MASHPEE – The owner of the Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlor in Mashpee said that he is thankful for the community’s support after his employees were verbally harassed and social distancing guidelines were not followed on the first day it opened to the public last Friday.
Mark Lawrence posted on the parlor’s Facebook page Friday night that the staff was overwhelmed and that some of the customers were taking out their frustrations on the store’s employees.
It prompted a 17-year old employee to quit at the end of her shift.
“Regardless of peoples frustrations, to take it out on a teenage girl is simply WRONG – it cost me one of my best employees due to the rudeness directed at her tonight,” stated Lawrence.
“So wrong in so many ways to treat a teenager with such disrespect no matter the circumstances.”
Lawrence, who has owned Polar Cave for 19 years, made the decision on Saturday to not open the location to the general public until they explored their options.
Instead, customers are asked to call in their orders ahead of time and are given a pick-up time.
Lawrence said that operations on Saturday went much better.
“There were minimal people just pulling up and expecting to be served immediately, they chose to place an order and return to sit and wait,” said Lawrence on the parlor’s Facebook page.
Lawrence has also started a GoFundMe page to help the 17-year old employee, who has worked for him for three years and was saving money to attend college this fall.
Since last Friday’s incident, the news about what happened has reached national and international audiences and Lawrence said that he is thankful for the outpouring of love and support from all over the world.
He said that he has been inundated by calls and messages by people asking if they could send money or what can be done for her.
He had also been approached by a man who had offered to pay her salary until she came back or found a new job.
That prompted Lawrence to start the GoFundMe page, where all of the money donated will go directly to her college fund.
As of Monday morning, there was over $4,500 raised with more than 150 people donating.
“It’s impossible for me to thank you all personally but please know that I read each and every post,” stated Lawrence.
“The underlying message here that gets lost, is how will other businesses reopen. There is no road map to follow. Years of being in business, no one has ever had to go through anything like this. It’s like receiving a box from IKEA with a bunch of “stuff” with no instructions and making something. What works for one business well might be a complete failure at another. Each business is unique in it’s own way.”
For more information on the GoFundMe page, click here.
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