To a first approximation, nobody is going to great lengths to avoid COVID. Customers don’t care. Mostly people have no idea what the difference between indoor and outdoor is, in terms of risk.
That said, I think this varies from place to place, too. My local Starbucks locations have different degrees of “indoorness”. One of them had (last I checked) full indoor operations, other than allowing people to sit. Another one, a few months ago, had blocked off almost all the floor are of the store, leaving only a small indoor area big enough for one person to order. Now they’ve pushed it even further—the counter is still “indoors”, but there’s not even enough space to close the door when someone’s standing at the counter, ordering or picking up.
And I notice that the Starbucks app recently added an option for whether you want “indoor” or “outdoor” pickup. I haven’t tried it yet, but I noticed it because this same franchise (the one whose “indoor” pickup option isn’t really indoors anymore) has a sign with an arrow pointing around the corner to the back door, for “outdoor” pickups. I live in Mountain View, in the heart of Silicon Valley; it may be that more people here know about COVID risks and want to take precautions. (Also, the weather is always mild, so indoor space is in less demand.) But I guess this is also evidence against my theory that most people don’t care—this store clearly does, at least.
To a first approximation, nobody is going to great lengths to avoid COVID. Customers don’t care. Mostly people have no idea what the difference between indoor and outdoor is, in terms of risk.
That said, I think this varies from place to place, too. My local Starbucks locations have different degrees of “indoorness”. One of them had (last I checked) full indoor operations, other than allowing people to sit. Another one, a few months ago, had blocked off almost all the floor are of the store, leaving only a small indoor area big enough for one person to order. Now they’ve pushed it even further—the counter is still “indoors”, but there’s not even enough space to close the door when someone’s standing at the counter, ordering or picking up.
And I notice that the Starbucks app recently added an option for whether you want “indoor” or “outdoor” pickup. I haven’t tried it yet, but I noticed it because this same franchise (the one whose “indoor” pickup option isn’t really indoors anymore) has a sign with an arrow pointing around the corner to the back door, for “outdoor” pickups. I live in Mountain View, in the heart of Silicon Valley; it may be that more people here know about COVID risks and want to take precautions. (Also, the weather is always mild, so indoor space is in less demand.) But I guess this is also evidence against my theory that most people don’t care—this store clearly does, at least.