With revised masking rules, will things change for store and restaurant workers?

With revised masking rules, will things change for store and restaurant workers?

Transcript¹

Workers at stores and restaurants have been at the center of confrontations² over masks. As most of the country relaxes mask mandates³ at the CDC's guidance, anxiety isn't over for workers.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Now that the CDC has updated its masking guidance, how much will things change for workers at stores and restaurants? During this pandemic, they've been at the center of confrontations over masks. NPR's Alina Selyukh checked in with some of them to see how they're feeling now.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE⁴: From the early pandemic days, masks became a flashpoint. Annie Shi is an operating partner at a restaurant called King in Manhattan.

ANNIE SHI: 2020 was definitely in the depths of despair because, you know, people didn't want to wear masks, and it was a fight every single night for about three months.

SELYUKH: The fights faded as masks became common habit and companies told workers not to engage with anti-mask customers. For weeks, new changes have been happening. Some of the last holdout states have been relaxing indoor mask rules. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says the majority of Americans live in areas where it's OK to skip face coverings. But for workers, that doesn't mean the anxiety is over. Chuck Haughwout is a produce manager at a Stop & Shop in Long Island.

CHUCK HAUGHWOUT: As we're all dealing⁵ with COVID, just the pure volume of people walking by does give you a certain feeling.

SELYUKH: Some big retailers⁶ like Walmart, Amazon, Target have also relaxed mask rules for workers. That means many of them have been making their own personal and fraught⁷ choice about whether to stop masking. Haughwout says lots of shoppers have ditched masks, and a share of his co-workers are feeling liberated⁸. But he is still nervous.

HAUGHWOUT: There's a certain exhaustion¹⁰. And you kind of want to say, well, you know what? I've done the right thing all this time; I'm not going to just take the mask off while we still have a lot of people coughing all over the place and you don't know why.

SELYUKH: Crystal Orozco says her co-workers have been having the same conversations. She's a supervisor¹¹ at a Jack¹² in the Box in a Sacramento suburb, which has a very active drive-through.

CRYSTAL OROZCO: We can hear the people at the menu board, and some of them are coughing like crazy. And it's like, ugh, they're going to come to our window like that.

SELYUKH: She thinks people who are sick don't seem to worry that much about going to a fast-food drive-through.

OROZCO: When we open that window, the air blows in, and it blows towards us, and that's what makes it more terrifying.

SELYUKH: She says she plans to keep wearing a mask for a while. Many workers hope this won't lead to a new flare-up of mask fights. Over the past two years, people have berated⁹ waiters and store staff for wearing and enforcing mask rules. Will this get worse in a post-mandate world? Many restaurants also face another contentious¹³ matter - checking vaccine¹⁴ status. Diners simply can't wear masks.

VARUN MEHRA: Because, realistically, a customer is not going to pull it down to take a bite and put it back up. That's just not - it's just not a very hospitable¹⁵ way to eat.

SELYUKH: Varun Mehra is a general manager of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley. He says many in his industry are really tired and ready for a change. But they also remember the last time there was a moment when the pandemic seemed to turn a corner - last summer.

MEHRA: There was, like, that three weeks where everybody took their mask off, you know? (Laughter) And then we went right back to it with delta¹⁶.

SELYUKH: Last year did not deliver on the hot vax summer. Annie Shi in Manhattan hopes this will be the one.

SHI: It's been such a journey, and the goal posts have changed every couple months, as CDC standards have changed. And we're really looking forward to the moment where we can dictate¹⁷ what service looks like because it is how we think hospitality should feel in a restaurant.

SELYUKH: She and her staff are still masking. But thinking back to 2020, with masks and shields and gloves in hundred-degree weather, she says anything feels easier than that.

Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF JONES MEADOW'S "OPPOSITE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

3 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

8 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

9 berated   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marion berated Joe for the noise he made. 玛丽昂严厉斥责乔吵吵闹闹。 来自辞典例句
• It berated Mussolini for selling out to Berlin. 它严厉谴责了墨索里尼背叛、投靠柏林的行径。 来自辞典例句

10 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

11 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

12 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

13 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

14 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

15 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

16 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

17 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？