To say that this year has been like no other is an understatement. For most of us, we have never seen something like this in our lifetime. We took for granted the simple things like going to a movie theater or play with friends, sitting in a classroom and learning, or going to a restaurant for a meal when we didn’t feel like cooking. As I sit here writing this article on July 14, I realized that we closed down the state of MD approximately 122 days ago. Maryland, thankfully, has been one of the few states that is in good shape. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we are doing better than most.
We have begun slowly opening up businesses with caveats such as social distancing, wearing masks, etc…. When we began to open up, we asked members of our community how they felt about eating at a restaurant. The overwhelming majority (58%) stated that they are still not comfortable with eating at a restaurant and that they would be comfortable picking up only. Twenty percent felt comfortable eating outside only, 11% were not comfortable dining at restaurants at all, 5% felt they were comfortable eating inside at a restaurant, and 4% were only comfortable with delivery. As we continue to open up, please continue to be safe and follow the proper guidelines. You can see the actual numbers of the survey in the graph included with this article.