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Opinion: ‘I’m not wearing a mask, but servers still should,’ says entitled Burnaby diner

Wait, what?
server mask masks restaurant covid-19
The waitress works in a restaurant in a medical mask, gloves during coronavirus pandemic. Representing new normal of service and safety. Disinfecting table, surfaces. Taking care of clients.

So I walked into a restaurant lounge in North Burnaby the other day wearing a mask and didn’t take it off until I had order my food up at the bar.

That’s just how I roll and I don’t care if the mandatory masks restrictions in B.C. have been lifted.

And that’s when some dude decided to chirp at me.

“Why are you still wearing a mask,” the guy asked me with a passive-aggressive grin pasted on his face.

I told him to mind his own business and leave me alone because I wasn’t in the mood for this crap. I knew it wasn’t an innocent question.

He decided to cross the line I had drawn.

“We don’t *have* to wear them anymore,” the guy said, emphasizing the word “have” as though the lifting of restrictions means people shouldn’t wear masks any longer. “Why would you still want to wear a mask if you don’t *have* to?”

He then rambled about how unfair it was that customers who spent money at businesses were forced to put on masks.

And the dropped this covidiot bomb.

“I’m not wearing a mask, but servers still should. So should grocery clerks.”

That’s when I decided to respond by asking why workers should have to and not him.

“To protect me, the paying customer,” he said, as though money buys subservience.

Oh, so he admits that masks do offer some protection, but he shouldn’t have to wear one to protect other. Right, got it.

Public health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that, while the mask mandate was lifted, wearing a face covering will still help prevent the spread of disease.

"We may be seeing less people wearing masks, but right now, we still will expect most people to be wearing masks in those indoor settings when we're around other people," she said.

It still irritates me that they lifted the mask restrictions but are still telling people to wear masks.

People like the dude I met in the bar literally have to be forced to do the right thing.

  • With additional reporting by Glacier Media.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.