In mid-December 2018, the city council in the progressive city of St. Petersburg, Florida voted to ban plastic straws. While the law doesn’t go into effect until 2020, businesses in St. Petersburg have been immediately banned from offering customers plastic straws unless they ask for them.
According to CBS local Miami – Starting in 2020, restaurants that violate the ban more than once will be fined. The newspaper said the ordinance has exemptions built in for drive-thrus, hospitals, grocery stores and convenience stores.
Apparently, not everyone in St. Petersburg, Florida is aware of the new progressive mandate. One innocent young woman quickly became the victim of an irate customer, who found the ban on straws to be so incredibly far-fetched that he physically assaulted her for telling him plastic straws had been banned in St. Petersburg.
Western Journal reports – The New Year’s Eve brawl ended with the customer being arrested around 6:50 p.m. on two counts of simple battery, according to WFLA Tampa.
The misunderstanding began when the customer, Daniel Taylor, began to yell at the employees for not offering straws at the counter, according to BuzzFeed News.
The incident was recorded by Brenda Biandudi who told BuzzFeed that Taylor became furious after not finding straws with the other condiments.
“It was all over a straw,” she said. “He yelled at the employees, ‘There’s no drinking straws here, it looks like someone is not doing their job.’”
An employee, Yasmine James, then tried to explain that a new law in the city banned plastic straws.
The new law will ban straws entirely by 2020, but currently, they are unavailable unless specifically requested by the customer, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“He was very upset, he started berating her, swearing, saying ‘There’s no law like that,’” Biandudi said, according to BuzzFeed. “She said, ‘Yes it is, we’re not allowed to put straws out.’”
That explanation was apparently unacceptable to Taylor, who reached across the counter and grabbed James by the shirt.
James fought back until the pair were separated by other employees.
WATCH (Warning***video shows graphic violence).
This video first appeared on Kini Biadudi’s Facebook page. Her Facebook post includes an update.
Update: The employee was not fired!
YES this really did happen last night for all those asking me… it all started because he wanted a straw !!!
The young girl said she used to box ????
After this fight he came back and went behind the counter & tried to fight the manager.
The guy left before the cops arrived.
Location:
4595 34th Street South St. Petersburg, FL
https://www.facebook.com/kinie.biandudi/posts/10108834512857261
Here’s the YouTube version of the awful brawl:
https://youtu.be/JtkGdN2HDUs
Should this customer be thrown in jail for assaulting the innocent young McDonald’s worker who was doing her job? Should the members of the St. Petersburg City Council bear some responsiblity for their idiotic ban on plastic straws?
Do you think businesses and customers should be allowed to use whatever eating or drinking tools they choose, or should it be up to local governments to dictate what is and is not acceptable? Is this just one more example of another iron-fisted, progressive failure?
Please leave a comment below, and let us know what you think?
