Massachusetts ice cream shop closes one day

In reaction to how angry customers mistreated a teenage employee, the owner of a Massachusetts ice cream parlor closed his doors just one day after reopening during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mark Lawrence, who has been running Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour in Mashpee, a small town on Cape Cod for 19 years, waited until Mother’s Day weekend to reopen his store under the state restaurant guidelines.
But Friday’s grand reopening turned into a harsh lesson for the small business, according to Lawrence, who told FOX25 Boston that customers were frustrated that they had to wait longer for their ice cream after the shop had grown busy taking out their anger on his personnel.

“One of my best workers quit yesterday at the end of her shift,” he said. “But the words she was called and the language, you wouldn’t even say in a men’s locker room. And to say it to a 17-year-old kid, they should be ashamed of themselves.”

As part of a new strategy to keep customers and employees safe, Lawrence said he posted on the Facebook page of the shop that all orders must be placed one hour beforehand. Nevertheless, according to Lawrence, many patrons did not obey the new rules and after weeks of social distancing seemed to forget their manners.

“People have forgotten how to treat other human beings in the six or seven weeks that they’ve been confined to their homes,” he told the station. “They have no clue how to respect other human beings.”

Lawrence said he would close the store to the general public before a new business plan has been drawn up.

He received hundreds of messages of support from the community in the hours following Lawrence’s decision to close.

“I was very impressed by how your staff stayed patient and kind,” one user wrote. “You guys were doing everything you could and I do not blame you for not reopening. Know there are plenty here that will support you and accept your service however we can get it.”

The parlor filled limited orders on Saturday, which Lawrence said

“was a vastly improved operation” in an update on the shop’s Facebook page. He said patrons “followed the rules and it worked,” with orders being placed over an hour ahead of time, and some even a day prior.