Restaurant Owner Viral Video Highlights Glaring Hypocrisy Of L.A. COVID Restrictions

Californians are infuriated by the new restrictions imposed by Mayor Garcetti in his amended “Targeted Safer at Home Order.” Home to some of the strictest regulations, California also has some of the dumbest restrictions, often defying science or medical recommendation. On December 2nd, L.A. Mayor Garcetti stood at a podium and said it was “time to cancel everything.”

The new year brings hope –– for vaccines and for stopping this pandemic.

But here’s the truth: we’re in for a long, hard winter.

As the worst hits us, stay home as much as you can. Cancel any non-essential activities.

Hunker down, L.A. We’ll get through this together. pic.twitter.com/6TkVsTfPzP

— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) December 3, 2020

His revised “Targeted Safer at Home Order” includes,

“Subject only to the exceptions outlined in this Order, all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes.”

The new order prohibits leaving your home by foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, car, or public transportation. You’re not allowed to take your dog on a walk outside. You’re not allowed to take a bike ride. Violation of this new order is a misdemeanor crime and violators are subject to fines and imprisonment, per Mayor Garcetti. He’s so serious that he sent a text to thousands of Angelenos stating that “… all persons living within the City of Los Angeles are hereby ordered to remain in their homes.”

One of the most devastating changes is the restrictions on outdoor dining. Many restaurant owners spent a lot of time and money retrofitting their restaurants to accommodate outdoor dining requirements, only to be told that it was all for naught as outdoor dining would be prohibited.

But the most frustrating part of these requirements are the many exceptions to the rules.

TikTok explains pic.twitter.com/gKRj9H7YMc

— TomG8090 (@G8090Tom) December 3, 2020

The hypocrisy is infuriating for people who actually have to work and make money in order to live, unlike the government officials who shut everything down and still get a taxpayer paycheck. While restaurant and other small business owners face eventual bankruptcy because people aren’t allowed to eat their food outdoors in the fresh air while distanced from others, it’s still totally fine to go golfing, shoot a music video, film a movie, go to the gym, go Christmas shopping at the mall, get a haircut, or get a tattoo, but you can’t get a burrito at your local corner restaurant. You can’t leave your house to walk your dog, but also the parks are still open for walking. Daycares are still open because people need someplace for their kids to go when they are essential workers (like strippers), but schools are closed. So really, don’t leave your house and let’s bankrupt most small businesses and restaurants, but also everything is still pretty much open.  It’s weird.

Angela Marsden, owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill in Sherman Oaks, made a video highlighting exactly this devastating hypocrisy. She spent about $80,000 renovating her restaurant to have outdoor seating for dine-in customers, but the new rules say that she spent $80,000 for nothing because no one is allowed to eat there, and she now must close down her business completely because take-out profit is insufficient to cover her margins.

“So this is my place, the Pineapple Hill Grill and Saloon. If you go to my page you can see all the work I did for outdoor dining for tables being seven feet apart, and I come in today because I am organizing a protest and I came in to get stuff for that. And I walk into my parking lot and, obviously, [Los Angeles] Mayor Garcetti has approved this.”

Just feet away from her now-prohibited new $80,000 outdoor dining area is a large outdoor dining area set up by a movie production company.

“[Garcetti] has approved this being set up for … a movie company. I’m losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me, and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio,” Marsden says. “And people wonder why I’m protesting and why I have had enough. They have not given us money and they have shut us down. We cannot survive. My staff cannot survive.”

“Tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me is a slap in my face, that’s safe. This is safe? Fifty feet away?”

Bar owner in Los Angeles CA is livid to see that mayor Garcetti has approved an outdoor dining area for a movie company directly across from her outdoor dining area (which was shut down) pic.twitter.com/jkUP2CWg35

— Jake Coco 💙🇺🇸🎶🐻 (@jakecoco) December 4, 2020

On Dec. 5th, Marsden held a rally in protest of the outdoor dining restrictions and started a fundraiser to help cover her costs.

https://t.co/NKUlrq9SF2

— Jake Coco 💙🇺🇸🎶🐻 (@jakecoco) December 5, 2020

But it’s not just in California the small business owners are getting vocal about their frustration. In Michigan, an angry business owner noticed a reporter near his business and was provided the opportunity to tell the world what these restrictions are really costing people.

An angry business owner interrupted me moments before my live hit. He wanted to express his anger about Michigan’s current covid-19 restrictions. So, ok kool you can express your anger, just know I’m asking hard questions in return.💪🏾Journalism 101 always be ready! pic.twitter.com/TIcJRv8R4J

— Tarvarious Haywood (@TarvariousWWMT) December 3, 2020

This man is being fined every day that he defies the order, but the alternative is closing his doors forever and, as he sees it, submitting to tyrany.

As the country begins to return to normal after COVID, these business owners are simply trying to ensure that there is something to which they can return.