The Mandate Behind The Mask

It’s early in the week, two weeks or so after Minnesota’s governor mandates masks indoors. I’m ringing up customers and a woman comes to my register with one item.

Me: “Hi! Did you find everything okay?”

Customer: “Uh, yeah.”

She pauses for a second.

Customer: “I was going to buy this at [Department Store across the street], but they were going to make me wear a mask. I have [medical condition] that makes it hard for me to wear a mask.”

Me: “Oh, that’s weird. The mandate protects those kinds of things.”

Customer: “Yeah, I told them that. They said it was ‘store policy.’ So, their loss is your gain.”

Her transaction finishes and I wish her a good afternoon. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of stores ignoring the governor’s mandate, and it’s getting annoying.