A recent online video captured the scene as a Costco customer staunchly refused to wear his mask. People attempted to reason with the man, but to no avail.
At this point in the pandemic, that’s hardly a news story. Over the last ten months we’ve seen several stubborn shoppers refuse to abide by widespread mask-wearing guidelines.
But the shopper in this recent video set himself apart by laying down on the floor and crossing his arms in the middle of the argument.
And on top of that, he was behaving that way not with an employee, but with a police officer.
Though the video didn’t pick up exactly what the customer said to the officer, there was no mistaking the pose he struck. He looked exactly like a young child throwing a temper tantrum in public while adults plead for better behavior.
You can watch the video here:
Grown ass man throwing a tantrum at Costco because he was told to wear a mask. Location: Lantana FL from r/trashy
The man’s antics were shared on the “trashy” subReddit.
It made it to Twitter as well.
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
People who saw the video blasted the grown man for behaving absurdly.
So he legit threw a tantrum in the middle of a store like a 2 year old?
I would have kicked him
— Mr. One Through Five ™ (@HardlyClerkin) December 21, 2020
Grown men acting like babies when they don’t get their way. SMH.
— Unassimilated Invader 🇺🇸🇮🇳🏄🏽♂️🍷✈️ (@HatedPanther) December 21, 2020
Why has toddler behavior become acceptable to some men I wonder
— Darwin Woodka (@darwinwoodka) December 22, 2020
Never try to reason with an idiot. You’ll have to go down to his level, and there’s no way you can win. It’s his game. Just call the police and have him taken out of the establishment.
— Roslynne Levine (@roz_levine) December 21, 2020
Others observed White privilege at play.
That’s no employee. That’s a cop. And her partner is standing nearby.
THIS IS THE PRIVILEGE OF WHITE MEN.
Imagine what would have happened if that was a black guy lying there with all that anti-mask attitude.
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) December 21, 2020
That is the police coddling a white man while he acts like a child.
Grab him, escort him out for trespassing and revoke his membership to all the stores.
— Joan Greene (@joangreeneaz) December 22, 2020
If he was Black, they would be kneeling on his neck
— meidas__too sense (@toosense222) December 21, 2020
On the “trashy” subReddit, the responses were similar.
“Imagine touching your body to a super market floor just so you don’t have to prevent others from catching a disease” — stinky-c**t
“Some people have never had to do an unselfish thing in their entire life before and it shows.” — cookoobandana
“Time to test the ‘gallon of milk drop to the nuts’ challenge.” — creepyclownpicnic
“There’s literally women giving birth in masks and these p*ssbabies can’t wear one to go buy some bread and milk” — Mercenarian
Eventually, Newsflare caught up with the person who filmed the original video.
They shared some more details about the incident, which took place in a Costco in Lantana, Florida.
The perpetrator was a “Florida man.”
“He said he would sue Costco and the police if they touched him. He was shopping without a mask.”
“I assume he put one on to enter and then took it off while inside but I don’t about that.”
“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.”
“Outside the manager was arguing with an officer that they should have not let him pay for his stuff.”
In total, the state of Florida has seen 1.21 million cases and over 20 thousand deaths since the virus first hit the U.S.
Palm Beach County, where Lantana sits, accounts for over 77 thousand of those cases and 1,835 deaths.
