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Costco worker is being praised online after he asked a customer who refused to wear a mask to leave the store. - As of May 4, Costco has required all shoppers to wear masks while in its stores.
- Enforcing coronavirus-safety related procedures is proving to be challenging for many
retail workers.
The internet is praising a Costco worker after he told a customer who refused to wear a mask while shopping to leave the store.
A video that was shared online by the shopper, and that later went viral, shows the standoff between the Costco worker and this member. The worker explains in the video clip that he asking the customer to wear the mask because "this is company policy." The shopper then responds: "And I am not wearing the mask because this is a free country."
"Yes. It's a free country. To explain what that means: #Costco has the right to require that customers wear masks (or shoes or shirts). The customer has the right to shop somewhere else if they don't wish to put on a mask. The customer does NOT have the right to ignore the rules," one Twitter user wrote in response to the video.
"Go #Costco and love this guy! Thank you! Wear a mask," another wrote.
As of May 4, Costco has required all of its members to wear masks when shopping in its stores to protect both workers and customers' safety, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation. But despite this, its new policy has led to much debate online with some shoppers calling for a boycott of the warehouse chain because of these new rules.
"Adios #Costco! Won't be renewing my membership!" one Twitter user wrote earlier this month, Business Insider's Shoshy Ciment reported. "I REFUSE to mask up for the low IQ mob that's falling for the propaganda, not to mention the health risks by restricting oxygen!"
Other shoppers came to the retailer's defense, pointing out that they felt safer shopping in stores when people are wearing masks.
Enforcing new social distancing and coronavirus-safety related procedures is proving to be challenging for many retail workers. In some cases, the dispute around this has resulted in fatal incidents. Earlier this month, a Family Dollar security guard was shot and killed after he stopped a customer from entering the store because her daughter wasn't wearing a protective mask, for example.
Experts say this situation will only get worse as more stores across the country start to reopen and customers return to a new set of shopping rules.
"In 30 plus years of studying retail and crisis situations, we have never seen a situation of customers being so rude to hourly employees," Larry Barton, a professor of crisis management and public safety at the University of Central Florida, wrote in an email to Business Insider.
"It's demoralizing and, as we saw with the shooting of the security guard, a sometimes deadly environment," he added.
Barton said that workers are also receiving little or no guidance from management on how to handle a volatile person.
"Retailers must train employees on de-escalating hostile persons now – before the need," he said.
"I am very concerned that this summer, as temperatures rise, we will see a noteworthy increase in short tempers moving from verbal to physical. The time to prepare is now before a critical incident occurs," he added.
If you are a retail worker and have a story to share please contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 768-4716 using a non-work phone, by email to mhanbury@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @MarySHanbury.
Read the original article on Business Insider