On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted his mandatory face mask order. Beginning March 10, Texans will be free to choose to wear a mask or not while in public. Some business owners were not happy with the governor’s announcement. Danette Wicker, the owner of a boutique shop in Fort Worth, said,
As a small-business owner, it’s putting us in the firing line where you have to make the best decision for you and your business and you’re going to be fighting people who are literally celebrating in the streets.
Wicker is not alone. Elizabeth Dixie Patrick, executive director of the Austin Independent Business Alliance was “stunned” by the announcement and said that it would place a burden on small businesses. She said,
This means small business owners have to go back to having to enforce safety protocols alone, without the government behind them to back them up.
Wicker plans to require those entering her shop to wear a mask, which is her right. Other businesses may choose to prohibit the wearing of masks in their establishment, and that too is their right. And some, such as the grocery chains HEB and Randall’s have announced, will require employees and vendors to wear masks but leave it optional for customers. Each business has a right to choose the terms and conditions for entering its building, including the wearing of face masks.
But Wicker and her ilk want neither the freedom to choose nor the responsibilities that come with that freedom. They fear that they will upset customers if they require a face mask, and so, they would prefer that government mandate masks. If government mandates face masks, then government is the bogeyman, not the business owner.
We are responsible for our choices. No business can please everyone and it shouldn’t attempt to do so. No matter which choice a business makes, that choice will be attractive to some and unattractive to others. Sadly, the business owners opposed to Abbott’s announcement don’t want to accept that responsibility. They don’t want the freedom to choose.