March 04, 2021 – Masks in Grocery Stores in Austin – Back to Mask/Mass Confusion

It’s getting late and wife and I took care of some dr appts this morning which pretty much used us our giddy-up energy for the day, lol!

I did want to do a follow up to yesterday’s post about grocery stores still mandating masks despite the (IMHO) premature rescinding of the Texas mask wearing mandate effective Wednesday, March 10th. When I wasn’t able to do it this morning, I thought, oh good, I’ll have better info later this afternoon anyway.

Only thing I know any better about it is, this is shaping up to be the same, or worse, mess than before the mandate, when people got into fights in stores, often with store employees, at time with employees being literally assaulted or shot. Pathetic. All I feel I can really do is wish and pray for the safety of everyone in those stores without mandates, whether pro or con re the masks. If we’re in this together, we really need to act like we’re are in this together ♥️

Yesterday I listed Sprouts as a certainty for maintaining a mask mandate. Since then, other grocery stores (or that carry groceries) here in Austin appear to be : Costco, Wheatsville, Fresh Plus, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods.

The latter two are “sortas.”

Wheatsville and Fresh Plus are local Austin stores.

Like Sprouts, these are smaller stores, wonderful to shop and explore 💕

Re the two “sortas” –
Walmart says, “employees are not required to enforce the store’s mask mandate” – which is a good thing, considering how violent some folks can get, plus, shouldn’t one call the police if there’s a problem, like with robberies? Though the mandate-lift-order says no one can be jailed or punished for not following the privately owned businesses’ guidelines or mandates!

And Whole Foods says, “if a customer refuses to wear a mask, they will be offered a face shield. If the customer refuses to wear a face shield or mask, they must pass a health screening. If the customer passes the health screening, they will then be allowed into the store without a mask.”

I don’t think I want to be in a store right now with that many “options.” Time consuming and potentially quite disagreeable in discerning who/what/and when. Easier to shop somewhere else. Otherwise, in better times, hopefully by summer at least, these are fine places to shop.

This, in my opinion, is not freedom from government interference, but rather anarchy and a HUGE potential for interference from other people, lol!

Unfortunately the corporate folks for our local exercise gym with SilverSneakers, Golds Gym, is also no longer requiring mask starting next Wednesday. As I asked in my post yesterday, aren’t the masks to help protect the people around you in case one is infected? So my wearing a mask doesn’t help me if everyone in the gym is sweating and breathing out whatever they might have. No thanks.

The Y is requiring masks, so wife and I will be checking it out again 😊

Hoping other folks in other states aren’t having to go through the turmoil we seem to continue to come up with here in Texas, weather-wise and politically 😏 And, am very much looking forward to the President’s plan panning out and having all of us who want to be vaccinated to be so by end of May (give or take) ♥️

Stay well everyone, and – sincerely – good luck! It can’t hurt 😂

Adan

ps – as a much needed reminder (and a bit of good news) of what we’re all wanting and hoping for – a return to regular outdoor and indoor activities and gatherings, without masks, I sold a gallery wrapped version of my sports writing, Volleyball Setter ; I’ve lots of good thoughts about this sale and want to do a post on it, hopefully for tomorrow! 🏐

Please tap tweet above to like, share or link to my poster 😊

Or click to my blog post about this product –
https://felipeadanlerma.com/2021/01/16/january-16-2021-my-three-most-popular-posts-the-1st-half-of-january-volleyball-setter-back-in-stock-my-original-1994-sports-writing-arteza-and-richard-bernabe-november-2020-most-popular-posts/

My Related Posts Here On My Blog

My Related Amazon Affiliate Search Products
https://www.amazon.com/shop/felipeadanlerma

My Amazon search for Covid-19 Books –
https://amzn.to/3kTyAuZ

My Latest Posts On My Website!

• 1st Cabin Light Finished Painting 2026January 28, 2026
  Saturations of sky and earth roll and rest spin like a first slow dance in junior high – middle school the grandkids laugh and tell me they think I make all this up just to be funny 😊
• 1st Cabin Light Study 2 2025January 24, 2026
  Yes. The new day has begun….
• 1st Cabin Light Study 1 2025January 22, 2026
  I wasn’t sure when to stop but my own waves of self, conscious of the need to rest joined the earth before me, an image shaped by pigments from itself.
• I was born at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius and I’m Very Angry, but….January 19, 2026
  I now see a wonderful opportunity and challenge in creating series of captured memories from my photos, and exploring/mining them for what I both remember, feel, and discover new ❤️
• Learning via 3 Painting Stages on 3 Canvases via My Photo, 1st Cabin Light 2017January 11, 2026
  “After I post the final images of this 1st new painting experiment of mine, links and all, I can post about this new 2nd unexpected-to-me fun series of takes of another of my Vermont photos : Island Line Trail Sunset via Colchester Vertical 2018”
• Follow-up blog post after my 1st blog post since August 2025 earlier this week – Definitely like starting new!December 20, 2025
  “The relinquishing of one’s art, my art, to myself, is sometimes more scary than gearing my productivity to outside expectations”
• My 1st blog post since August this year (2025) – Like starting new!December 18, 2025
  “My plan, my hope, is to keep this, my original layin, produce a new 2nd similar layin but add a content color layin; keep it; then repeat the steps with the two formative layers and see what finished product I might produce – 3 works total”

*
Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

Twitter / Instagram / FB @FelipeAdanLerma
Amazon Author Page – https://amzn.to/2YpgyUf
Fine Art America (FAA, Pixels) – https://felipeadan-lerma.pixels.com/