Owner closes Massachusetts ice cream shop rather than serve rude customers

MASHPEE, Mass. (WJAR) — An ice cream shop in Mashpee, Massachusetts closed one day after it reopened because the owner said customers were being rude and became verbally abusive.

Mark Lawrence owns Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour. He said patrons were so rude to his employees on the shop's first day back on Friday, one worker walked off the job.

Lawrence said customers became irate at the shop's new safety measures.

"Now I open the doors to a whole new world, with gloves and masks and we're running around like chickens, and people are like, where's my ice cream! I'm not a trauma center, it's ice cream," Lawrence told WFXT.

Customers were supposed to place their order an hour in advance, but Lawrence said not everyone listened and became impatient when it took time to fill orders.

CNN reported that Lawrence, buoyed by an outpouring of support from the community, reopened Sunday. He said customers were following the rules.