<p>The anti-maskers complained when the manager allowed masked customers to enter the store, asking why they were allowed to shop. The feigned innocence and insincere bafflement is really something. The demonstrators blocked the entrance to the store, preventing other shoppers from entering, then sent some of their group around to the back of the store when they found out that mask-wearing customers were being let in through the back door. </p><p>The whole thing is incredibly stupid, but the Trader Joe's employees standing their ground with superhuman patience and diplomacy are incredibly impressive. </p><p>(Check out the subtle shade moment at 1:52 when a masked shopper gives a sassy little foot kick as she enters the store.)</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">TJ 1 9 21 Salem OR</small>
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</p><p><br></p><p>The Oregon Health Authority has made it very clear that the state's mask mandate is binding for all. In the <a href="https://sharedsystems.dhsoha.state.or.us/DHSForms/Served/le2390e.pdf" target="_blank">Q & A section</a> of its website, the question of whether there are even any health exemptions is addressed: <br></p><p><em>"If a person with a disability cannot wear a mask, face covering or face shield, a place of public accommodation, such as a business or space open to the public, will need to work with that person to provide a reasonable modification. Some common reasonable modifications are: free curbside pick-up, free delivery or an appointment by phone or video. A reasonable modification does not include allowing a customer inside without a mask, face covering or face shield."</em></p><p>Also, governors have the right to enact emergency powers, so yes, a public health mandate is legally binding during a public health emergency.</p><p>In addition, Trader Joe's is a private business, which has the right to enact and enforce its own rules for shopping there. We've lived with "No shoes, no shirt, no service" signs for decades without demonstrators claiming that they have every right to shop barefoot. Shopping at a specific grocery store is not a constitutional right. These people aren't just annoying, they're wrong about everything they are saying. They're also putting others at risk by refusing to wear a mask in public. </p><p>This isn't hard. The science behind mask mandates has been clear for many months at this point, and further backed up by data from places that tracked the virus before and after mask mandates were implemented. But the key to success is compliance. If people would just wear them because it's the right thing to do to protect everyone and to enable us to live some semblance of normal life without killing millions, that would be great. The irony is that mask mandates only become necessary when people don't do that. </p><p>The U.S. is drowning in COVID-19, and these people are flipping over the lifeboats because they're uncomfortable. And the entitlement of believing a business has to serve you when that's what you're doing? Ridiculous. Good for these Trader Joe's employees for not backing down. </p>From Your Site Articles
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