Photo via @fred035schultz/Twitter
December 22, 2020, 2:59 pm
Typically when you see someone insisting on lying on the floor at a shopping establishment, it’s a toddler having a tantrum because they were told “no.” This situation wasn’t that different, except for the fact that it was a full-grown man refusing to get off the floor of a Costco because he was told he couldn’t continue potentially exposing people to a dangerous virus.
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The video, quickly spready by everyone’s favorite video-posters on Twitter, has gained over 1.6 million views as people wonder how on Earth we got to this point as a species.
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For decades people have observed, “No shoes, no shirt, no service.”
We have to wear a mask for now. That’s all.
Check out this guy refusing to wear a mask. He lies down in the middle of the store — as an employee attempts to reason with him…pic.twitter.com/TrqQwqmy6J
— Rex Chapman
(@RexChapman) December 21, 2020
According to MSN, the incident occurred in Lantana, Florida, because of course it did. The man was on the floor for about eight to 10 minutes after being asked to put on a mask in the Costco, where masks have been required for several months now.
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In the video, the man can be seen speaking with a police officer who leans over and talks to him calmly as another stands by for a full minute before he pops up, seeming happy as a clam. Witnesses say that he did so because the officer agreed to allow him to pay for his food and leave, presumably without having to put a mask on.
“He got up because the officer allowed him to pay for his stuff and leave, so he got up and paid for his stuff at the self check out then the officer escorted him out,” the person who took the video told MSN. “Outside the manager was arguing with an officer that they should have not let him pay for his stuff.”
Many viewers have also expressed frustration that the man seemed to remain unpunished for his bad behavior and was generally treated with kid gloves by the officer. In contrast, videos of police interactions with people of color don’t tend to go so well.
“Treat him like you would a Black man waiting for friends at Starbucks,” commented Twitter user Logan. “Or a Black college student sleeping at a common space at Yale. Or a Black man cashing his check at a bank in Michigan.”
“This is a perfect illustration of how white conservatives and Republicans treat rules when they feel inconvenienced but argue Black people deserve to die for not being 100% “in compliance” with all rules all the time,” another commenter pointed out.
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The man in the video reportedly said that he would sue both Costco and the police if he was touched, and it sounds like he was indeed allowed to leave without any trouble. If only all protesters were treated so kindly.
*First Published: December 22, 2020, 2:59 pm
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