Massachusetts Ice Cream Shop Closes Up One Day After Reopening Due to Customer Harassment
Jose Nino
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The owner of a Massachusetts ice cream shop closed up his business just after one day of reopening during the Wuhan virus pandemic.
Mark Lawrence, the the owner of Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour, made the decision to close his store after angry customers harassed a teenage employee.
Lawrence was anticipating reopening his shop in accordance to the state’s restaurant guidelines on Mother’s Day weekend.
However the reopening on May, turned out to be uglier than expected.
Lawrence told FOX25 Boston that customers grew frustrated with the longer wait times for the ice cream and started taking out their frustration on his staff.
“One of my best workers quit yesterday at the end of her shift,” he commented. “But the words she was called and the language, you wouldn’t even say in a men’s locker room. And to say it to a 17-year-old kid, they should be ashamed of themselves.”
According to a new plan to keep customers and employees safe, Lawrence announced that he posted on the shop’s Facebook page that all orders must be placed an hour beforehand. However, many customers didn’t abide by the new guidelines, according to Lawrence. In addition, they became rowdy.
“People have forgotten how to treat other human beings in the six or seven weeks that they’ve been confined to their homes,” Lawrence commented. “They have no clue how to respect other human beings.”
Lawrence said he will close the store’s doors until he comes up with a new operating plan.
In the hours after Lawrence’s decision to close, the rest of the community sent him hundreds of messages of support.
“I was very impressed by how your staff stayed patient and kind,” one user wrote. “You guys were doing everything you could and I do not blame you for not reopening. Know there are plenty here that will support you and accept your service however we can get it.”
The parlor filled limited orders on April 9, which Lawrence statd “was a vastly improved operation” in an update on the shop’s Facebook page. He said customers “followed the rules and it worked,” with orders being placed over an hour beforehand, and some were even placed a day before.
“We will continue to tweak our efforts and eventually try again to open full speed ahead,” Lawrence posted on Facebook. “Thank you for the incredible outpouring of love and support from so many. It truly means so much to me at this time.”
Under Governor Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home order, restaurants have been allowed to offer take-out services while dine-in services are temporarily shut down in order to contain the spread of the Wuhan virus.
Non-essential business shutdowns and the stay-at-home order are staying in place until at least May 18.
The real culprit behind such situations are state governments, which have made small businessmen from gun store owners to salon owners miserable.
Because of the shutdown orders many businesses have had to close up shop or radically alter their business models.
Let’s hope that lawmakers exercise some sanity soon. The country cannot take shutdowns for any longer.
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