Thank you
@Lachica @Renegade Sewist my area...well, we always stayed as business as usual, except for a few businesses.
I have several reasons FOR doing it:
My clientele is mostly older people, brides and high school kids. One group could certainly stand for me to wear them (and I do since I have one of the carriers...a child), but I am also aware that the advertisement of taking pains not to ruin big days is certainly something I can, and would, cash in on as it were.
I smoke, and masks do cover some of that odor (but then most people where I am smoke, so it's not a HUGE issue, but I don't smoke in my shop and I try not to get on top of others because I do).
Until I can get my teeth really fixed, I wear flippers. Masks cover a multitude of sins, in this case.
Tennessee tries to kill me annually, and I usually sound like I am dying during bridal/prom season due to allergies (the cause of the sound is due to my main reason for not). I also will lose my voice because of stress, it's 2 in the afternoon or it's Thursday. (Talking a lot makes it happen more often.) Masks sort of help the rasping and me losing my voice, but it at least looks like I am trying to not get anyone sick.
I am also sure I can come up with more.
Reasons for not:
I was strangled as a kid and anything covering my mouth and causing me not to breathe easy makes me panic (even oxygen and winter scarves...also a reason the flippers bug the hell out of me). I can't control this. I work around it, but I can't control it. And I can't get used to it. I cover my reaction pretty well, but I breathe really shallow anyway, so...add a mask and it makes all of that worse.
I am already NOT going to cover even my electric and water for the year. This happened when bridal season was picking up...and everyone is cancelling for the moment. Most have put it off until next year. Same with prom, graduation (HS and 8th grade) and pageant season is not looking good. I make the bulk of my money between Feb and June, bulk being in March-May. Adding masks is going to be yet another bill I have to get my husband to pay for (and he doesn't complain and paid for the stuff I am doing to snazz up the joint). I am aware I can make them, and probably will some, but a supplier has a good deal on custom printed masks...I can get my logo on them for about $1 less then I could make them. Even if I make them, this is still using supplies I have in store to work and make money...so I lose a chunk either way. It is much higher if I offer customers disposables...and I would have to have them on hand with the makeup masks which are already one of my highest cost items with no direct remuneration to the business, in effect, doubling the cost of the part of the service I don't get paid directly for.
Some random concerns aside from all of this:
The US has pretty high racial tensions right now. I do not want anyone to think that I am being racist by not wanting to breathe their air. On the same token...I also don't want anyone to think I'd be happy to kill them either. Regardless of my own personal beliefs, those beliefs do not come into my business, and so this is a minefield I am trying to avoid.
How pretentious is it to have my own logo branded mask or one with embellishment? (Less of a concern, but it crossed my mind.)
I live in an area where most people fall on the side of they over reacted to the virus. In some ways, masks are seen as a liberal thing and not a necessary thing. Can this be reasonably worked in without the politics? Can it be achieved by "Yeah, I got a kid in school and I want to make sure that I am not passing anything along to make sure you aren't exposed to it so that your event (day,whatever) goes along perfectly?" (Or "Tennessee tries to kill this Texan, I just want to make sure I don't take you with me.") Can I use the weird artsy persona here to sort of get away with it?
I'm sure if I sit and think even more about this, I'll come up with something else. Mostly, I want to make sure wearing them isn't going to be seen as a political move (my main concern). I don't allow politics, religion, race, gender or sexuality to enter into my business.
I live in an area where we have one sewing business using a Christian theme for the business name and several that use Biblical passages in their logo and print material. Or post signs/flags of who they vote for or controversial ideas they support. I don't care if you do it, and good on you...but I am also aware there are people that this alienates and I just don't care what you do, and I don't want to be that business.