SOCIAL DISTANCING, THE CULINARY EDITION: So I met the Insta-Mom for lunch at Calhoun’s Barbecue, and they’ve enacted major sanitary changes. We were handed photocopies menus rather than reusable ones, and when we were done the waiter wadded them up to throw away right in front of us. The tables were wiped with sanitizing wipes (then the Insta-Mom pulled her own wipe out of her bag and wiped ours again). There were only one-time-use disposable packets for salt, pepper, ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc. I’ve never seen anything like it at a restaurant before. I asked the manager and he said they had consulted with the Knox County board of health on what changes to make. I expect you’ll see this sort of thing in a lot of places.

Also, it’s easy to forget that disposable, one-time-use items came into style because they were perceived as healthier. Then we quit fearing germs. Now . . . well, I think we’ll see a return.