Walmart will require all customers to wear face masks inside its stores, and some of them are not too pleased. According to a report by CNN, Walmart's newly-announced policy goes into effect next week. Many customers are already planning out their shopping trips accordingly on social media.
Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, and it is now implementing a face mask policy to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday morning, the company announced all customers would be required to wear masks from the time they enter the store to the time they leave, starting on Monday. By the end of the day, Twitter was full of outrage, laughter and everything in between at this news.
Walmart intends to assign some employees as "health ambassadors" to help guide customers through this new mask process and ensure compliance. It follows companies like Best Buy, which said that it would even have masks available for customers that come without one.
Many customers online said that Walmart would need more than ambassadors, suggesting — with varying degrees of sarcasm — that they should hire security or bouncers for these situations. Many expressed genuine fear for the safety of Walmart greeters, who they expect will now be faced with an angry mob of people not wanting to wear masks.
Meanwhile, many anti-mask people did speak up on Wednesday, with some proposing a massive boycott of Walmart. The efficacy of such a move was debated, and it is not clear if any central, unified plan will be moving forward.
Other companies that have instituted mask mandates include Starbucks and Best Buy, while many cities or states have done the same. According to a report by Poynter, a private company has as much right to require customers to wear face masks as they do to require customers to wear shirts and shoes.
Still, many people maintain that masks infringe on their rights in some way. Proponents of face masks seem to be losing their patience with this debate, judging by the tone on Twitter. Here's a look at how social media handled Walmart's new requirement on Wednesday.