Add this to the WTF list, which seems to be growing longer and longer every day. This past Thursday evening, a restaurant hostess in New York City (NYC) got physically attacked after asking three women from Texas for proof of vaccination. Who knew that working in a restaurant might require mixed martial arts (MMA) training.
The scuffle occurred at Carmine’s restaurant, located in the Upper West Side of NYC. Since August 17, New York City (NYC) has required those 12 years and older to show proof they’ve gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine before entering an indoor dining area. The City has mandated that staff at such restaurants be vaccinated as well.
Of course, 12 years and older or even 18 years and older doesn’t mean that everyone will behave as an adult regarding the regulation. The three visitors for Texas reportedly didn’t take too kindly being asked to provide proof of vaccination. Perhaps they felt that their “freedoms” were being violated, their freedom to have rigatoni with chicken and broccoli inside an Upper West Side restaurant.
Regardless, at least one of the visitors allegedly started punching and slapping the hostess. Other restaurant employees then jumped in to help defend the hostess. Eventually, the police eventually took the women from Texas into custody.
Here’s a CBS New York news segment on the incident:
Hmmm, penne for your thoughts on this one. When you are denied seating because you are not complying with a City regulation, is it a good idea to (a) walk away and find some other way to get dinner or (b) try to beat the stuffing out of the hostess? Well, it’s highly unlikely that choosing option “b” will prompt the restaurant to say, “ok, not that you’ve beaten up our hostess, let’s give you a good table.” You aren’t Thanos trying to get the infinity stones.
It’s not as if restaurants are playing hide the cannoli for fun when enforcing Covid-19 vaccination requirements. They have a vested interest in preventing Covid-19 outbreaks. Potential customers don’t tend to say, “oh, hey, let’s go that place that had the Covid-19 outbreak recently.” Plus, there’s all the potential suffering and death stuff that restaurants would have deal with should an outbreak occur.
As I have written before for Forbes, requirements are in place because enough people don’t seem to want to take Covid-19 precautions voluntarily. With the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, which by the way is still a public health emergency, precautions are necessary to keep the Delta variant from spreading even further. There has to be an understanding that Covid-19 precautions such as vaccination and face mask wearing are not just personal choices but instead affect everyone around you. People have to understand that the world doesn’t revolve around them like a meatball circling to get into their mouths. Yet, these days you can’t put it pasta folks to not realize that and even resort to hurting innocent people.