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To the Editor:

In his column in the May 27, 2020, issue of The RC News-Herald, Cal Bryant writes: “Somewhere in our future lies a new normal. Chances are pretty good that we may never completely return to life the way it was in the pre-COVID19 period.”

I think we can all agree that the future will be as different from the present as present has been from the past.

With that in mind, I suggest we consider what changes have been made that we want to carry forward.

As a Murfreesboro citizen, I am more aware of changes instituted in its establishments, most notably Food Lion–one of the few places to which I have ventured regularly– than others in the area and, therefore, use it as an example. I applaud their attempts to keep employees and customers safe while fulfilling their role as essential. Thanks to those persons we see, as well as the many somewhere else in the pipeline, who have supplied food and other necessities during this uncertain time.

Food Lion has instituted one-way traffic in the aisles, protective barriers at the register, more open registers at a given time, masked employees, and on-going disinfecting, such as carts when retrieved from the parking lot. All of these changes I would like to see continue, and I am not opposed to masked customers.

Do I like wearing a mask myself? Not particularly, but I am aware of its purpose….know that it is protecting you from me and not me from you…and welcome the opportunity to do my part and not just in this pandemic. Think of the many times you have seen someone cough on the produce during flu season and wish that person were not just in front of you.

Whether or not these innovations continue or not, they are in place now, and I thank Food Lion and the other businesses who have implemented them.

What Food Lion, nor any other business can control, however, is the ignorance and arrogance of its customers, especially in regard to the one-way traffic. What is so difficult about following the arrows? Do you really not see them? Can you not see them? Do you just not care?

As Editor Bryant wrote, “ . . . we may never completely return to life the way it was in the pre-COVID 19 period,” and maybe we should not want to do so, but if we do expect to return to something at least close to it in the future we MUST do our part in the present.

Sarah Davis

Murfreesboro