Fight back against anti-maskers in stores

[cyclonefence]

Store management need to understand that we don't want to shop in places where we are not safe. They need our business more than they need the business of the minority who vocally resist masking.

Let them know that we'll take our business elsewhere if they can't make their establishment safe to shop in.

[bigtree]

1. but be damn careful

...confrontations have been reported ultimately deadly in some cases.

[cyclonefence]

29. But you're not confronting anybody

You're telling the manager you're not going to shop there unless a mask requirement is enforced. You don't say anything to the people who are not wearing masks.

[pecosbob]

2. Report it to management...do not intervene yourself.

If and when management fails to act responsibly then seek other forms of redress such as local media. I've worked every day of the pandemic in a local market and have been dealing with this for more than six months. Do not put your personal safety at risk.

I'm old and cranky and it's pretty easy to trip all my circuit breakers, particularly with drunks for whom I have little tolerance. I have been known to chase customers from my store with a baseball bat, but it seldom helps anything and usually just makes me feel foolish afterward

[gab13by13]

3. Just report it to management,

I live among Trumpers but the stores are doing a decent job enforcing wearing masks. I shop a lot at a particular grocery store, if I see people allowed in without masks I know the manager well enough from shopping there a lot and will tell her, bye, bye. That's all it should take.

[samnsara]

4. well its not the stores fault..its the fault of the DAMNED local law.....

In our state masks are mandated...but our sheriff along with every other god damned sheriff in this BLUE state have said they wont enforce it. So they leave it up to the teen baggers, the pregnant cashier..the elderly managers...the mom and pop store employees.


The local law has given permission to break the law!


There are some establishments (ie a local brewery named Whipsaw) who brag about no masks being needed. Those folks have been substantially publically shamed in letters to the editor and not too great YELP reviews. Thats how we can fight back.


We can also leave nice Yelp reviews for the local businesses who really try to make it work.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. The division into red businesses and blue businesses will have a memory

and spending will reflect that for a long time if only because habits are hard to change

[llmart]

8. Masks are mandated by state law in my state also.

However, there may be a store employee sitting at the entrance monitoring for masks, but when the shopper gets into the store they proceed to walk around shopping with that mask under their nose or even worse, under their chin. There's no monitoring of that. (I'm looking at you, Kroger.)

I have written Kroger headquarters and reported three of their stores in my area and get back the standard corporate b.s. about how they "take this seriously"...blah, blah, blah.

[Mariana]

31. What about trespassing?

If the store management tells someone to leave the premises, and they refuse, isn't that still a crime?

Store employees, managers and owners shouldn't argue with these people. Interactions can go something like this:

"Please put on a mask/wear your mask correctly, or you'll have to leave the store." If customer refuses,
"Please leave the store, or I'm going to call the police." If customer refuses,
"I'm calling the police now." Then do it.

My daughter works at a supermarket, and this is pretty much what they do at her store.

[Trueblue Texan]

6. Take their photos...freaks them out. nt

[Celerity]

10. Video is far better. NT

[lagomorph777]

14. Oh perfect! Maskholes are rare around here but once in a while somebody takes it off in the store.

I will take your advice.

[judesedit]

7. Or just go outside of the store until the maskless leave.

That will be a hint. Leave altogether if the visit wasn't a necessary one. No store employee gets hurt that way. And you are minimising your risk. You can thank Dumpy for the stooges' ignorance. VOTE BIDEN/HARRIS ASAP! I live in Florida so there are many maskless in some areas. I'm in and out of the stores as quickly as possible. Mask is working well so far.

[lagomorph777]

16. I doubt that Wal-Mart or Home Depot would notice you leaving.

MAYBE a Hallmark store would notice; even then it's doubtful.

[plimsoll]

9. Abandon your cart, tell the management and leave.

They'll get the point. The store has to pay (wages) to restock. They run the risk of spoilage. It's a cost to them not to you.

It is unfair to put the stores in this position, but you are not really the ones responsible for putting them in that position. You are trying to protect yourself from potentially dangerous behavior. The store has a responsibility to provide a safe environment. If they cannot do so you should leave as soon as you can.

The stores can enforce mask wearing, or not as they wish.

If they choose not to enforce there will be a cost, lost customers, increased labor, increased loss of stock. That's a business decision we should leave to them.

If they choose to enforce and are met with resistance, they should call the police. If the police choose not to enforce private property rights then it's obvious that the issue isn't about "rights," but about who has to power to enforce their will on the community.

The rights own little Kristal Nacht acted out against "maskers."

[greymattermom]

11. Just tell the manager you have a preexisting condition

and had to leave your cart. Ask them to start a safe shopping hour when the store first opens. If nothing else works, do pick up.

[plimsoll]

13. That works too, unless you get charged for pickup.

Why should you subsidize their political choices.

[AllaN01Bear]

17. no socks , no, shoes ,no shirt , no mask. no service . we refuse to service anyone . period.

replace the ciity police chief and the head sherrif.

[TheBlackAdder]

24. Yep. Do a cargo drop stating that the store is unsafe. If a few people do it, they'll crack down.

.

Spend 20 minutes shopping and then abandon the cart, forcing the store to restock the merch or discard it.

After a few times, they'll get the hint.


I did that once at a Lowes. They forced everyone to use self-serve when I was working all day and spent an hour shopping. I just wanted to get home and they refused to open a register for the 40+ items I had picked from various sections of the store. I mean I had a lot of shit to scan. I said that I wasn't going to scan all of this myself and they said they weren't going to open a register. I just walked out. The front-line manager was like, "Hey, where are you going?" I said, "I'm leaving." She was shocked that I actually bailed. That store location never tried that shit again.

.

[BlueWavePsych]

27. Good idea. Will try it.

[Celerity]

12. You think it is bad now, wait until Biden is POTUS. The RW trogs will declare holy war.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. a quite possible scenario

[AllaN01Bear]

15. re: tale of 2 stores

earlier in the pandemic, i brought out this line of thought.
now in the 2 stores mentioned , now 100% compliance of mask wearing.
several other stores also seen 100 % compliance . havent seen any antimaskholes at all lately. our local w/m had a karin disturbance and she wanted to see the manager, and manager along with security escorted her off the propertey. becomes a trespassing issue . got a lot of them in my apartment complex.
we had 3 deaths in the county reported due to c19.

[Evolve Dammit]

18. At least call store managers and corporate offices. They need to hear it. Also state and local gov't

[tekriter]

20. My store has a strict mask policy

I work at IKEA and our store has a person, sometimes two, stationed at the front entrance to enforce mask wearing. We have the paper disposable masks for anyone who forgets theirs - the cost of a paper mask is microscopic compared to our average sale per customer.

But I’m happy to say that our management has made it quite clear that store security can be called on anyone refusing to wear a mask. And our security people have been great about escorting people out of the store that put up an argument.

About a week ago, we had a couple come in the store, no masks. I stopped them, told them about our store policy. They were prepared - the woman put a pair of black lace panties on her face, the guy put a jock strap on his.

I told them that those weren’t acceptable face coverings; they just kept walking in. Security was called, and our on-duty manager accompanied our security guy as they walked the morons out. Sure taught us a lesson, didn’t they? Why someone would want to make themselves look that idiotic in front of hundreds of other people escapes me.

[Wicked Blue]

21. What do you do when there are kids running amok in a store without masks?

Yesterday I was in Burlington store where I encountered two women wearing masks, and three kids. Two of the kids wore masks, the third one, about 7 years old didn't have a mask. He and a masked boy about the same age were running up and down the aisle laughing. Their mothers seemed to be discussing a frying pan, and were ignoring the boys.

Staying back about 12 feet, I told the women they should control their kids, because it wasn't safe. I'm not sure they understood me because they may not have spoken English. I turned around, went down to the main level and mentioned it to a cashier while paying for a few items. I asked if maybe someone could make a general announcement that kids as well as adults should wear masks in the store. She looked surprised and told me they didn't want to offend their shoppers. I decided not to push it and left with my purchases.

[MineralMan]

25. When someone tells me they "don't want to offend shoppers,"

I just say, "Well, I'm a shopper, and I am offended." I patronize the same stores all the time, and have done so for years. I am recognized by store employees, because I'm in the stores frequently, and am distinctive looking.

That statement gets their attention. If it doesn't, it will get the attention of management if I bring it to their attention.

[WhiteTara]

22. I called the store owner

and told him that if he didn't get his mask policy together I was going to start a BAN on his store. I informed him I was a social media influencer and would send word out to my VERY LARGE following list and would personally stand on the sidewalk in front of his store.

The mask policy is in place.

[Ligyron]

23. If they don't have a mask, they don't get in the store, period.

Cut them off at the knees. I'm in Florida and even the Walmart I went to get a car battery from does this. Publix too and if they don't have one they provide one so no excuse.

[Poiuyt]

26. The CDC has recommended that store owners do not confront people not wearing a mask because of

the possibility of workplace violence. What does that tell you about our country?

[Maraya1969]

28. I might just call this little convenience store I went to yesterday. No one wearing a mask

and they had a bunch of food like fried chicken. I was going to get a hotdog but I thought about it and realized that if they can't be bothered to wear a mask then they probably won't wear gloves while making the food.

So I left.

[Revanchist]

30. We have 9 out of 10 shoppers here Not wearing masks

Unless I want to starve I have to ignore them

[womanofthehills]

32. I had to go to the Apple Store last week & was impressed

3 security men in uniform outside. Only a few let into store at a time. Needed to have an appointment to get in line. Staff came out and called your name to enter with them. Albuquerque has a good size store too. Line outside with 6 ft spacing. Guy in outside line behind me had his mask under his nose - security zoomed in on him and told him to raise it. Not messing around.

[ooky]

33. I don't go in stores anymore.

We have a lot of grocery pick up options where I live, and what I can't get there I order on line and have shipped. I don't need to go in a store. It's probably a good thing too. The Catholic School that moved in beside our subdivision doesn't seem to worry about masks at all. I never see anyone over there wearing a mask. We have a right wing local government that doesn't give a shit about enforcing anything (unless it's something a white rich developer wants).