‘Stop listening to Beshear.’ Kentucky store tells customers to take off their masks
“No face masks allowed.”
That’s the message that Alvin’s, a gas station and convenience store in Manchester, shared with its customers on a sign at the front of the store, according to Facebook posts from Monday.
“Lower your mask or go somewhere else! Stop listening to Beshear.”
Gov. Andy Beshear asked all Kentucky residents to wear masks while in public starting May 11.
Facebook users complained about the sign in the comments of a recent post on the Alvin’s Facebook page. The store responded by saying it was a joke.
“We wear face mask, but we dont require our customers to, its their choice,” the store said in a comment.
The store later posted a statement to “clarify” the sign’s meaning.
“We would never deny any customer access inside our store, that is wearing a mask or not wearing a mask,” the post said. “We are not telling you to not wear a mask, what we are saying is, its your choice to wear one or not, not our governments choice for us. While some got the meaning behind it, alot did not.
“We didnt mean to offend anyone, but we will not apologize for our beliefs in our freedom to make our own decisions, that our government wants to make for us. We strive to keep our customers safe, and our employees.”
The store previously shared some COVID-19 safety precautions on its Facebook page. Staff asked customers to practice social distancing on April 3.
On May 12, they shared masks they had for sale with President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign logo, as well as the Alvin’s store logo.
Back on March 6, the store also posted a photo of someone spraying Lysol on gas pumps.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 8:42 AM.