It felt different one month ago. At the start of July, it seemed ok to be in a bar or restaurant or club sans mask. But things change. 

I’ve wanted to have this magazine for years. I waited to launch until June 16 because I was convinced everyone that wanted a vaccine in the United States would have at least the opportunity to get their first shot no later than the week before summer. I was right. The week we launched was the end of a lot of Covid restrictions in D.C. 

Not two months later, some of those restrictions are back. 

At the start of this season, most every bar, restaurant and club was not operating at full capacity. Now, most every bar and restaurant is close to full capacity with no spacing restrictions and most clubs are hosting their first big shows. And now there’s a return indoor mask mandates. 

So, should we be doing this? Is it responsible to recommend anything indoors? Is it responsible to attend anything non-essential indoors? Is it possible to sort of, kind of return to normal?

I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. I do know my situation and my comfort level. I am not doing what I otherwise would. 

If I wasn’t a parent, I might be at your event. If I wasn’t a parent, this weekend I’d be at Teen Mortgage’s show at Pie Shop, one of the first shows back for the H Street venue. If I wasn’t a parent, I’d be in Chicago August 20 at the United Center for AEW Rampage. There’s at least one event I want to attend every week that didn’t occur last August due to Covid. Should we be doing this?

Lollapalooza wrapped up August 1. 385,000 people attended the four day music festival. Limp Bizkit, a nostalgia act benefiting from a new doc re-examining Woodstock 99, garnered some of the biggest and oddly positive reactions. On August 8, they canceled the remainder of their August dates due to Covid. If Limp Bizkit is canceling shows out of an abundance of caution, should we be doing this? 

A few hours after the Limp Bizkit cancellation, Fall Out Boy pulled out of their Nationals Park performance, a performance scheduled for 2020, announced in 2019, and rescheduled due to Covid. It was cancelled a few hours before gates opened because someone in the FOB camp has Covid. Should anyone be doing anything?

We are doing this. Apparently we’re not going back to summer 2020 restrictions so we’ll be approaching our recommendations as cautiously as possible. We won’t highlight anything we wouldn’t attend ourselves. This means most everything we recommend will be outdoors.

This also extends to our events. Everything we’ve done thus far and everything still scheduled for 2021 is either entirely outdoors or has an outdoor component. This will most likely remain until all ages can be vaccinated.

I’m least uncomfortable outdoors. Yes, little kids wear masks but have you tried to keep a mask on a toddler? Related, have you attended anything in the last 18 months where every person is wearing a mask correctly? I have not. So we’re staying outside.

I’m not advocating for shutting down society. Once again, if I was childless, I would most likely be at those shows. I want every bar and restaurant and club to thrive. I really want every bar and restaurant and club employee to be safe and make lots of money. It’s not difficult to have a great time while wearing an N95. It’s not possible for me to forget why I’m wearing an N95 mask. It’s not possible for me to forget my responsibility to not pass Covid to my kid. 

I want to be at your show. I want to eat inside your restaurant. I want to drink inside your bar. But right now, it’s just not worth it. But things change. 

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