Check Yourself

Knowing the facts is key to a successful reopening

On Monday, my family of three headed out for our evening walk in Central Park. Before we left the apartment, as always, we put on our masks. Once we’d cleared the lobby and crossed the street into open space, my husband, Evan, and our 10-year-old daughter took off their masks, and I, for no particular reason, left mine on.

As we headed down the east side, an old man stopped in front of Evan and barked, “Where’s your mask?”

Evan kept his cool as he gestured to the homemade face-covering he’d lowered just beneath his chin and answered, “Right here.”

The old man barked again, “Where’s your daughter’s?”

Again, totally cool, Evan said, “Right there,” and pointed to the blue bandana my daughter had slid onto her wrist.

In such situations, I’m not nearly as cool as Evan. I looked at the old man and challenged, “Why don’t you get your facts straight before you start yelling at people?”

He turned and walked off, but I wasn’t done and proceeded to let him know that the executive order issued by Governor Cuomo said that all people in New York would be required to wear masks or cloth coverings in situations where they cannot maintain social distancing.

We were doing just fine with distancing until that grouch stopped to school us with bad information. I suppose I’d been primed to go off on him because when Evan had returned from taking…