Yes, the new health directive that went in effect at midnight sounds outlandish if you think that you must put your mask back on between every bite of food when you’re in a restaurant. I don’t read it that way, though it would be easy to do so because it’s vague.

It says restaurants “must require their customers to wear a mask at all times except for when the customer is actually eating a bite of food or drinking a beverage.”

Here’s the problem: When we’re in a restaurant, eating or drinking, our masks have to be off at some time. Our hope for getting through the winter without shocking coronavirus numbers rests in part on the efficacy of masks protecting us and others, something the science supports.

So it’s natural that our health directors would want us to keep our faces covered as much as possible. It’s their responsibility to give us what they think is the best advice to protect us.

But expecting staff in a restaurant to police us as we chew is another thing. It’s impractical — we’d all have to have a dedicated server to keep watch as we eat our burgers. And that would nix dining out for me. Anyone would bristle at that kind of oversight.

So I’m not going to mask between bites. I doubt you are either, and after talking to some people involved with the directive, it’s my informed decision that it’s not what is expected. What I’m going to do instead is double-down on the extra effort I put in when I go out to eat.

Here are my new rules for dining out. Some I’m already doing and others I’ll have to keep at until they become habit. Some are already required.

I’ll wear my mask when I walk in and I won’t remove it until food or drink comes to the table. If it’s a drink, I’ll wear it between sips. 

Keep in mind, you’re not supposed to pull your mask down around your chin when it’s not in use. Use your ear loops: Grab the loop from one ear and let the mask dangle from the other. When it’s time to put it back on, grab the loop and slip it back over your ear.

I will, of course, put my mask on if I move around the restaurant. If you see me and come to my table to visit, please wear yours. When my server comes to the table, my mask will be on.

“Anytime you’re around someone who is not in your household, you should have your mask on,” said Dr. Jeff Warren, a physician and Memphis City Councilman who is also on the COVID-19 Joint Task Force.

(The word “household” has been in other directives. Does it mean you can only eat out with people who live with you? Perhaps that’s ideal, but not always practical. I live alone and have a small group of people I socialize with; it’s up to everyone in the same situation to take the welfare of your small group seriously and to monitor your behavior to help keep them safe.)

When my food comes, I intend to consume it, mask off. If it’s a coursed meal, I’ll eat my appetizer without it and put it back on while I await my entrée, when I’ll take it off again and eat my dinner. After that, back on it goes.

In short, if I’m engaged in eating, it’s off until I’m done. If I’m not eating, even if I’m paused between courses, it’s on.

“We either mask more thoroughly in restaurants or they get shut down, so think about that when you don’t want to put your mask back on. Be mad, be indignant, be fed-up all you want — but their survival depends on us.”

Do I think this is outrageous? Yes! It’s lunacy that we’ve come to a point where this is necessary, but here we are. We either mask more thoroughly in restaurants or they get shut down, so think about that when you don’t want to put your mask back on. Be mad, be indignant, be fed-up all you want — but their survival depends on us.

Not everything depends on us, though. The Health Department has a responsibility to exercise its authority and start shutting down places that are not just out of compliance, but blatantly and dangerously so. If I try to go to an illegal after-hours bar, I need to know someone or have a password to enter. Law enforcement can enter at will.

So do it. Fine them. Shut them down. Revoke their liquor license. They know the rules, they know they’re breaking the law, imperiling the health of the community and putting the future of compliant restaurants at risk. Dr. Bruce Randolph mentioned he’d heard of these places in last week’s Thursday briefing. We need less talk, more action.

The Health Department should also start checking for COVID occupancy compliance during peak hours. Places won’t be over capacity at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday. Check them at 9 p.m. on a weekend instead.

We’re asking restaurateurs to carry a heavy burden. Do you think a server trying to work her way through college wants to tell a table of adults we’ve been unmasked too long? Don’t make her do that — she’s just trying to make a few bucks and if she could afford not to, she wouldn’t be working right now.

But if the Health Department comes in and the restaurant is out of compliance, it’s the restaurant that will pay the price, up to a two-week shutdown. That seems rough (and unlikely) for one person being unmasked, but it’s the rule. Do you want to be the reason that happens? I don’t.

COVID-19 won’t last forever, but more restaurants will close permanently if we don’t support them. Part of that means following the rules when we dine in. You don’t have to agree with them, no more than I have to agree with a 55 mile-per-hour speed limit on the interstate. 

But the difference is clear. If I get a speeding ticket, that comes from my pocket. If we don’t wear our masks, the restaurant takes the hit. Whether we believe it fair or not, we know the rule: Be masked as much as possible when at a restaurant. We can either cooperate or expect someone else to pay the price of our stubbornness.