A Northern California cafe is adding a $5 fee for customers who order while wearing masks or brag about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Chris Castleman, the owner of Fiddlehead’s Cafe in Mendocino, placed a sign on the window of the cafe stating that a $5 fee would be added to the orders of customers who wore masks while ordering, as well as an additional $5 fee for customers who were “caught bragging” about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the SFGate reported.
The sign mentioned that the proceeds from the fees would go towards helping local charities that help victims of domestic abuse.
California cafe charges customers wearing masks $5 https://t.co/Qk9aCaQmHp pic.twitter.com/Ygea8qVrKO
— The Hill (@thehill) May 29, 2021
“I’ve been told this whole time that wearing a mask is a small price to pay,” Castleman explained, adding that some customers are “shocked by the sign” and upset at being “asked to pay” a $5 fee which goes towards helping local charities.
Following the posting of the sign on Monday, the Yelp page for Fiddlehead’s Cafe was disabled due to an influx of negative reviews.
Castleman, who decided to close his cafe down in June 2020 rather than comply with Mendocino County health orders, according to the North Bay Business Journal, plans to keep the poster up and policies in place for several months as he doesn’t see the mask mandate ending any time soon. (RELATED: Arkansas Lifts Mask Mandate, Makes Vaccines Available To All Adults)
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on April 6 that the state would “fully reopen” on June 15 as long as hospitalizations stay “stable and low” and as long as there is enough of a supply of COVID-19 vaccines for people ages 16 and older to get vaccinated.
Even as California is expected to fully reopen and “everyday activities” allowed to resume on June 15, the mask mandate will remain in place for the foreseeable future, ABC7 News reported.