“At this time, you would not think there is a pandemic. It’s slammed right now,” the owner of a yoga studio outside of Atlanta said.
As the nation enters the third year of the pandemic, life cranks on for many — but the way it is experienced varies widely depending on where you live. Personal beliefs mingle with state-level restrictions, or lack thereof, to determine how common it is for people to wear masks in public spaces.
Interviews with more than a half-dozen people around the country showed that many saw striking differences in masking depending on where they lived and traveled. The policies of small-business owners tended to mirror what they saw in their communities, even if they chose to be more cautious in their personal lives.
The change has been gradual in this city of approximately 400,000 on Florida’s Gulf Coast. During the three months I spent here a year ago, most everyone complied with Hillsborough County’s indoor mask mandate. One maskless face at the local Publix was a surprise. A year later, less than half of the people I saw at the Publix, Whole Foods and Target stores were wearing masks.
“When we’re in the Uber or Lyft [and the driver is] without a mask, I immediately lowered my window and the driver looked at me and wasn’t very happy about it,” she said. “He didn’t say anything or anything, but you can tell he wasn’t very comfortable about it.”
In comparison, she said San Francisco’s mask mandate means that, in her experience, about 95 percent of people there wear masks indoors and about 60 percent wear masks outdoors.
In Seattle, Beth Whitman, 56, the owner of WanderTours, a travel company that organizes women-only trips, said compliance with Washington’s state mask mandate in her city appears extremely high.
