COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW
- Thread starter WDWRLD
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I agree with this approach. I believe lecturing non-mask wearers about putting on a mask is counter-productive, but if you feel like someone is too close to you for comfort, it’s absolutely you’re right to ask them to step back. Hell, I’d argue that it’s acceptable in non-pandemic times to ask someone standing too close to move back a little because we Americans like our personal space. During normal times I doubt anyone would be asking for 6 feet of distance, but my point is that regardless of the times, a request for personal space isn’t a bad thing.
I've noticed Publix and Kroger still doing it. Target depends on the day. Publix still has staff passing out carts and reminding people.
Oh - I misread your initial post. I thought you were saying grocery stores need to do this, as in they currently werent. I just read more closely and realized you were saying the opposite. ?
As someone who does not mind you riding next to me, standing close to me in line, or if you are wearing a mask, I can say that being polite is the only thing I look for. If you come from behind me in line and stay back 12 feet, I'm not going to roll my eyes at you. If you come up close to me, I don't care. I'm also not going to go out of my way to make anyone feel uncomfortable by invading their "6 feet." I am not one to stand within 3-4 feet of people anyway.
But just be nice to these people -- assume good intentions. Not everyone is thinking "pre-caution, pre-caution, pre-caution" all day. People simply have different levels of concern. I would advise against "policing" of it (don't try to take over operations and instruct the crowd); let BGW Operations help out. Just focus on enjoying your time, having the space around you you want for yourself, and being kind to other people. You can at least have some control over your personal space, as far as BGW allows. If people are seated in a way that is uncomfortable for you, you may need to reconsider what you ride.
There's this place I go that does not require masks that says, "We do encourage you to practice social distancing with those who are wearing a mask." I think most people who don't care about precautions for themselves understand others want to take additional precautions. Most people will be nice enough about things if they feel you are being nice to them & just asking them.
Most people are very chill about it and I respect anyone who is happy to make others more comfortable. That said, putting guests in positions where they need to confront other guests in order to have park policy enforced is legitimately dangerous—we should not lose sight of that fact.
Beyond the risks involved with confrontation, one shouldn't have to go to a park and feel the need to police other guests for park rules violations in the first place. It is a HUGE knock against my park experience whenever it happens to me. We aren't expected to police loose articles on coasters that could cause physical harm to us and we shouldn't be expected to police wayward guests who could cause us physical harm either. Having to remain in a defensive state for a large chunk of the day really sucks from a park experience perspective.
Like @Memles said, I really have to highlight my privilege here too. I'm a big white guy. Statistically, I'm almost certainly the exact demographic who would experience the best outcomes in situations like this. I am comfortable saying something, but many others would very reasonably not be.
The park has outlined their rules very clearly. It is the responsibility of park security to enforce those rules. They are consistently failing to do so effectively and, by doing so, are degrading the guest experience, allowing unsafe public health conditions to persist in their park, and creating increased risks of altercations between guests.
I am thankful for everyone who takes "hey, could you back up a little," in stride, but the fact that anyone needs to ask that is the result of a systematic park failure.
PS: My expectations aren't unrealistic—I've visited a nice handful of parks since the pandemic started. Cedar Fair, Disney, and Universal all actively policed queues for masks and spacing. BGW has never done either—and now that crowds are denser, lines are longer, park amenities are overwhelmed, staff is massively outnumbered, and mask usage is falling dramatically as the weather warms, it's starting to look like a rule violation fiesta out there—and it really doesn't have to—it's a result of the park's choices.
Beyond the risks involved with confrontation, one shouldn't have to go to a park and feel the need to police other guests for park rules violations in the first place. It is a HUGE knock against my park experience whenever it happens to me. We aren't expected to police loose articles on coasters that could cause physical harm to us and we shouldn't be expected to police wayward guests who could cause us physical harm either. Having to remain in a defensive state for a large chunk of the day really sucks from a park experience perspective.
Like @Memles said, I really have to highlight my privilege here too. I'm a big white guy. Statistically, I'm almost certainly the exact demographic who would experience the best outcomes in situations like this. I am comfortable saying something, but many others would very reasonably not be.
The park has outlined their rules very clearly. It is the responsibility of park security to enforce those rules. They are consistently failing to do so effectively and, by doing so, are degrading the guest experience, allowing unsafe public health conditions to persist in their park, and creating increased risks of altercations between guests.
I am thankful for everyone who takes "hey, could you back up a little," in stride, but the fact that anyone needs to ask that is the result of a systematic park failure.
PS: My expectations aren't unrealistic—I've visited a nice handful of parks since the pandemic started. Cedar Fair, Disney, and Universal all actively policed queues for masks and spacing. BGW has never done either—and now that crowds are denser, lines are longer, park amenities are overwhelmed, staff is massively outnumbered, and mask usage is falling dramatically as the weather warms, it's starting to look like a rule violation fiesta out there—and it really doesn't have to—it's a result of the park's choices.
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To add to what @Memles and @Zachary have said, as a woman, who was raised not to make scenes in public, I am absolutely not comfortable asking people to observe the 6 foot required distancing. I occasionally remind my friends at work, when their masks fall below their noses, but I have known them for years and I am certain it is accidental. At the park (I don’t go in stores; I use delivery and curbside), I literally walk away from uncomfortable situations. Further, I have seen guests become very aggressive, when asked to back up 6 feet and wear their masks. It was frightening to be near those confrontations, because of the angry reactions of the people violating the clearly stated rules.
For me this has meant avoiding undistanced (I don’t think that is a word) lines and unmasked guests. With so much less to do, I go less, spend less, eat less, and shop less. I’m only one person, but BGW is losing my money, by failing to enforce their own rules.
For me this has meant avoiding undistanced (I don’t think that is a word) lines and unmasked guests. With so much less to do, I go less, spend less, eat less, and shop less. I’m only one person, but BGW is losing my money, by failing to enforce their own rules.
This may be were our day to day life plays into it. My irregular experience is going to Busch Gardens, wearing a mask (and having my kids wear masks even though they don’t otherwise), and distancing 6ft. My home, family, church, community, & job are all places where we “know” the precautions & they are stated from time to time, but it’s rare to see any masks or distancing.
BGW is levels above in enforcement from any other place I go. They are the oddball in the opposite direction from your experience. I don’t know the full population that attends Busch Gardens, but many, like me, may be like “Oh, wow, these people are really strict” and honestly they may feel they are doing the right stuff because they’re doing much more than they do elsewhere.
I can see where personality plays into it. I would say it sounds like in your closer circle you have your voice which is great. Most people are honorable people that do care about their neighbors/community so they will still listen if you say you are uncomfortable with something.
I wouldn’t worry about speaking up.
I understand that it still doesn't come naturally to everyone. The cultural divide still exists. That said, many park rules don't come naturally to many folks. That is why it is the park's responsibility to do their job and enforce their rules.
You wouldn't worry about doing it—and that is a result of privilege.
I've seen guests ranting and raving at staff about these rules. I've been ranted and raved at about these rules. People who aren't being paid to handle that should not be expected to willingly subject themselves to that type of confrontation in order to protect themselves at a theme park. Again, loose articles. I'm not expected to confront the person on Apollo in the row in front of me holding his phone. That is the park's responsibility.
Correct, and what we’re trying to say is that your (and my own) lack of worry is a matter of privilege, not a matter of fact.
As I said, my observation is that speaking up on this issue at BGW leads to aggression. Unfortunately, I have NOT seen people being reasonable. And it shouldn’t be my responsibility to ensure my physical safety at a theme park.
I completely agree that every single business in a state with mandates should enforce those mandates for several reasons: (1) keeping people safe obviously, and like you and @Nicole mentioned, to avoid putting people in uncomfortable situations; (2) reducing liability for the business. As a business, that second reason should be of particular concern regardless of how the business or its personnel feel about the mandates themselves. We’re a very litigious society and enforcing the rules can help businesses avoid some very big loss contingincies that are likely to arise from Covid in the future (also happening now to a certain extent, but I expect it to become worse).
Where it starts to get hairy is that those on the front lines are largely the ones expected to enforce those rules, and many of them are younger people who are now forced into a position of quasi-authority, often over individuals much older than them, and I would imagine most don’t know how to handle it. I know I certainly wouldn’t have as a younger person on a customer service front line. So they’re being put in these positions and asked to not only enforce rules, but to enforce rules that are very politically contentious and lead to some bad situations, with little to no training on how to do so. That’s just too much, and companies need to realize this and train employees how to do this properly and how to deal with situations that have the potential to escalate. These skills may be intuitive for some, but I don’t believe they are for most people. These are situations that police and other people in security are trained to handle as part of their normal jobs, and yet it seems people in customer service are largely expected to do it with no direction whatsoever. So it’s almost no wonder it’s not working. Training is sorely needed.
Agreed 110%. Parks have an entire department dedicated to the enforcement of their rules and the protection of guests and staff from other guests. I think it's really unfortunate that their resources aren't being increased and/or better utilized to meet the current enforcement requirements.
Yes! Parks especially already have programs in place to train their employees on how to assume the authority needed to keep visitors safe in what could become dangerous conditions, so expecting them to extend that training to Covid mandate enforcement isn’t exactly a stretch.
I definitely agree that respect and compassion for others are in many cases missing, and that it’s okay to have different levels of concern. Since businesses really can’t “train” their guests to have that respect, they can train their employees to enforce those rules while keeping in mind that levels of concern will differ and to be kind about it. (I feel like they almost need to train their young employees to be friggin’ psychologists, unfortunately, due to the political contention surrounding all of this.)
If that’s the case I think it could be a large part of the problem for the Covid situation. At least at first. If a situation continues to escalate then confrontation might be needed. (My non-expert opinion.)
Have you ever heard people talk about how you should “have to” work a fast food job/waiting tables at some point in life to learn respect for people? You definitely see people’s darker sides. And you see how much people learn to put up with from the crazy general population.
Yes, and having done so myself has given me a huge appreciation for those jobs. It angers me when people refer to those positions as “unskilled,” because clearly those who think that way have no idea what those positions entail.
At my previous job, I was responsible for managing interns and analysts in a white collar setting, and I was surprised at how very, very easy (I can’t emphasize the word “very” enough here) to tell which of them had never had a job until that one, and which had worked in customer service previously. The latter were a joy to work with because they had developed a certain compassion and experience not seen in those who had never had a job before or during college. Honestly, if I had been the hiring manager I would have insisted on only seeing resumes for candidates with previous customer service experience.