Clerk: "Do you have a mask?"
Me: "Yes, I do! Thank you," I said as I made my way over to the register.
As I waited at the register, still without a mask, I discovered that the clerk with the box was the person in charge of that register. She acted as if she was going to check me out, but rather than ringing up the item, she just stood there and looked at me. (Weird silence ensued. I smiled at her. She didn't smile back--at least I don't think so as she was masked.)" - Karen Hardin
So the store not only had a policy but was kind enough to provide their customers with a mask if they did not have one. The idiocy here is squarely on Hardin, who never explains why she refuses to wear a mask beyond this nebulous freedom nonsense. Perhaps the store's management lost someone close to them from the virus and wants to protect their workers and customers. Their motivation is irrelevant. They own the store and they get to decide. The way our system works, if Hardin does not like it she goes to a different store that allows her to potentially spread a lethal virus without seeming to have a care about it. Do not lose sight of what Hardin is revealing here. She is choosing to have this confrontation knowing full well it would come. She mockingly refused a mask be claiming she had one but was essentially refusing to put it on. Have you ever been told by a restaurant that you must wear a suit jacket? Or that you had to have a collar shirt? No shoes no service? Any of this ringing a bell? I might find it objectionable to force me into formal wear in order to eat but that is the choice the owner of the business gets to make. I do not get a say other than choosing to not eat there. Hardin now escalates the confrontation she created.
'Me: "I'm ready to check out please."
Clerk: "You don't have a mask on. We insist our customers wear masks," she continued.
Me: "My aunt went into a store earlier this year dutifully wearing her mask. She passed out due to the lack of oxygen and fractured her pelvis," I shared. "I don't think you want customers passing out," I finished.
She continued to just stare at me...Clerk: "I need to call a manager." (Manager appears and looks as if she has been eating a bowl of lemons.)
