An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 28

I work at a food co-op. During the height of the health crisis, when our state had a mask mandate in effect for all grocery stores and the city had limits on the capacity of grocery stores, we got to deal with all sorts of fun people who did not like following these rules.

I was sitting at the back register when a man walked up to the register with his mask down around his chin and started unloading his groceries onto the belt.

Me: “Sir, could you please pull up your mask?”

Customer: *Grunts*

Me: “Sir, you need to pull up your mask.”

Customer: “I will when I am done unloading my groceries.”

I just decided to sit there until he finished unloading his groceries and decided to pull up his mask. He continued to unload his groceries for about ten seconds before looking up at me with a rather annoyed expression.

Customer: “Well, you can start scanning things.”

Me: “I will happily start scanning things when you pull up your mask.”

Customer: “I said I would do that when I am done unloading the groceries.”

Me: “Well then, I will wait.”

Customer: “Come on, man. You don’t have to be an a**hole about it.”

Me: “State mandate says you have to wear a mask while you are in here. I am not going to ring you out until you pull up your mask. Simple as that.”

He stared at me for a few seconds and then begrudgingly pulled up his mask. After that, I was able to finish his transaction without incident. It always baffles me when people think they can demand that retail workers do extraneous tasks or things that they simply think we should be able to do. All we have to do is not ring you out and there is nothing you can do about it.

As an aside, after he asked if I had to be an a**hole about this, I was really tempted to tell him that, yes, apparently, I do have to be an a**hole about it because clearly doing that worked.

Related:
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 27
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 26
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 25
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 24
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 23