By the time I got to the Simi Valley flooring shop late Monday morning, the controversial signs had been hauled inside and the store was locked up tight.
Peering through the window of Ramsay One Construction, I could see why they had caused such a fuss. There were four of them; white paint on plywood slabs about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide:
"We're open _ to the truth."
"No masks allowed."
"Hand shakes OK."
"Hugs very OK."
I knocked on the glass. Maybe the owner was busy in the back?
I'd have guessed that someone bold enough to flout public health rules aimed at flattening the COVID-19 curve would want as much publicity as possible.
But maybe not.
After all, the signs were in direct violation of a May 7 order from the Ventura County Public Health Department governing how businesses may reopen:
"All businesses must establish, implement and enforce COVID-19 prevention plans," says the order. "As a condition of operation, each business must post a written notice explaining how it will comply with Social Distancing Requirements in conspicuous places where it can easily be seen."
Maybe the provocative signs were more of a symbolic protest than a literal one. I mean, come on, hugs?
But no, when Ramsay Devereux called me back Tuesday, he explained that he'd shut his shop just for a day to deal with all the threats and voicemails. There was, he said, nothing symbolic about his protest.
"The government should not be doing what it's doing," he told me. "It's absurd what's going on. No one has isolated a virus. No one has proved it. You can't catch a virus. It's not even possible. It's the pharmaceutical industry trying to make a lot of money and make vaccines that are poisonous."
In the first two weeks after he put up his signs, he said, people gave him thumbs up or went into the store to deliver hugs. "There was not one bit of criticism," he said. "And then everything broke loose."
