Anti-mask shoppers find themselves publicly shamed


Videos and photos of in-store shoppers purportedly behaving badly have been going viral on social media for years, but the occurrences have spiked in recent weeks as some shoppers rebel against face mask mandates.
Last Friday, a woman at a North Hollywood Trader Joe’s was filmed cursing, slamming her shopping basket to the ground and calling employees and shoppers “Democratic pigs” when confronted about not wearing a mask. She is heard saying mask mandates violate federal laws. Millions watched the video on social media over the weekend with the incident earning widespread news coverage.
She later told an ABC News affiliate she had permission from the manager to shop without a mask, has a medical condition and was cursed by a male shopper for not wearing one. Trader Joe’s said her story was false and that a manager offered to shop for her while she waited outside, but she refused.
Two days earlier, a woman attempted to publicly shame a barista at a Starbucks in San Diego with a Facebook post after he asked if she had a mask. The women wrote in her post, “Meet Lenen from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I’m not wearing a mask. Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption.” She took a picture of him wearing a face mask and included it in the post.
The post led to an outpouring of support for the barista. A GoFundMe page, entitled “Tips for Lenin Standing Up To A San Diego Karen” started by a stranger has raised over $100,000. The barista plans to use the funds to pursue his dream of teaching dance and donating to the San Diego community.
Other incidents include a man trying to fight his way into an Orlando Walmart after being told of a mask requirement, a group of shoppers in a Staten Island ShopRite vilifying an unmasked shopper until she left and a Costco employee calmly escorting a man refusing to wear a mask from the store.
Retailers generally respond to such incidents by restating their mask policy.
- Woman Kicked Out of Trader Joe’s for Refusing to Wear Mask, Blames ‘Democratic Pigs’ – Newsweek
- Woman speaks out after mask tirade at Trader Joe’s store in North Hollywood – ABC7
- Starbucks Barista Gets $87,000 in Donations After Customer’s Mask Complaint – The New York Times
- Tips for Lenin Standing Up To A San Diego Karen – GoFundMe
- Woman Who Shamed Starbucks Barista for Refusing to Serve Her Without Face Mask Speaks Out as Barista’s GoFundMe Grows – NBC San Diego
- Video shows angry Florida man trying to fight his way into a Walmart after refusing to wear a face mask – Orlando Weekly
- Shoppers at Staten Island grocery store scream at woman for not wearing mask – CBS News
- ‘This isn’t about the mask, it’s about control’: Costco customer asked to leave after refusing to wear a face covering – USA Today
- Face Mask Confrontations Go Viral At Retailers, Starbucks – Mediapost
- The Problem With Politicizing Face Masks – Refinery29
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Is the viral shaming of shoppers who refuse to wear masks on social media more of a positive or negative development for retailers? How should and can stores respond?
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38 Comments on "Anti-mask shoppers find themselves publicly shamed"
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Managing Director, GlobalData
This is really, really simple.
A retail store is private property. Within the law, private property owners have the right to set whatever policies they wish for those entering their premises. This includes an obligation to wear a mask. If you don’t like those policies then you are free not to shop there and to go elsewhere. If you do want to shop there, you abide by the policies.
It is a great shame that so many people don’t understand this and are unable to show respect for retailers and the staff working there. Some of the responses seen on social media are plain ugly and downright criminal. It is both shocking and saddening to see.
Strategy and Operations Executive
Spot on as always Neil!
Retail Transformation Thought Leader
Well said, Neil, and so true.
CEO, The Customer Service Rainmaker, Rainmaker Solutions
Well said, Neil.
Founder, CEO & Author, HeadCount Corporation
Shaming is negative in almost any context. In the world we live today, confrontations like these will most certainly be captured on phones and posted. These acts of reckless ignorance are sad and disgraceful, and frontline employees should not be subjected to this type of abuse. The best approach retailers can take is to post clear guidelines at the entrance of their stores – no masks, no service. Period. Given how aggressive and emotional some shoppers feel about the issue, I urge retailers to apply additional security at the entrance of the store to minimize confrontations inside the store.
Director, Affiliated Foods, Inc.
I have seen a lot of these videos over the past few days. In my state, the counties that have the largest renewed spikes in COVID-19 asked the governor about implementing a mask requirement for their county, and the governor has not denied any of those requests. As much as some people don’t like the requirement (especially at restaurants and gyms) people need to know there is value in wearing a mask to help curb new cases. I have also seen where customers have acted badly and taken it out on the employees — when the rule is not the employees’ fault. They are only adhering to the rules mandated by the county. Acting like a fool isn’t going to accomplish anything other than that person being slammed on social media. Stores need to continue following rules and monitoring that customers are adhering to them. Those that don’t or can’t should not be allowed into the stores.
Managing Partner, Advanced Simulations
In fairness, I’ve shamed shoppers at my local stores who do not wear masks, especially the idiot at Kroger the other day who was coughing and not wearing a mask. Regardless of whether people like it or not, it is an anti-social act to not wear a mask. Retailers should relish social media conflicts – it’s free advertising – as long as they are handling the problem as nicely and politely as the people at Gelson’s clearly did.
Global Retail & CPG Sales Strategist, IBM
I am still for individual choice. We are all adults. This goes for both shoppers and store operators. We have the right to not shop at stores that do not enforce mask wearing. We also have the right to not wear masks. In rural areas, there is no shame nor much reason to wear masks. The news reports only on urban areas. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Even within the same state, Manhattan should have different guidelines than rural upstate NY. Trouble is, few elected leaders understand this.
Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC
So is a crowded bar full of unmasked customers in a rural area any less risky than a crowded bar full of unmasked customers in Houston? Can you guarantee that everyone in that bar (or restaurant, or store) is virus-free? Is the contact tracing up to speed so you know that none of those bar patrons were recently in an urban “hot zone” for the virus?
Yes, there is less population density in rural areas (and therefore fewer outbreaks) but there are no moats or invisible fences around those areas.
Global Retail & CPG Sales Strategist, IBM
Most cases in rural areas have been traced to “outside visitors” who come from an urban area and visit friends or family in the rural area and pass the virus on to the rural friends/family after an extended visit.
The cases in rural areas are not because someone in a big city stopped off in a rural Walmart to buy some snacks and use the restroom — that is not how this is spreading in the rural areas.
Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting
Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC
If a store has the right to say, “No shoes, no shirt, no service” — for public health reasons! — then it has the same right to expect its customers to wear masks. Neil is correct that private businesses should be able to exclude customers as long as the reasons aren’t discriminatory.
It’s sad that a simple, common-sense public health precaution was politicized to the point where customers are warring with each other, and with store associates just trying to do their jobs. Not wearing a mask, in a setting where you are asked to do so, is not some sort of statement about your political freedom — it’s just plain rude, and arguably dangerous given the rising outbreaks.
CEO, Co-Founder, RetailWire
Yet another way in which the US has handled the pandemic worse than any other country in the world. This is what happens in the absence of governmental leadership: we are all left to fend for ourselves, with predictable results.
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics; Executive Director, Global Commerce Education
The retailers should follow their protocols, no exception. If a situation gets violent, they should do their best to de-escalate.
Otherwise I am all for the shoppers taking photos and videos of those who do not wear masks. There are consequences to decisions people make and if this is one of the consequences, so be it. You asked for it. You chose to be just plain selfish and have no regard for your fellow human beings.
And if that is not a good enough reason to wear a mask, Goldman Sachs just came out with a study that a national mask mandate could save the economy $1 trillion.
Founding Partner, Merchandising Metrics
It shouldn’t be that difficult for people to express their own point of view AND have enough respect for other people to do the exact same thing. Don’t want to wear a mask? Shop at a like-minded retailer with like-minded customers. If you want to shop at a store requiring a mask? Pretty simple to put on a mask. It’s not exactly a hazmat suit. The states with discipline have a wildly different curve than states that thought haircuts and beach outings were the priority. Now who has more “freedom?” And who can expect a quicker and longer term rebound in the local economy?
Managing Partner, RSR Research
Well, this may not be a popular opinion, but I am all for shaming those who don’t wear masks. This is not a matter of dressing poorly. It’s a matter of being a disease spreader.
Shaming is fine by me. I have no interest in dying to be polite. I reported an Instacart driver who was unmasked and tell anyone I see not wearing one in public to put one on.
It’s our only recourse to stupidity. Sorry.
Co-Founder and Executive Partner, VectorScient
I don’t think viral shaming will mean anything meaningful to the retailers. It will be a localized, minor disturbance at the time of the incident. We see the “customer from hell” type of videos from time to time. These are no different.
VP of Retail Innovation, Aptos
EVP Thought Leadership, Marketing, WD Partners
I frankly don’t get it, either one; the shaming or especially the refusal to wear a mask. The thing everyone has to realize is that it’s about being courteous and potentially (because who knows?) saving some lives or protecting others from severe sickness. Maybe less shaming and more explaining that it has nothing to do with “freedom” but more about someone not killing someone’s mother/grandmother. It feels like some education needs to happen more than anything. C’mon, America, let’s be civil!
Chief Customer Officer, Incisiv
The use of social media for public shaming, in general, is not great for our society. There is just nowhere that a line can be drawn as to what is acceptable and what is not. That said, retailers have the right to put policies in place that are best for their staff and customers. If there is no other way to get these people using masks as a political statement to get in line with policies (which, from what I’ve seen, seems to be the case), it’s a tool that must be used.