While many places in the U.S. have removed mask mandates, some businesses are still requiring employees to wear masks as a safety measure two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these businesses, Half Price Books, has established that its stores will follow local mask policies.
While cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, some people remain averse to in-store mask policies, especially after a relatively widespread removal of mask mandates.
@technicolorpachydermss The manager was on 🔥 tho #karens #karensoftiktok #antimaskers #battleofwits #fyp #fypシ #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Bella Murphy
In a viral video, a woman entering a Half Price Books location badgers a manager over the store’s mask policy, stating that she has “the right to explain” to these employees that mask-wearing “doesn’t help.”
The video, posted by @technicolorpachydermss, shows the woman repeatedly attempting to argue with a Half Price Books employee over the store’s mask policy. The employee responds, “I’m not having this conversation with you, ma’am,” and informs her that she needs to leave the store.
Studies show that wearing masks or respirators can lower one’s chance of testing positive for COVID-19 by a range of 56% to 83%, depending on the type of mouth and nose covering, per the CDC. However, the woman insists that she is immune to the virus after contracting it previously.
The woman ultimately puts on a mask and completes her purchase before leaving the store, telling the employee she had been speaking to that they had “lost a client,” and would lose more.
Commenters criticized the woman’s insistence that she was exempt from a policy that covered everyone in the building.
“The customers forget the basic rule of stores: The Manager reserves the right to refuse service to unruly customers,” one commenter wrote.
“Why can’t people just not be difficult?!” another commenter wrote. “He’s literally just doing his job, it’s freaking store policy!”
“People have to understand that there’s still places that require the mask usage,” a commenter wrote. “Not because the managers ENFORCED it, it’s the company that ENFORCES.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @technicolorpachydermss via a comment left on her video, as well as to Half Price Books via email regarding its mask policy.
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