BROOKLINE, Mass. — The Corned Beef King is hanging up its crown -- temporarily -- on Monday nights. And it has everything to do with patrons behaving badly.
“We’ve been open seven days a week forever,” said Steven Peljovich, owner of Michael’s Deli in Coolidge Corner. “Now it’s like, ‘if I don’t take that day off, I’m going to lose my mind.’ I’ll end up in the hospital not with COVID, but with like a straitjacket and a rubber room.”
Peljovich concluded he and his staff needed a weekly break because of a handful of customers giving them a hard time about wearing masks.
"Probably at least once a day I get someone telling me it's not my business telling them how to live their life," Peljovich said. "And I try to explain to them, kindly, that out of respect for us can you please just put the mask on?"
Masks are actually a must in Brookline, where the town has posted reminders on several corners near the deli. And Peljovich said that by and large, his customers do wear masks.
"But there are the few who are being disrespectful, not following the rules, demanding in a way that we've never experienced before," he said.
Peljovich has been in the foodservice business 30 years; the last eight he’s owned Michael’s Deli.
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“And I mean I’ve had angry customers, I’ve had unruly patrons, I’ve had all those sorts of things,” he said. “But for whatever reason, because of how long everyone’s been sort of shut-in and all the things that are going on, the people that are frustrated and angry about the situation are just -- I don’t want to insult them -- not thinking properly.”
Among those he would categorize as 'not thinking properly,' a long-time customer who sacrificed a long relationship with the shop over his determination not to wear a mask.
“The person was like, ‘there’s no way I’m ever going to wear a mask when I come in your place. I’ve been coming here for 20 years why do I need to wear a mask now,’” Peljovich recalls. “And I was like, ‘look, I’ve appreciated your business over the last eight-and-a-half years that I’ve been the owner, but you’re never getting a sandwich here again.’”
Losing customers at a time like this is not something Peljovich wants to do. But he feels a duty to protect his staff and other customers from infection.
“We’ve appreciated your patronage. We’ve appreciated the support,” he said. “But if you can’t understand that, out of respect for us, all you got to do is put a bandana on your face, put a paper bag, just something; something to show that you care about somebody else.”
"I think it is irresponsible, selfish and ignorant to go into any enclosed space without a mask," said regular Deli customer Jackie Kann, as she waited outside for her sandwich. "I think that there is absolutely no problem wearing a mask. And so anyone who doesn't wear it, I can't even figure out what their thinking is."
Kann had plenty of company in that belief, it seemed. Every customer in line Wednesday for lunch at the Deli wore some kind of facial covering.
Peljovich understands that the public is dealing with retailers in ways they never have before, so some rules may be confusing. But other practices they’ve been integrating for months.
“I need to have a mask on. I need to stay at least six feet away from other people,” he said. “Like that is universal.”
And Peljovich said if he and his staff can wear their masks 11 and 12 hours a day in a 90-degree kitchen, customers shouldn't be complaining about putting one on for five or 10 minutes as they order and wait for lunch.
“I have no idea how long this is going to continue,” he said. “But I do know for a fact, whether I believe in this or not, if we don’t do this we’re not going to get closer to some sort of resolution. It’s just going to get worse and worse and worse.”
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