Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE.
A video of a masked woman in a store berating a young mother and wishing her and her small children ill over their lack of masks has gone viral.
In the video, the masked older woman is seen confronting the young mother for being in the store without wearing a mask herself and for not having masks on her children, though the video also shows other store customers going mask-free.
The young mother appears to be explaining mask use for young children in which she says kids under 10 do not have to have masks, but the older, masked lady disagrees.
This woman literally looks into these children’s eyes and says, “I hope you all die.”
I’m at a loss for words.🥺 pic.twitter.com/gOw1bbSX1Z
— sally (@sallyKP) July 28, 2020
“You’re being ridiculous,” the masked woman says.
“You’re being ridiculous,” the mother fires back.
“I hope you all die,” the masked woman responds, looking at the mother’s children.
“You take care of yourself!” the mother says sarcastically, as the masked woman walks away.
At that, the masked woman turns around and repeats, “I hope you all die because you’re going to kill me and my family.”
“That’s such a great thing to say to somebody,” the mother replies.
“Listen, I’m wearin’ a mask, lady!” says the woman.
“Yeah, good for you,” the mother says.
Mask mandates are in place in many cities around the country. In addition, businesses have also imposed mask mandates for customers, even if local governments have not done so.
But in recent days, several major retailers have softened their positions on mandatory mask-wearing, and for the very reason displayed in the video: To avoid creating confrontations between customers and store employees.
Big box retailers like Walmart and others including Home Depot, Walgreens, CVS, and Lowe’s have all said they will serve customers who are not wearing masks following a series of incidents of violence and even death inflicted against employees by customers angered over the mandates, CNN reported this week.
The outlet notes:
Retailers and their employees are finding themselves playing the uncomfortable role of mask police. The increase in coronavirus cases is prompting concern over how to protect both customers and workers in crowded stores from infecting each other.
There is no federal mandate to wear a mask, and many state and local governments have not required wearing one. This has forced retailers to navigate a patchwork system and left them in the position of having to create their own policies.
“Many retailers feel like they have to act since some governors haven’t,” Melissa Murdock, a spokesperson for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, told CNN.
The group sent a letter to the National Governor’s Association earlier this month imploring state leaders to issue mandatory mask-wearing in public.
Critics contend that store management or security should be enforcing retailers’ mask policies.
“Either security or management needs to tell people that they must wear a face mask in order to be served. It’s no different than wearing shoes or a shirt,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said.
If retailers “are not requiring customers to wear a mask within their store, then they never had a requirement. All they had was a public relations stunt,” he added.
But a rising tide of angry confrontations and even violence over masks is forcing retailers to respond.
In May, for instance, a security guard at a Family Dollar Store in Michigan was shot and killed after telling a customer to put on a mask.
Also, scores of videos of incidents involving customers, store employees, and others fighting over mask requirements have been posted to social media in the past several weeks as mandatory mask-wearing policies spread around the country.
For its part, Walmart is stationing employees called “health ambassadors” at the entrance of stores to remind customers of the mask-wearing policy.
However, if a customer refuses, ambassadors are trained to allow the customer into the store and notify management.
I don’t get these people. If you are worried about them having the virus, why would you engage and get in their space? Wouldn’t you avoid them “like the plague”?
— passing through (@gritshappen) July 28, 2020
Don’t blame her.
Blame the origin, the entire situation.
Some people don’t get it. Older generations know no better than to believe everything the media tells them. The news used to be their only source of information for years.
— ☼ 𝚉𝙾𝙽𝙰 𝙹𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂 ☼ (@zonacjones) July 28, 2020
They have moved on from Lockdown Karens to Mask Karens pic.twitter.com/SLXIGPSw2h
— Not A Redheaded Libertarian (@BadinBoarder) July 28, 2020
It has become a mask cult. It’s sad knowing we have all lived around these people without realizing it until now.
— Mandy ☕🦋🇺🇸 (@SpringSteps) July 28, 2020
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Jan. 6 committee chair Benny Thompson offers a stunning take on potential Trump criminal actions - January 2, 2022
- Life-long New Yorker posts ‘sad’ Twitter ode on post-pandemic Big Apple being ‘shadow of its former self’ - January 2, 2022
- NYPD officer shot in head in police lot as he slept in vehicle between shifts - January 2, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!