
<p>As you may be aware, within the past few days Governor DeSantis has signed the declaration that the Covid emergency is over, that masks and other measures are no longer required in the state of Florida.</p>



<p>This has propagated across the state, I&#8217;ve been in restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and more without a mask. Even though some of the &#8220;mask required&#8221; signs are still up everyone seems to accept that masks are over and I have not been stopped. Many restaurants in fact fully embrace the new normal and even their employees are not masked. This is a good thing.</p>



<p>But not Youfit. Youfit is a chain of gyms with locations in Florida, one of which happens to be conveniently close to me.</p>



<p>I had no mask, I was denied entry.</p>



<p>When I tried to explain to the young girl at the desk that the emergency was over, that the declaration had been signed by the governor that masks were no longer required, she got right snippy, and (in part) declaring that Youfit is a private organization and they can do whatever they want. I declared BS and walked out, she declared victory with &#8220;Yeah, you should just leave&#8221; as I was walking out the door.</p>



<p>Never mind the rudeness. Never mind that I was 30 feet from the workout machines where Youfit has already declared that you don&#8217;t have to wear a mask while working out and that there were no people between me and there. And never mind that I am vaccinated and as are probably half the people in the place.</p>



<p>Why would the corporate drones at Youfit not lift the mask requirement immediately? Apparently, Youfit plans to lift its face mask requirement tomorrow. Is the virus going to disappear overnight? Do they know something that Governor DeSantis does not?</p>



<p>Could it be that that Youfit is such a massive organization with such a massive bureaucracy that it can&#8217;t send an email to lift the mask restrictions coincident with the signing of the DeSantis declaration? Hardly. They wish.</p>



<p>Could it be that Youfit actually knows something that the Governor of Florida doesn&#8217;t about the virus? Is Youfit some particular biohazard that does not exist elsewhere?</p>



<p>This is not about public health. Youfit doesn&#8217;t give a rat&#8217;s patooty about your health. This is about pandering to political correctness and public relations.</p>



<p>Youfit wants people to THINK that they are carefully examining the situation and lifting THEIR OWN restrictions with an abundance of caution because their customers are so precious. As if they have their own experts looking at this&#8230;</p>



<p>That is complete crap.</p>



<p>How long did it take them to implement their restrictions when the pandemic first started? I bet they didn&#8217;t implement the mask policy until it was required by law. Where was their abundance of caution then?</p>



<p>My membership with Youfit requires that I follow their rules. But there is nothing in the contract that says I have to wear a mask. They were forced by law to implement a mask rule, but outside of that law, what right do they have to keep this rule in place? I would never have become a member with any organization that had such a rule. Fraud?</p>



<p>This kind of pandering is abhorrent. Youfit management is attempting to take advantage of the pandemic to push a message of &#8220;caring&#8221; out to the public, when in reality they care only about their own image and future advertising prospects. It&#8217;s disgusting and pathetic.</p>



<p>But this isn&#8217;t exactly unusual. I remember last year when I came back from the virtual ghost town that was New York City at the time. NYC had already implemented the 6 foot rule and much more (the streets were deserted).</p>



<p>But supermarket chain Publix in Florida had done nothing. Not for an additional 2-3 weeks. But at least Publix does not have the hypocrisy to require masks beyond the point where the emergency is ended.</p>



<p>So let&#8217;s tie this up.</p>



<p>The bottom line (in my opinion) is that Youfit is a bunch of hypocritical, pandering, pathetic souls attempting to use the pandemic to their advantage.</p>



<p>The utter stupidity of people who refuse to believe the science of the situation, who can&#8217;t reason, who can&#8217;t understand how useless it is to enforce rules that have no meaning, will continue. And who wield their petty bureaucratic power over the minions (in my case, customer) they find that they can boss.</p>



<p>Look for more of this as society continues to open up. I am sure those at Youfit are not the only ones. Never underestimate the pandering and pettiness of your fellow man.</p>

Tim vs the Mask – YOUFIT and Politically Correct Public Relations
Youfit, hypocrisy or "caring"?