January 1, Massachusetts Bar Owners Face Boycott After Dropping Mask Mandate One Night a Week

Wyatt’s Take

• Hard-working bar owners in Greenfield are being attacked for trying to keep their doors open by dropping masks on Saturdays.
• Left-wing activists are hurling firebomb threats and calling the owners ableist because a few customers want to drink without a mask one night a week.
• The same crowd that demanded endless COVID rules now cheers when a small business bleeds money and owners sleep in their trucks.

A lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, is facing boycott calls and threats after lifting its mask rule for Saturday nights.

The owners hoped the change would bring in enough customers to pay rent and staff. Instead, they got accused of eugenics and told their place should be firebombed.

“I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists [sic],” one commenter wrote.

“People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,” another posted.

“Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with,” a third said.

The bar already had almost no customers on Saturday nights. Greenfield itself had not recorded a single new COVID case in over two months.

Owner Jackie Matellian has been living in her truck, working four jobs, and carrying a $50,000 loan just to keep the doors open.

“It was not my passion project,” Matellian said through tears at a community meeting. “I never really wanted this. I don’t think I’m doing a very good job.”

Critics at the meeting called the white therapist leading the discussion racist for centering white feelings. Others said having a therapist present made them feel unsafe because she is a mandated reporter.

The bar’s apology post was attacked for lacking alt text. Its promise to stay mask-optional on Saturdays has not brought back the crowds.

One bartender even declared Lady Gaga “canceled” and “Zionist” when a customer suggested a themed party to draw business.

Wyatt Matters

When a small-town business tries to survive by loosening one rule for one night, the real story is how fast the outrage machine turns on working people just trying to pay their bills.