I identify as vaccinated

At a clubhouse nestled in the mountains, a once friendly game of mahjong was about to commence. The “regulars” took their usual seats while the more casual players sat at the first open table. There was hardly ever fresh blood within this room and for good reason — this was a close-knit group where small town gossip and drama ran amuck. This beloved Mahjong Club was forced on hiatus during the height of covid and, after a year of waiting, regulations were relaxed and people felt comfortable coming back while wearing a mask.

We’ve fast forward to the vaccine era. As a reminder, fully vaccinated people are able to go maskless indoors though it’s still encouraged to maintain social distancing. Unvaccinated people should wear a mask and distance.

In walk the players — sans masks — ready to get their competitive juices flowing. Everyone is aware of the mask rules through the Club listserv, yet there was at least one player (unmask) and unvaccinated.

One of the players, let’s call her Susan, asked the group to reaffirm they were vaccinated. No one said otherwise so the games began…until finally someone said, “I know Karen isn’t vaccinated.”

To which Karen replied, “how do you know?”

“Because you told me last week at bowling,” said (let’s say) Margaret.

As you can imagine, people started squirming in their chairs, while some of the more distant tables just chalked it up as…