Residents weigh in on mask mandate

CLOVIS - When most of us were children, our only masks were of the Halloween variety. Surely no one could have imagined a future that involved being required to wear masks - the surgical kind or bandanas or any type of face covering - to protect us and others from a virus engulfing the world.

Texico soon-to-be-seventh-grader Kye Conley, 12, couldn't imagine wearing masks just weeks ago.

But now Kye and every New Mexican has been instructed to wear a face covering in public, per Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's most recent health order.

That order went into effect on Saturday.

On Thursday morning, Kye and his 3-year-old cousin Colton Potts were brought by their grandmother to fish at Greene Acres Park, enjoying the next-to-last day of mask-free life in New Mexico. And despite his young age, Kye had opinions about mask-wearing.

"I feel like some people should, people that are up in age, that have higher risk of getting it," Kye said.

Is he himself planning to wear one?

"If it would keep me safe, then I will," he said.

Jose Arzola, a maintenance worker for Pilot Travel Center on Mabry Drive in Clovis, isn't as convinced about the idea of face coverings.

"They're telling us what to do, what to wear," Arzola said early Friday afternoon. "I'm not saying the virus isn't real, but I feel like if I wear a mask it makes it easier for them to tell me what to do, what to say, where to go.

"I feel like it's wrong. We all should have a choice whether we want to wear a mask or not. They'll want me to wear a mask out here in the open tomorrow (Saturday), and I'm not around anybody. They want us to wear masks at parks. That just doesn't make any sense to me; if you're not around anybody ... you shouldn't have to wear a mask."

But the governor says, "It's not optional."

State police and first responders will enforce the new requirement with "extreme positive peer pressure," Lujan Grisham said in announcing the order on Wednesday.

More punitive enforcement - such as a citation and a fine - would be impractical and strain already overworked first responders, she said. But she also warned those without masks in public can expect a stern word or sharp glance from authorities.

Any lack of enforcement is "not an invitation to not wear a mask," she said.

Nora Meyers Sackett, the governor's press secretary, said businesses are still required to have their employees wearing masks. "Employers who do not abide by the public health order could be cited," she said in an email.

Emily Anaya is a salesperson for Hamilton Hyundai on Mabry Drive in Clovis. Friday afternoon, Anaya had a face covering, a gator sleeve to be exact, wrapped around her neck, ready to be pulled over her nose and mouth if need be. Though customers hadn't been allowed inside the Hamilton Hyundai showroom since March, Anaya has had to keep her face covered when dealing with any prospective buyers outside the showroom.

"These masks, if they're going to protect us, then great," Anaya said. "But if not, it's kind of crazy. Really, in all honesty, I don't want to see people getting sick, so whatever's going to take care of all of us, that's what I'm down for."

Anaya's son works for a plant in Muleshoe, and she says the mask he wears irritates his head, so she suggested the gator sleeves, which are kind of like bandanas that cover the neck as well as the face.

"They're a lot more comfortable," Anaya said. "They're not irritating the back of your ears."

And, as long as people are being health-conscious anyway, bandanas can be worn as fashion statements, with emblems and logos on them.

Kye Conley, though, won't be seen wearing one with Spiderman or his favorite sports team.

"Plain," he said.

However people choose to wear the face coverings, the governor's order is here.

"I just think we're living in a crazy world," Anaya said. "I never thought I'd live long enough to see this happen."

The Albuquerque Journal and The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.