'Rudeness' In Elmhurst Businesses Denounced

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst officials on Monday decried that some customers are showing belligerence in local businesses when they are asked to wear masks.

The subject surfaced at a City Council meeting when an Elmhurst woman told aldermen that a man spit on her teenage son in a local business after her son asked him to wear a mask. The man got away before police arrived, she said.

Later in the meeting, Mayor Scott Levin told the council that its members may not have the same views on the governor's mask mandate. But he said he believed he spoke on behalf of the council on how workers should be treated.

Before he heard the resident's story, Levin said he had received other comments about "a resistance, a belligerence, a rudeness" toward store owners who are requesting customers comply with state law in their own businesses.

"A lot of the merchants are having a hard time finding employees. You may know we have our 'Cool to be Kind' promotion to say 'take care of these people who are working,'" the mayor said. "I hope people will maintain more than a modicum of decency. If you are asked to wear a mask in someone's store, it's not only the law, it's the right of the store owners."

Alderwoman Jennifer Veremis, a local salon owner, said she has heard from several business owners about customers' belligerence on wearing masks.

"As a business owner myself, I have experienced it," she said. "I just ask for your support and respect the policies that our business owners have implemented for their particular business model and safety for their employees, regardless how you feel about wearing a mask or not."