Relying on People, Not Enforcement

I voted on Thursday Aug. 6th… I donned my mask and stepped into the huge gym facilty and one thing caught my attention immediately. EVERYONE inside was wearing a mask. I glanced around the room again to see if I had overlooked anyone and my first observation was verified. Everyone had a covering on their face.

As I moved through the process I watched the door as people entered to vote. Every new voter coming in to vote wore a mask.

I continued to observe as I voted, and as I completed the process and dropped my voting sheet off at the vote counting machine.

There was not a single instance of anyone NOT wearing a mask.

As I walked back to my car, I pondered why I didn’t see a single person NOT wearing a mask in this facility? I drove to my next destination and as I drove I wondered why everyone wore a mask? I had observed at several businesses, since the county directive to wear a mask was implemented on July 10, individuals inside the business not wearing a mask.

I spoke to managers a few times and was basically told by the managers that the county wasn’t going to enforce the directive, so the directive would not be enforced in the store. Or that the directive simply can’t be enforced in the store.

I had recently installed a hot water heater expansion tank and I wanted a water pressure gauge to measure the water pressure in the house, and also new line for my battery powered grass trimmer.

I visited a Lowes on Hwy 153 and while there observed several individuals not wearing a mask and no response from management to have the persons place a covering over their face as required by the county directive. I purchased my items and left the store. On the way home I stopped at a Food City grocery store and observed several individuals not wearing a mask. One customer actually going through check out without anyone addressing the issue of not wearing a mask.

I did. report my observations to the county health department hot line.

My encounter with this situation leaves me asking why I saw no individuals not wearing a mask at my voting location but I didn’t have the same experience at two local businesses?

I will bet that if I visit any local government facility I will see everyone inside the facility wearing a mask. But if I go to any local business I will see individuals inside not wearing masks.

Why?

I think it is enforcement. People feel that government agencies will enforce the directive, but business will not and they can go inside, violate the directive and not wear a mask and nothing will be done.

The violations I observed on Thursday, Aug. 6th, occurred nearly a month after the directive went into effect.

From the Hamilton County Directive: Item 4 is explicit and simply not happening at local businesses.

From Item 4: Businesses shall not allow anyone to enter or remain in their establishment unless they are wearing a facial covering.

From Item 5: Any business failing to enforce this Directive or person refusing to leave an establishment when requested due to no facial covering will be subject to civil citations for their violation of this Directive as well as criminal sanctions.

There are several levels of enforcement. The first is the business following the directive in Item 4 and that simply isn’t happening. The second is Hamilton County individuals responsible for enforcement, enforcing the provisions in Item 5. I have reported businesses with the county health department hotline. And I can’t say whether the provisions of Item 5 are being enforced by the county…

Hamilton County has over 5,000 cases. Tennessee has over 100,000 cases reported, so you can expect deaths to rise.

So one final question I have is this: Are the residents of Hamilton County being protected by the enforcement of the County Directive implemented on July 10?