Dallas Woman Erupts When Asked to Wear a Mask

COVID restrictions and the stress of the holidays can make for a volatile combination. A Texas shopper went off in a local grocery store after being told that she needed to wear a mask while in the store. The Dallas woman had been compliant with the masking rule as she did her shopping throughout the store but removed the mask while using the self-checkout kiosk. When an employee told her that she needed to cover her face, the woman proceeded to empty her cart by throwing her items onto the ground.

The woman was recorded hurling her goods and shouting expletives at the employee and others around her, all while holding her mask in her hand. “dumb— mother—-ing rules and your dumb— mother—-ing sh–,” “all over a dumb mother—-ing mask”

She shouted at the store clerk to “put all this s— the f— back” as she threw the merchandise at her feet. The woman even showed some hometown pride, shouting “I don’t give a f—, I’m from Dallas.”

Caught on Camera

A fellow shopper, Omar Guillen recorded the tirade and uploaded the video to the internet. He said that a manager approached the woman, citing the local mask requirements, and asked her to put her mask back on while she was in the store. The woman refused to comply. It was after the manager told the woman that she would be refused service if she didn’t put her mask back on that she began hurling the unpaid-for product.

Dallas police were called to the scene, but the woman had fled by the time they arrived, leaving the employees to clean up the merchandise.

Omar tweeted “She was told cops would be called but did her tantrum and left before they showed up. As for what happened after, I have no idea.”

Ordinance and Right to Refuse Service

The Center for Disease Control has advised wearing masks indoors and in public, as it inhibits the transmission of COVID-19. Dallas local ordinances state that businesses can be fined up to $500 for not enforcing the mask-wearing regulations. The mask-wearing ordinance has been in effect in Dallas County since June 21^st.

Places like Dallas have seen an uptick in such cases where people refuse to wear their masks in public. Gary Huddleston, a grocery industry consultant for the Texas Retailers Association offered comment.

“It’s extremely unfortunate and it’s something that shouldn’t happen.” He added, “The retailer can be held, in some cases, liable for not having customers wear a face covering.”

Huddleston says that like any ‘no shoes, no shirt’ policy, businesses reserve the right to refuse service to any customers that do not abide by their company’s policy.

“We just ask during this period of time for all customers to wear their face covering and then we’ll all get through this together,” he said.

As of yet, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not mandated any state-wide orders, allowing the decision to be made by the individual counties within the state.

The manager of the Fiesta Mart where the incident was recorded offered no comment regarding the incident.