California Café Charges Fee to Customers Wearing Mask, ‘Bragging’ About Vaccine

Fiddleheads Café, in Mendocino, Calif. Screenshot/Googlemaps

The owner of a café in Northern California has posted a sign at his business informing customers who place an order while wearing a face mask that they'll be charged a fee.

“$5 FEE ADDED TO ORDERS PLACED WHILE WEARING A FACE MASK,” says the message displayed on May 28 at the Fiddleheads Café in Mendocino, Fox News reported. In addition, anyone who is heard “bragging” about being vaccinated will also have to pay the penalty.

Chris Castleman, the eatery’s owner and a vocal critic of lockdowns since the start of the CCP virus pandemic, said the fees will go directly to “charities that have been overwhelmed by the collateral damage of government lockdowns.

“I’ve been asked this entire time to put on a mask and that’s not a large request, all I’m asking is a $5 donation to charity, and I don’t think that’s too much,” he said.

Castleman said the idea for the sign emerged because he believes restrictions that have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been not only unsuccessful but destructive.

A closed restaurant in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2020. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

“I mean the idea behind it is I think it’s time all of these ineffective government measures start paying attention to the collateral damage they’ve caused collectively,” he told The Daily Mail.

Castleman noted that the $5 fee goes directly to domestic abuse-related charities, and already about 100 people have done so.

“There’s no straight line from mask-wearing to domestic abuse, but I see it as one part of a giant piece that’s forcing people to stay at home, remove their freedoms, remove their jobs, and forces them into situations of despair,” he said.

Currently, Mendocino County, where the cafe is located, is still requiring people to wear face masks regardless of vaccination status. The indoor capacity for restaurants in the county is limited to 50 percent.

It isn’t the first time Castleman made the news while expressing his views over COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.

Last June, the eatery owner closed his café rather than requiring his employees to wear a mask after he was hit with a $10,000 fine. About two months prior to the closure, he posted a sign that read: “THROW YOUR MASK IN THE TRASH BIN AND RECEIVE 50% OFF YOUR ORDER.”

California was aiming to fully reopen its economy on June 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on April 6, as long as the state has enough COVID-19 vaccines for those age 16 and older and hospitalization rates continue to be low and stable.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Big Sur, Calif., on April 23, 2021. Nic Coury/File Photo via AP

Newsom said Californians will still need to wear masks, and testing or vaccination verification requirements will still be performed where necessary.

The coastal state is one of a few nationwide that’s keeping a mask mandate after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 13 eased mask-wearing guidance and said that people vaccinated against COVID-19 can stop wearing masks inside in most places.

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a news conference. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. We have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

Fully vaccinated people should still wear masks on buses, trains, airplanes, and other public transportation, she said, adding that for those who aren’t vaccinated, the CDC recommends that they wear masks in public spaces.

From NTD News