A Massachusetts ice cream shop owner had a message for customers who think yelling at his employees was acceptable.
Dave Forgit didn’t bother mincing words while addressing customers who thought it was okay to yell and scream at his teen employees.
“We’re not afraid to drop a couple of colorful words on Facebook,” said the ice-cream owner.
An ice cream shop in Massachusetts just made headlines after the boss stood up for his staff
Dave Forgit and his brother Kevin Miller are co-owners of Coldstuff Ice Cream in Blackstone, Massachusetts.
This ice cream shop is a small establishment that sort of “fell into [their lap],” Dave said in a recent Facebook interview.
Despite its humble beginnings, the brothers’ ice cream store just became national news for the way Dave stood up for his employees.
When he noticed customers were yelling at his young employees, Dave had no qualms about sharing a blunt message on Facebook.
“I swear to God. STOP YELLING AT MY F***ING EMPLOYEES,” he wrote in his PSA to customers.
“They are children,” he added.
In a blunt message, Dave said it wasn’t okay for customers to berate his teen employees
Dave went on to say that this was the first job for most of his employees, and hence, they were understandably going to make mistakes.
“They aren’t in charge of anything,” he added. “This can all be fixed with a smile and a polite attitude. It’s ice cream for crying out loud. Grow up and act your age.”
He also shared an after-thought in the comments section, saying: “And NOBODY gives a sh** if you don’t come back. We’d prefer it that way.”
To his surprise, his post struck a chord with thousands of people online.
Nearly 300K Facebook users liked his post, and thousand shared their thoughts in the comments section.
“If my boss rode for me like this I would have stayed at that LAME ahh job back then,” one said.
Another wrote, “When I was 16 and was getting screamed at for not being able to make change in .5 seconds.”
“You don’t actually have to scream for ice cream,” one commented online
“This is fabulous! We own a coffee shop in Massachusetts and most of the crew are teens,” said another. “I get irate when I see customers busting their chops over nonsense. Now we need to find your shop and buy ice cream plus leave a generous tip for the kids!”
Others were willing to travel to Massachusetts for a scoop, saying: “Looks like a trip to Massachusetts for some ice cream is in order…”
Surprised by the response online, the two brothers said business is now booming after the post went viral.
While talking about the inspiration behind the post, both Dave and Kevin said they were tired of seeing customers berate their young employees over a scoop of ice cream or sundae.
“The amount of verbal ab*se that these young kids get in a day is shocking to me. It’s wild,” Kevin told WFXT.
So to rectify the situation, Dave said they weren’t afraid to drop “a couple of colorful words on Facebook.”
The shop owner believed an ice cream shop is meant to be a “happy place”
Dave asserted that an ice cream shop was no place to bring any kind of anger or hostility to.
“It’s supposed to be laid back. It’s ice cream,” he told the outlet. “It’s supposed to be a happy place and a happy time. Settle down, take a breath, touch grass.”
Coldstuff Ice Cream may have started out as a tiny, local establishment, but its owners are no longer dealing with a small audience anymore.
In the comments section, they revealed that they had only 1,200 followers on Facebook.
But now, after their post blew up, their number of followers increased to 33K.
Dave also created a GoFundMe page for the young employees, who are either “just starting out in life” or preparing to go to college next year.
“100% of the funds will go directly to the employees to help them as they take those next steps into adulthood and education,” the GoFundMe page said.
Netizens had plenty to say about the way the ice cream shop owners stood up for their employees
