Supermarkets step up mask enforcement amid surging pandemic
Public health officials are clear that masks are the best tool currently available to stop the spread of coronavirus. Yet, compliance is still an issue at one of the most frequented spots during the pandemic: the grocery store.
"My job is 80 percent bouncer at this point in the game," said Micki McCarthy, manager of Weaver Street Market in Raleigh, noting that not a day goes by without someone ignoring the numerous signs that masks are required inside the store.
McCarthy said she prides herself on protecting her customers.
"We have created an environment in this store that is as safe as it could possibly be," she said. "We have developed a loyal following of customers because of that, and that makes me really proud."
If she or another worker sees someone without a mask, they communicate via walkie-talkie and politely confront the customer.
"People have been aggressive, and that’s why, when we approach people, we don’t do it by ourselves," she said. "We do it as a team so that I know my co-workers have my back."
Most of the time, people listen, but McCarthy said that isn’t always the case.
"Every once in a while, I do have to refuse service, and sometimes, it escalates beyond that, and we do have to get authorities involved," she said. "We have had to get the police involved just a few times."
A WRAL News crew visited Food Lion, Wegmans, Harris Teeter and Publix stores in Raleigh on Monday and couldn't find any customers who weren't wearing masks.
One Wegmans customer said he took it upon himself to confront a group of people not wearing masks in the store last month. He said he is caring for a high-risk individual and, out of frustration, reported the scofflaws to managers.
What the Wegmans workers did next shocked him, he said. Instead of making them put masks on or asking them to leave, they got to jump to the front of the checkout line.
"If I go out Christmas shopping to a Target or something and I want to skip the line, I can just take my mask off and do that?" he said incredulously. "These people don’t care about how their behavior affects anybody, so if they see an example of their behavior getting them preferential treatment, I think that’s even more damaging to our society as a whole."
Wegmans officials didn't respond to a request for comment.
