A rule or law or requirement without any enforcement provision is meaningless, as most parents who have raised children understand. Although Gov. Janet Mills has “required” that customers wear masks in public businesses, e.g., grocery stores and hardware stores, where social distancing is not sufficient, the “requirement” is apparently toothless.

Shopping at Shaw’s in Bath, I have, in recent weeks, noticed a large increase in the number of violators (people not wearing masks). Shaw’s has a sign at the door asking people to wear masks. Shaw’s also posts an employee at the entrance who offers a mask to anyone who isn’t wearing one. Many customers refuse the mask.

When I called the Bath Police Department to discuss my concerns about public safety, I was told by an officer that: 1) It was the merchant’s responsibility and 2) The hands of the police were tied because any action on their part would violate people’s privacy due to the medical exemption for mask wearing. I was also gratuitously informed that “We’re not a police state, sir.”

Mark Mahnke

Bath