Answer Man: No masks for Ingles workers? How about delivery?

Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: I would like to know why Ingles Market employees are not required to wear face masks. I contacted managers at two Ingles Markets and an employee at the corporate office. Their responses: We don’t have enough masks. We can’t require our employees to wear masks until the “...government requires us to wear them.” My responses: The store doesn’t have to wait for the government to require them and the CDC, a government agency, strongly recommends them. Can you sort this out?

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My answer: Considering the amount of nose blowing, coughing and sneezing people engage in during the best of times, if I worked in a supermarket, I'd wear a space suit year-round.

Real answer: "The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings and we agree," said Ingles Chief Financial Officer Ron Freeman. "Our store associates are encouraged to wear face coverings, and we are pursuing a number of options to make that easier for them to do so."

Nothing is more essential than a grocery store, so obviously they're going to stay open. On a personal note, I'd like to thank these workers for continuing to do a tough job for modest wages.

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And I'd like to encourage them to wear masks — for their own protection and everyone else's. COVID-19 spreads through droplets from coughing, sneezing and even talking (ever get spit on by an aggressive talker?), so the masks help beat back the dispersal of those droplets.

Ingles and some other chains have been smart to install Plexiglass dividers at cash registers, and I hope they will get all of their employees wearing masks soon. This is deadly serious business, as this recent headline from USA Today attests: "COVID-19 claims lives of 30 grocery store workers, thousands more may have it, union says."

Clearly, Ingles cares about its employees and its customers. To be fair, these guidelines have changed quite a bit in the past few weeks, and I think Ingles is trying to do right here.

"Guidelines on masks and other COVID-19 recommendations will continue to evolve," Freeman said. "The safety of our customers and associates, as well as the safe operation of our stores is our top priority during this crisis and we will continue to evaluate all options."

Let's hope those include masking up, soon.  

Question: I was wondering if you could find out why, in the midst of the pandemic, are Ingles grocery stores not participating in Instacart or curbside pickup for customer service?  I've called and I've also left emails. I live in Fletcher so I use several different locations. I can't imagine why they wouldn't get on board and help out their customer base in this situation. They are the biggest and most numerous grocery chain in the area, since the headquarters is in Black Mountain.

My answer: Who would've ever thought a quick run to the grocery store, without worrying about catching a potentially deadly virus, would become a luxury? Normalcy, or some semblance thereof, please hurry your tuchus on up and get back in our lives.

Real answer: Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic is going to cause society to take a hard look at a whole lot of practices, ranging from shaking hands to employing more touchless payment devices in our lives. It's important to keep in mind that we've been dealing with this outbreak here for a little over a month, so major changes may take more time than we'd like.

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That said, Freeman, Ingles CFO, took this question on, too.

"Thank you for asking about this," Freeman said. "We continue to look at many options for a better customer experience, including online order and delivery."

Based in Black Mountain, Ingles Markets operates more than 200 stores in six Southeastern states, with annual sales of more than $4 billion, according to its website.

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"We remain focused on getting needed product to our stores and having them available for our customers," Freeman said. "Our store and warehouse associates have done a great job providing our communities with the absolute necessities of food, medicine and other products."

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com