AZ Mask Sign: If You Kill Your Grandmother, We'll Buy Her Clothes
PHOENIX, AZ — Behind a viral photo of a Phoenix shop's mask sign — which snarkily makes the case that customers who refuse to wear masks can return to the store later "to sell your dead grandmother's clothing" — is actually a story of a fed-up small business owner.
Sarah Bingham is the co-owner of the vintage clothing store Antique Sugar, which reopened June 1 as the state relaxed the shutdown rules set in place by Gov. Doug Ducey.
As the store's resident sign-maker, Bingham started with simple messages, "Thank you for wearing a mask" and "Help us stay healthy so we can stay open." But some customers didn't take kindly to the shop's polite thank-yous.
They just didn't want to wear a mask.
"Most people didn't question it — they just came in and shopped, and most of them were fine if I handed them a mask," Bingham tells Patch. "But some people just wanted to fight about it. I just got frustrated."
From that frustration was born a new sign. This design, spaced over three panels of printer paper, takes the reader on a journey that begins with deference and ends in savagery.
It begins:
If you choose not to wear a mask, we respectfully ask that you postpone your visit.
Continues:
We'll be happy to debate the efficacy of masks with you when this is all over and you come in
And ends:
to sell your dead grandmother's clothes.
The sign concludes with a "TL;DR" — shorthand for the web slang "too long didn't read" — and one final note: "Masks Required."
Bingham says she shared the photo to her personal Facebook page on Monday. At that point, someone downloaded it — and from there, the image has been shared thousands of times on social media, with multiple comments praising the sign for its blunt message, and its particular relevance as states work to encourage (or enforce) mask-wearing amid spikes in coronavirus cases.
"Civil, civil, savage. I love it," Reddit user misskittyamazing commented on a post that's collected more than 2,000 comments and more than 100,000 upvotes. On Twitter, more than 67,000 people retweeted Bro Bible freelancer and author Chris Illuminati's post of photo, in which he had quipped, "Much like the pandemic, this vintage store warning sign escalated quickly."
Bingham says she's been blown away by the reaction to the sign. But she points out that the message isn't entirely satirical: She really will buy your dead grandmother's clothing.
"This is what we do; a large amount of our inventory does come from the recently deceased. Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't call me because their mom passed away and they have stuff to get rid of. That's where my 70-, 80-year-old dresses come from."
So far, though, the sign appears to be working.
"I just put the sign up yesterday," she says, "and I haven't had anyone try to argue with me."
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This article originally appeared on the Phoenix Patch
