LYNN — The owner of a downtown restaurant took to social media this week to defend her policy of requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for indoor dining.
Rachel Miller, owner of Nightshade Noodle Bar on Exchange Street, implemented the policy on Aug. 5 to protect her customers and staff. On Sunday, she posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page responding to critics of the policy.
“Nobody wants to feel threatened, by attitude or lack of vaccine, at their job. We are all doing our best and don’t deserve to feel unsafe or uncomfortable at work,” Miller wrote. “The policy is not JUST ABOUT YOU or JUST ME. This is about RESPECT, FOR EVERYONE, AND PUBLIC HEALTH.”
The policy applies only to indoor dining; Miller noted in her post that the restaurant does offer outdoor seating for those who have not been vaccinated, are ineligible for the, vaccine or do not wish to show proof of vaccination.
In a television interview with CBS Boston, Miller explained that she hoped to avoid putting the burden of arguing over the policy on her employees.
“I don’t want my staff to deal with it. They’re all stretched thin too,” she said. “Eliminating the possible confrontation by getting it out on the internet is the bulk of my objective.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Miller’s post had close to 300 comments, most of which were supportive.
“We specifically went to your restaurant because we felt safe with your policy,” one commenter wrote. “We will be back.”
“You obviously care about the welfare of your staff and your customers, so I don’t understand why people make this political,” another said.
To the outspoken critics of the policy, Miller said to “get a life.”
“Whining on the internet at/about a restaurant you likely never had an intention to visit anyways is a little much. Go get a hot dog. Drink some water. Take a nap,” she wrote.
She added that she did not want customers in her restaurant who spread misinformation about masks and vaccines.
“All of you broken records … repeating each other over and over with your selfish views on masks and vaccines are the reason why we are still in this,” she wrote. “Do you think after getting annihilated and surviving all that restaurants have been through for 17 months of the shut down, that we want to welcome YOU, who helped to keep our faces in the mud, into the dining room to breathe on us and each other and flex your ‘freedom?’ Give me a break. Freedom comes with responsibility.”
