They Should Have Listened to Michael Jordan.

Possible G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) basketball player Michael Jordan has in retirement gotten into the sneaker business.  When he was asked why he doesn't lend his very powerful voice to Democratic issues, particularly issues about race, he famously and strategically responded "Republicans buy sneakers, too."

A friend told me yesterday about something she saw on Twitter.  A Washington Post article today confirmed it: Winn-Dixie supermarkets are more or less unique in the industry for not requiring shoppers/patrons to wear masks, and they "allow," but do not require, store personnel to wear masks.

I don't do Twitter, but my friend sent me the WaPo article.  Winn-Dixie has about 500 stores in the southeast, which they apparently consider Trump country, and they have decided to placate their primitive redneck customers by not requiring them to engage in communist behaviors, like taking public health precautions such as wearing a face mask in a pandemic.

One quote in the article says "Some customers have taken to social media praising the supermarket chain for 'offering adults (sic) a place to shop without wearing a mask! This is America!  We should have freedom.'"  (Note my "'Live Free or Die' (?)" post a few days ago.)

Another part of the WaPo article includes the opinion of Phil Lempert, editor of supermarketguru.com, who said that the no-mask (required) decision "is a dog whistle of sorts, meant to align with the values and political stance of their customers."  Lempert then went on to say "It's a cheap shot for the chain to get some publicity.  It's one of the stupidest moves I've ever seen a grocery store do.  They are going to be out there by themselves as all other major retailers require masks."

Before I go on, I have to confess that I did not want to rely solely on what my friend told me yesterday.  I don't remember if she said where she heard this, but I thought I should "fact-check" it.  So I called Winn-Dixie to ask if it was true that shoppers are not required to wear masks in the store, and if store personnel are not required to wear them.  I don't know who was the person who answered the phone, but she told me it was not true.  I reported this back to my friend, and she then sent me the WaPo article.  Yeah, it is true.

The other thing my friend "learned" from Twitter yesterday, and which was not addressed in the WaPo article, was that Winn-Dixie had all Goya products on sale.  For the uninitiated, if there are any such people, Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, have been hawking Goya products.  The CEO of Goya is a big Trump supporter.  It's people scratching each other's backs.

To paraphrase Michael Jordan, Democrats buy groceries, too.  And on the surface, it's a stupid idea to alienate those Democrats (or anyone else who cares about his/her own health or the health of others), let alone jeopardize the health of Republican shoppers and Winn-Dixie employees.  But Winn-Dixie is in an uncomfortable position.  Either they require masks, or they don't.  If they don't, they'll alienate anyone who is worried about contracting the coronavirus (which it's hard to imagine doesn't actually include everyone).  If they do require masks, they'll offend the primitive rednecks upon whom they tell themselves they rely for business.  But the "good" news for Winn-Dixie is that they can't lose, if they require masks.  The rednecks can be offended, but there's no other grocery store that won't also require them to wear masks.  So it's not a real, practical, concrete loss to Winn-Dixie, if they require masks.  It's just a lost opportunity to "sound" the dog whistle.  Which is evidently important to them.

I still think they should smarten up, and grow up, and listen to Michael Jordan.