Mask and You Shall Receive

I work in a large clothing store, and during COVID lockdowns and restrictions, we had to deal with constant checks from COVID marshals. This meant we were frequently reminding customers to wear masks properly and to keep to the social distancing markers on the floor.

During a particularly busy period, I walk past the queue and notice a woman with her mask under her chin.

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

Customer: *Heavy sigh.* “Fine.” *Pulls it up.*

I move on. Two minutes later, one of my supervisors, who’s assigned to queue duty, asks the same woman to step back onto a social distancing marker. 

Supervisor: “Ma’am, can you just step back onto the marker, please?”

Customer: *Screaming.* “I don’t have to follow your stupid rules! You can’t tell me what to do! Where do I complain about these stupid COVID rules?!”

Without missing a beat: 

Supervisor: “Ten Downing Street.”

To the American readers, that would be like answering: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.

The woman sputters, storms off in a rage, and my supervisor gets a mild telling-off later, but it was so worth it.