Chicagoans Share Smiles On Mask-Optional Monday (In Most Places)

CHICAGO — On Monday, the official end of indoor mask mandates in most public spaces, I collected smiles.

When I stepped outside, I spotted National Monument park ranger Ve'Amber Miller's grin from a half block away on her walk to work at the Pullman National Monument.

Federal employees know better than to comment on highly politicized topics such as their feelings on masking mandates. But Miller did show off her unmasked smile, and somehow the morning seemed brighter.

The good vibes from Chicago's great unmasking continued as I snaked through parts of the city.

At a Hyde Park barbershop, a Pilsen Florist, a Bridgeport coffeehouse, a Roscoe Village boutique, Wicker Park furniture store and Lincoln Park empanada spot, to name a few, maskless Chicagoans showed off grins that for much of the last two years had been hidden behind state-mandated masks at most places open to the public.

Calvyn Garcia's unmasked dimples framed a megawatt grin at Jackalope Coffeehouse near 32nd and Halsted streets.

"I definitely love not wearing a mask," she said. "Going back to normal, even though I don't think we should use that word, normal, anymore."

At University Hairstylists on 55th Street in Hyde Park, barber Ilirian Grezda told me Chicago's first mask-optional Monday since autumn felt perfect. "We're all so tired of working around masks, wearing masks all day when it's busy. It feels good to be able to breathe well," he said.

Not every business on 55th Street presented unmasked employees to the public. Workers at the grocery store, dry cleaner, bakery and FedEx, for instance, remained masked up despite not being ordered to do so. The end of the mask mandate, after all, now allows people to choose whether to wear a mask.

More than 30 percent of Patch readers who responded to an online poll said they would still wear a mask in places where mandates have been lifted by city and state officials.

Another 21 percent said they would wear masks depending on the circumstances.

And nearly 48 percent of poll respondents said they won't be wearing masks in indoor public spaces where they are given a choice.

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For those choosing to face the world unmasked, Monday brought joy — and a few laughs.

At Grandstand in Bridgeport, 20-year-old Miguel Lozano showed off his thin mustache to customers for the first time in months.

When I asked the young man if being able to show off his smile more will make flirting in the pandemic age a bit easier, he offered a sly grin.

"I'm all about the eyes," he said. "So, I was doing just fine wearing a mask."

I couldn't help but crack up.

At Jazmin Flowers and Balloons on 18th Street in Pilsen, I could smell the roses rather than the scent of my own coffee breath behind a mask. Employee Jose Perez had joy written all over his face.

In Roscoe Village, Sandy O'Kane, the purveyor of Winnie Cooper, celebrated mask-optional Monday with a 20 percent-off sale.

"I have to say, not wearing a mask feels really good," she said. "I got to wear colored lipstick today. That was my treat."

In North Center, Wild Goose bartender Abby Smith served a cold one to Peter Kouats around lunchtime. They both smiled when the topic of Chicago's optional unmasking was mentioned.

"It was due. We were all done with it. I'm in favor of masking when it makes sense," Kouats said. "But [the mandate] had become quite ridiculous. Staff had to wear masks. and we were taking them off two seconds after sitting at the bar."

In Lincoln Park, Daniel Briceno quickly slipped a mask on out of habit as I entered Fons Empanadas on Clark Street.

When I reminded Briceno that mask wearing had become optional on Monday, he removed the N95 from his face.

He served up my snack-sized empanada with a grin.

The return of service with a smile in Chicago has to be a good omen.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

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