A couple have shared how they were turned away from a restaurant because they wanted to keep their face masks on.
Natalie Wester claimed that they were shown the door at a diner 20 miles outside Dallas in the US state of Texas, called Hang Time, when they said they wanted to keep their masks on for their unvaccinated son.
She said that she and her husband Jose were new parents and it was a rare occasion that they had been able to go out for dinner.
They both have vaccines but wanted to protect their four-month-old son who hasn’t been jabbed, and so they chose to wear masks.
But it did not go down well at Hang Time, where they were told to leave - leaving Natalie shocked.
“If you’ve ever been new parents, having those couple of hours out like once or twice a month is so important for your mental health,” Natalie told local TV station CBS DFW.
“Our waitress came over, sat down next to me and said ‘our manager told me to come over because I am nicer than he is … but this is political and I need you to take your masks off’.”
When they said they wanted to keep their masks on, they were shown the door.
Covid cases and deaths have continued to surge in Texas and other US states especially due to the Delta variant.
There remains a lot of resistance to vaccines, that scientists have shown to be effective against the virus, and general social distancing rules.
The owner of Hang Time, Tom, defended the decision to remove the couple and went as far as to claim that the attitude to mask wearing is “ridiculous”.
He told the station: “I have spent my money on the business, my blood sweat and tears in this business, and I don’t want masks in here.
“I feel the overall reaction with masks is ridiculous in the United States right now.”
He explained that there is no sign in place but the waiters tell diners that they have to take off their masks.
At the same time he claimed that as a private business he has the right to decide who comes in and that he didn’t want masks as part of the dress code.
“So when they put their masks on the other night, they were reminded at the front to take it off. They didn’t want to, and so we asked them to leave,” the owner continued.
