Is the world turning towards the road to de-mask us?

This is good. You’ll like this. Natalie Wester and her husband, Jose Lopez decided to have a night out at the Hang Time Sports Bar & Grill in Rowlett, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, leaving her 4-month-old son Austin in the care of her mother. Austin has cystic fibrosis so if he caught Covid, it could be very serious.

His parents, who are vaccinated, therefore don’t take any chances when they go out, always masking up. Texas hospitals are still seeing substantial numbers of hospitalisations due to Covid.

With that background, the Westers have been taking no chances.

But they didn’t know that the Hang Time in Rowlett operates a no-mask policy. Natalie Wester says that they were told to take off their masks on entering.

Because the music was loud, Natalie didn’t realise that this wasn’t just for an ID check but an overall policy.

A waitress soon arrived at their table to tell them to take their masks off. Natalie explained about Austin, but the waitress told her they’d have to leave if they were going to wear masks.

The bar’s owner Tom Blackmer subsequently said that he doesn’t want masks worn in his establishment, thinks they are pointless and in regard to the Wester and Lopez incident told the Dallas Morning News, “If you’re protecting somebody, you shouldn’t go out. . . Anyone who objects to the policy can simply go to another bar.”

Both sides of the argument have taken substantial flak on social media.

But you’ve been warned. Even the best known Texas Ranger and most famous masked men of all time, the Lone Ranger, wouldn’t be welcome at the Hang Time.

And as for a Venetian-style masked ball, forget about it.