So tonight I went to Superstore around 8pm for some essential groceries. Shortly after walking in I saw (I assume) a couple in their late 20s/early 30s. They had a child with them of around 3 and none of them were wearing masks. I was shocked. I have *literally* yet to see any customers anywhere not wearing their mask when required (I have been very proud of my fellow Haligonians overall). I watched them. They sauntered around the produce, laughing, talking and engaging/playing with/chasing the child who was not in a cart. I thought of saying something but I was not near enough and they were not on my route so I left it. I then had to return after a few minutes. They were still there, still no masks and I had to get much closer to get what I wanted. I never do things like this but I felt like I had to say something. I asked them if they had masks. The woman never turned around and kept shopping. The man made clear eye contact with me, before turning around to completely ignore me. I kept my distance at much more than 6 feet and said “excuse me.” Completely ignored. I asked if they knew how many cases were reported today. Ignored. Just for some context, these people looked somewhat well off and certainly did not look stupid or uneducated. I went over to a nearby stocker and asked if they were allowed to do that. He said no. I asked what could be done (making sure to let him know I did not expect him to approach them). He said to try customer service. I walked over and there were three people in line (and it’s normally slow) so I sucked it up and left, going back to the produce but making sure to keep a wide berth from where they were. When I looked over in that direction, they now both had face coverings on (sort of like thin scarfs that were presumably around their necks before but I didn’t notice). This actually made me more upset. It’s not like they had a long drive and forgot them or something, they had them right there! At least they now had them on, so I avoid them and carried on. I went all the way to the far side of the store then on my way out I was going down the pop aisle which is like a very wide aisle with goods in the middle but you can see over them. They were walking to towards me, but essentially in another aisle. The woman in front had her cover on (she may have seen me before I saw her), the man behind did not. Now I’m upset. I said “put your mask on or I will report you now. Do you know how many cases there were today?” My voice is raised but I am not yelling. He initially attempts to dismiss me before putting in on. I said something else to the affect of what was going on in our province and the woman said “mind your own business”. Now I’m pissed. I said “this is my fucking business” and a few other more polite phrases (no other bad words). An older gentleman told me that this wasn’t the right way to go about this. I immediately apologized to the couple for cursing in front of the child but reiterated my points. The woman again told me to mind my own business and they walked away. I never got close to them, certainly much more than six feet and other than taking two to three steps to finish the “conversation” I did not follow them. I finished my route down the aisle, went to the cash and left.

I don’t know if I’ve ever confronted someone like this before but if I have I certainly don’t remember it and I doubt I’ll ever forget this. I may have come off a touch intimidating (I am not usually perceived as a tough or intimidating guy) but the guy was certainly bigger than me although i did not perceive him as intimidating. I say this for the “pick on your own size” factor; I wasn’t confronting a smaller man, he had a good four inches on me. I would *never* engage in a physical altercation without being attacked and even then would likely try to disengage. I do feel guilty about the child being there (I have a child around the same age myself) but I feel like the child was kind of collateral damage. Like, you don’t get to behave certain ways in public and get away with it because you have a child with you. I’ve seen lots of people with what I would call “poor mask etiquette” but up until recently, we’ve had so few cases I hardly cared. I doubt I would have said anything to this couple up to maybe a few weeks ago but given the new case number and rules today, I felt obligated. My family and many others are making many significant social sacrifices and these two can’t be bothered to do the most minute kindness for this thing that we are all in together? Finally, seeing things through the older gentleman’s eyes, I can certainly understand why he spoke up and asked me to stop. In his shoes, I might have too. However, after I did stop, he said “that isn’t helping” but to an extent I disagree. I at least got the guy to put his mask on twice, and maybe, just maybe he’ll keep it on to avoid others speaking up to him.

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What do you think about this? What would you have done? Seeing them maskless the first time? The second? No judgement from me on this one, just curious.