okay?
But I needed the oxygen and it was by prescription — walking out would have felt righteous in the moment but required yet another trip to Missoula and I was already there and…
My mom used to note I have a tendency to cut off my nose to spite my face and while I am still not 100% sure what that means, I believe it involves a certain willingness to do something rather dumb to prove a point.
My mother was correct — the truth is I usually make the point and to heck with my nose BUT after much internal weighing of the options and — seriously — agonizing about this, I elected to simply ask about the masks, express in a respectful way my surprise that they were not wearing masks, and get the oxygen.
And write this post.
In the future, I will call all business to ensure masked employees — lesson learned.
The employee who handed me the oxygen did not have freakishly long arms — she absolutely violated socially distancing guidelines.
I observe that masks have become an interesting litmus test for me. I am still trying to decide if this is fair or not, reasonable or not, but in general I see people wearing masks as belong to my “tribe” — and those who are not as people who are unsafe, for all kinds of reasons.
Daisy’s temperature is holding steady — nothing imminent in the Puppy Department. But if needed, they have oxygen — and I have a bruised conscience.