I wish people weren't jerks

A former coworker was going through a tough time. He lost his job, his dad's health took a turn for the worse and moved in with him, and all this stress took a terrible toll on his marriage. After his dad died, his wife left him. He was, understandably, shattered.

Then he met Theresa. She's positive and full of energy. They got married and opened their own fabric/yarn shop about 90 miles outside Chicago. They're both highly artistic and visual people and put all their considerable talents in launching this small business. Then guess what: the pandemic struck. They're struggling, but they have managed to keep their doors open.

Theresa is not only a smart businesswoman, she's a mother. She wants everyone who enters her shop -- customers as well as employees -- safe. It's the right thing to do, and it's good business.

Earlier this week, she had such a distressing run in. Theresa told a woman who placed an order by phone that, when she came to the store to pick up her thread, she had to wear a mask. Yes, a store employee would be happy to walk the order out to her car and wait while she checked it for accuracy, but the customer had to wear a mask when she engaged with the employee.

Theresa reiterated the policy in the confirmation email she sent to the customer.

You already know what follows, don't you? The customer showed up at the curb, rolled down her window, and wasn't wearing a mask. Since Theresa believed her employee's safety was her primary concern, she went out with the order herself. She handed the bag to the maskless woman through her car window and wordlessly turned and walked away.

The woman was furious! Theresa was supposed to stand there when the customer checked her order! "Well," Theresa responded, "You were supposed to wear a mask."

The customer wrote a snotty Google review, saying the store was rude. Google reviews matter to fledgling, independent businesses. It was a crappy thing for the customer to do. And bad Covid19 karma.

Why do people do this? Why do they engage retail establishments and openly flout rules they know are in place? Don't try that tired old "I have asthma" routine with me. If your breathing is that compromised, you're too fragile to interact during a pandemic and should do all your shopping online. (And yes, Theresa would have shipped the thread USPS.)

What a fucking bully! How else do you describe someone who needs to score pyrrhic political points so badly that they're willing to wreck the day of someone who is there to serve them and only makes minimum wage? Do they care about what this business means to Theresa and her family? Or are they so filled with hubris that their "individuality" means more than the comfort and safety of the people they meet?

I applaud Theresa. And I'm happy to report that, out of 23 Google reviews, 22 are 5-star.