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Allston eatery invites maskless diners; warns Collier County code-enforcement officers to stay out
By adamg on Thu, 01/07/2021 - 7:46pm
A roving UHub photographer spotted two large signs in a front window at the Breakfast Club, 270 Western Ave., yesterday that says the joint is barred by federal law from asking people who come in without a mask why, so they're going to welcome in everybody without a mask without any questions asked, no matter any so-called restrictions enacted by evil socialists in government.
The signs also warn that entrance is barred to anybody with an "ulterior motive for entering," such as Collier County code-enforcement officers, so they better not even think of it.
That probably won't be much of an issue, given that Collier County is on Florida's Gulf coast, roughly 1,500 miles from Boston.
However, it is unlikely to deter any of the detectives in the Boston Police licensing unit or health inspectors from ISD, who, under the terms of the food-serving licenses Boston restaurants must obtain, are allowed to conduct surprise inspections.
Unusual for such signs, it spells "HIPAA" correctly. As usual for such signs, however, it states the restaurant is barred from asking maskless people to mask up under HIPAA and the Fourth Amendment, which is not true. HIPAA, for example, deals with how insurers, hospitals and doctors deal with confidential patient information, not public-health requirements.
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Comments
close them down
immediately
Office of Labor and Workforce Development
Not only should ISD Health crawl up ownership’s butt and set up shop, our state’s dept of labor should take a hard look into any employees put at risk, payroll irregularities, and any contested unemployment claims over the past year.
To be clear, you're
To be clear, you're advocating that this business be harassed by the legal system simply for attempting to follow the actual law rather than the popular misconception that masks are 100% required in public?
Sounds like you've almost got it right ...
Yes, masks are, technically, not required in public. Inside a business, however, is another matter. Ask the folks at that Italian place on Salem Street I can't stop writing about.
The governor has declared an emergency and that gives him the right to order things that normally wouldn't be allowed, based on a Supreme Court decision (involving some Cambridge minister, even). If you want, I can provide links.
There is nothing in that
There is nothing in that poster that is based on "the actual law."
They're not attempting to follow the "actual law"
They're not attempting to follow the "actual law". They're trying to circumvent what they think the "law" is, out of sheer perversity.
Breakfast Club attempting to bar code enforcement
Breakfast Club is announcing to the world that they feel that they are above all applicable laws and enforcement of local codes. So yeah, I am advocating investigating what a business who is so openly defying code enforcement is trying to hide and ensure that the business is not a threat to public health and is treating its workforce fairly and in accordance with the law.
I know it shocks some to put public health and workers on equal footing with “job creators”.
Hmmm
You know what I got for Christmas? Oh, it was a banner fucking year at the old Bender family. I got a carton of N95 masks. The old man grabbed me and said, "Hey, mask up Johnny." All right? So go home and cry to your Daddy.
Next time a person asks me a
Next time a person asks me a question I don't to answer, I'm going to claim the Fourth Amendment prohibits them from asking me. What a bunch of clowns.
Chrissakes
I can't believe how quickly I've lost respect and admiration for the bar and restaurant industry which I worked alongside for so many years.
I mean, there was a charm to the scumminess once, but they've spent the last 10 months just showing how awful they are. Martyrdom and (perceived) largesse don't mix.
Neither does
hubris and ignorance. KnowwhudImean?
No
But please do not explain
Will - these are your fellow travelers
Gov't rules are bad! Freedom good! This is literally what libertarians want, right?
Just because I don’t want to eat there
Doesn’t mean I want the state making the decision on them being open.
We’ve been at this for 10 months. At this point, who among us has not decided how they wish to apply the presented science in their lives?
"Applying the presented science" is fine if you want to risk
catching the virus. But once you catch it, you can't will it to stay in your body and so not risk infecting, causing long-term debilitating illness, and/or killing other people.
Your freedom to risk your own health and life ends at the point where you become a public health hazard, c.f., second-hand smoke, drunk driving, juggling chainsaws at the public skating rink, etc.
In Vermont
Restaurants collect names and phone numbers of patrons.
Breakfast Club should be told to close only if they refuse to do this.
Nope
They are not in Vermont, and we are not in Vermont.
They are violating the laws here.
Love ya, Swirl
But the point sailed a mile over your head.
Vermont has handled the ‘Rona well. Maybe we imitate the winners with tracing practices?
Even if our laws allowed it, would you put
your family, loved ones, friends, colleagues and fellow citizens at risk that way for a mediocre $7 plate of eggs?
That’s between the citizen and the restaurant
And then you make the restaurant post the guest list, and I disengage the people on it.
I notice you didn't answer my question.
Would *you* do that? Don't get me wrong: I find libertarian philosophizing fascinating in about the same way it's amusing to overhear bong-smacked high school sophomores debating the merits of Ayn Rand.
My question is about *your* sense of personal and civic responsibility.
If I had a relationship
With this particular restaurant prior to COVID, I would continue to patronize it.
In this case, I've never been, and I don't intend to start now. Every store or restaurant that I've been in both before and after the advent of the 'rona asks customers to wear masks inside. My regular bar, in fact, does a fine job of reminding people when they have neglected to do so.
I guess I'm not surprised.
I guess I'm not surprised. They've never paid attention to health codes before.
Oh, FFS....
And to think I wanted to go to bat for these idiots against the wrecking ball.
Crap...
They were a decent place to get a diner breakfast in the area.
Oh well, fuck'em. I can make eggs and toast at home.
It was a great place to get a
It was a great place to get a ten minute breakfast if you had two hours :)
I used to love them when I was living in Allston despite the lines.
Damn
If you’re gonna straight up rip off some assclown in Florida’s sign, at least put in the legwork (wristwork?) to change the county.
Used to love this place and was on my “when it’s reasonably safe to go out to eat again” shortlist. That list just got a little smaller.
Collier County
No surprise there. This has Florida-level crazy all over it, and that's exactly where the sign originated-
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/government/2020/08/12/collier-mask...
https://twitter.com/missilmom/status/1294245010993446918
https://www.reddit.com/r/Naples_FL/comments/hxnght/at_the_seed_to_table_...
Sooo... is the sign on tour? Where will it appear next?! Is it expecting too much to at least update the county name? Just needs white duck-tape and a black sharpie. Although, things like "attention to detail" and "rational thought" may be asking a lot of `The Breakfast Club` ownership...
Well
They can't say they are unfamiliar with code enforcement in Boston.
Well he hasn't sold me.
Well he hasn't sold me.
Is Allston really a hotbed of
Is Allston really a hotbed of anti-maskers who would support this nonsense?
Hmmm
I wonder what other public health laws they consider to be optional.
And if they bully employees out of sick time, too.
If I was inclined to go out other than to grocery shop, I would be tempted to present them with a Freedom From Unmasked Human Exhalation Agency card just to mess with their heads.
Not that they will be open much longer with that attitude.
A funny prank....
A group make up a bunch of "Collier County Sheriffs" shirts. And just walk in and sit down and actually order food. Then just don't pay. See if they call the cops.
In theory
In reality? Exposing yourself to COVID-infested patrons, staff that can't get a day off sick and all the other violations that Waquoit referenced?
Not worth the effort.
Not their only transgression
I have a lot of sympathy for the industry, but not for the owners of this place. Not for the owner of the place in the North End who went to a Cigar Bar in Fla. If you don't give a crap about the health and safety your employees or patrons, you shouldn't be in the business.
The other issue is this, but keep in mind this is second-hand, and strikes a nerve with me:
I read a post in a forum for celiacs (I have celiac) complaining that their so-called GF options are not actually GF. People have actually driven there excited to be able to eat and then have not been able to. This is one of those kinds of false advertising that places seem to be able to get away with. Lure people in, but asterisk the sh*t out of it (if you even do that) because you can't actually deliver.
Doing GF at the level required to protect people with celiac
is a non-trivial matter, requiring scrupulous separation of cooking areas, kitchen tools, etc. Hard to imagine this place ever doing that in that tiny space. (I gave it a couple of shots in its first year, decided it wasn't worth the wait for very ordinary diner food. With these assholes running the business, never again.)
Well that's disappointing...
Well that's disappointing...
Woof. I used to love this
Woof. I used to love this place. Never going back again now.
"HIPAA" confusion
It's not HIPAA, but the Mass. Governor's order explicitly says that businesses' employees are not supposed to inquire about why someone is claiming a medical exemption.
In other contexts I've heard people point to the ADA and the EEOC as the source of such a thing. The ADA does for example prohibit business owners from inquiring as to a person's specific disability if they claim the need to bring a service animal in. EEOC has similar regulations regarding employers prying into, or sharing, employee claims about their health or disabilities.
Our legal system is a mishmash hodgepodge of similar, overlapping, and sometimes conflicting regulations.
a bit devastated by this
a bit devastated by this
Why are socialists on the poster depicted wearing pickelhaubes?
BTW, for those who didn't know, it's that spiked helmet the "socialists" are wearing. It's a symbol of German imperialism and military aggression, and thus sort of linked to fascism more than anything else. Wouldn't it have been better to show them wearing some kind of Soviet commissar caps like this?
The sign was probably made by the Russians.
And they aren't going to disrespect the motherland like that.
Dude
tHe nAZis wErE sOshuLiSTs!!! iT's rIgHT tHeRe iN tHeIr nAmE!!!1!1
Probably for the same reason
that they mention Florida code enforcement: They just grabbed random stuff that sounded good off the internet.
YAWWWWWNNNNN
Clean up on aisle Q
Ridiculous
The city hall dept of licensing was here today... no violations cited. I know because I work here and I have never seen any of my co-workers without a mask unless they were eating. We all care about our restaurant’s patrons and respect social distancing guidelines and mask compliance rules.
To suggest that our restaurant be shut down immediately, effectively causing 2 pregnant women to be forced to go on unemployment (my co-worker who worked today and myself are both 7 and 6 months pregnant,) is disgraceful.
There were violations found
Just not serious enough to warrant an immediate shut down. You can look it up.
What’s disgraceful is your
What’s disgraceful is your boss giving wink-wink nudge-nudge instructions on how bypass safety measures intended to prevent the spread of the disease after almost 370,000 deaths. And hey if you get it and get better all good right? Nope the majority of people who have had Covid are still plagued with health issues 6 months later. That’s over 16.5m of your fellow Americans still having health issues.
Oh Allston!
You used to be so cool. What has happened to you?
Terrible business plan
Take a stand, alienate the overwhelming majority of your customer base.
Note to Adam
Axios just bought the Charlotte Observer. (similar to U-Hub) Another ex-newsman who saw the writing on the wall and started his own electronic local newspaper.