A Costco employee became internet-famous after refusing service to a man who wouldn't wear a mask while in the store.
A brief altercation between the two was caught on video, as well as the employee's repossession of the man's cart and potential purchases.
The video in which the man would not comply with the store's policy of wearing a mask went viral last week. The Costco employee asked the man to not only return his cart but to leave the store after his refusal.
When the man threatened to share his story on Instagram and began filming, the Costco employee decided to take things to the next level and repossess the cart himself. At the beginning of the video, we can hear the man threaten to share the video on his Instagram feed.
The Costco employee, identified as "Tison" on his name badge, replied to the camera:
"Hi everyone! I work for Costco and I'm asking this member to put on a mask because that is our company policy."
The man replied:
"And I'm not doing it, 'cause I woke up in a free country."
He then asked the man to leave the store and took his cart, while saying:
"Have a nice day. You are no longer welcome here in our warehouse. You need to leave."
The man continued to complain about the incident for several more seconds before finally ending the video.
You can watch the full video here:
After the video was shared on Twitter and went viral, many followers had something to say about the incident.
Many were supportive of Tison following his company's policies.
Even California Democrat Ted Lieu, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, chimed in to applaud the employee.
Some commented on the man's refusal.
Stores in his "free country" required shoes and shirts for decades.
Why no tantrums about that company policy?
A fellow grocery store worker applauded Tison and said to wear a mask.
To which a nurse in Chicago thanked the grocery store workers for their service.
While we obviously need to keep going out for basic supplies, there are very simple actions we can take to help protect others that don't really inconvenience us that much.
As this grocery store worker and nurse said later in the thread, we are partially helping to protect grocery store workers' health when we visit their stores, as we are also protecting nurses' health when visiting their clinics and hospitals.
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