Green means go — and in this case, it means give a high five or even a hug.
A Wisconsin grocery store is garnering national attention for providing customers with color-coded bracelets to indicate their comfortability with social interactions amid easing COVID-19 restrictions.
Green means the wearers are comfortable with hugs and high fives, yellow signals elbow bump only — and red is for stay far away, local NBC affiliate WESH first reported.
“As we continue to experience relaxed restrictions and updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related to COVID — vaccines, face coverings, social distancing and so on — we realized there would be different comfort levels with these changes among our team members and shoppers,” Tim Metcalfe, co-owner of Metcalfe’s grocery store, told the outlet. The bracelets are a quick and simple way for people to communicate how far they are prepared to go with socializing, he added.
However, Metcalfe’s “Forward” state store isn’t the only outlet embracing this colorful concept.
The Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce in Virginia reintroduced group networking events earlier this month, using the same color-coded bracelets during their gatherings.
Now, multiple retailers are also hopping on the trend as parties begin to happen again. Weddings especially are being targeted with this newest post-pandemic accessory, with various companies producing the rubber bracelets, and some even offering different color schemes.
The emergence of this newest social fashion trend comes as Governor Andrew Cuomo lifts COVID-19 restrictions as the state-wide vaccination rate hit 70% this week.
