Ice Cream Shop Fights Back After Customers Make Employees Cry Over Mask Policy
The owner of the Ohio ice cream shop said the girls have been sworn at and had doors slammed in their faces
As some people continue to freak out over wearing a mask that could help stop the spread of coronavirus, which has already killed almost 561,000 people globally, one ice cream shop owner has had enough with the way their employees — mostly teenagers — are being treated by customers.
Mootown Creamery owner Angela Brooks in Berea, Ohio posted an emotional message to customers who didn’t want to wear masks — and didn’t want its employees wearing one either.
“I’ve been trying not to say anything, but it is getting out of control. STOP!!! Stop yelling at these young girls,” Brooks wrote on Facebook. “Stop slamming doors. Stop swearing at them and making a scene. STOP!!! These girls are wearing masks for YOUR protection. They are required by the state to wear them, and they do so with a smile because they care about you and your safety.”
Brooks went on to say she’s sick of customers throwing “temper tantrums” and calling the girls she employs “paranoid” or “anti-American.” She also said some customers have sworn at these kids for wearing a mask during a pandemic.
“Does it feel good to make a 16-year-old girl cry in the bathroom?” she asked. “Or sob on her way home from work? Does that make you feel better about Covid? How would you feel if someone did this to your child?” Brooks told Cleveland 19. “We’ve had everything from customers stomping their feet, slamming the doors, screaming and yelling, cussing at the girls, calling them names, it’s been awful.”
The response to her now-viral post has been mostly positive, Brooks tells Scary Mommy.
“We have been overwhelmed by the response, which had been 95 percent positive,” she says. “A few negative Facebook comments and emails, but that’s to be expected on a topic that is very heated right now. On the store level, we’ve had an outpouring of positivity and love! The kids working definitely feel the mood change and it’s a less stressful work environment.”
In fact, upon hearing about the situation many of the girls were put in, Mootown customers asked the owners to set up a “virtual tip jar” via a GoFundMe page for the kids. The money (almost $10K now) will be split evenly amongst 16 teenage and young adult employees.
These are kids. Doing a job. Serving you ice cream during a pandemic. The in-store policy is you must wear a mask. If that infringes on your ability to hold your shit together for five minutes while you wait outside for your ice cream, it’s time to reexamine your life.
“To those of you who haven’t been absolute monsters during all of this,” Brooks concluded, “THANK YOU!!!! We love you, appreciate you, and look forward to seeing you soon!”
