The Cornered Pure Blood In A COVID-19 Safe Business

It has been one month since New South Wales exited its 106 days in lockdown.  The NSW lockdowns began on June 26, 2021 due to climbing COVID-19 infections in the community, to reopen mostly for double-vaccinated citizens on October 11, 2021 .  

The Premier of NSW Dominic Perrottet referred to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions as the state’s “Freedom Day”.  For us unvaccinated pure bloods though, it was another slap in the face.

“I have to meet Imad today at 2pm,” I called across the house to my wife, Ria.

The time was already 2:30pm.  

I planned to meet my double jabbed vaccinated best friend of thirty years at Macarthur Square for a coffee.

I let him know via text message that I would be running twenty minutes late.

Insisting On No Vaccine Passports

Dropping my wife and kid off at the park, I drove up to Macarthur Square.

I walked mask-free through the outdoor shopping center courtyard towards Imad.  

He asked, “Where do you want to go?  Do you want to try Coco Cubano?”  

I balked, “If we go there, the staff will probably ask for our vaccine passports.  I don’t want to go through that bullshit all the time.”

The awkward encounter over COVID-19 vaccine passports we had two weeks ago in Coco Cubano still stuck in my mind.

I doubled down, “How about we just go to The Coffee Club?”

“The Coffee Shop doesn’t have comfortable seats.  We can just try Coco Cubano,” he became slightly restive.

We decided to go to Coco Cubano.  

The reason for such vacillation is because Imad is double-vaccinated and has a vaccine certificate that gains him entry into vaccinated-only venues, while I remained an unvaccinated pure blood with no such vaccine passport.  We had no idea which venues seek to divide our friendship and discriminate against only one of us healthy, COVID-19 virus-free individuals because they adhere to the COVID-19 reopening plan set forth by the New South Wales state government.

As we walked towards the coffee shop entrance, I made an ultimatum.

“If we are going to go into the coffee shop, don’t show your vaccine passport.  Just pretend you don’t have one.”  

He questioned, “You don’t think I should show it?”  

I told him, “Well I’m not vaccinated anyway. There’s no real point for you to show it if we both can’t get in.”  

In a roundabout way I asked him to support me, which he did.

Passing The COVID-19 QR-Code Sign In Test

The Freedom Day reopening of businesses in New South Wales to COVID-19 double vaccinated Australians has decimated businesses.  Coco Cubano was no different.  

As we walked to the entrance, I was an uppity, somewhat tense pure blood.  

“I can’t see any signage,” Imad remarked.

All the usual New South Wales government mandatory COVID-19 vaccine certificates QR-code check-in signage and symbols were not properly displayed on the business shopfront

All we could see was the QR code to share your vaccine certificate status.

The COVID-19 sign-in QR code had been removed from its imposing position facing customers queuing to enter the business, to being laid flat on the surface of a floor column edge. I could see the QR code signage, but needed to look hard to notice it was there.  

When greeted by a staff member, we discovered how relaxed the vaccine passport citation process had become.

“Do you want to scan in,” is how the waiter greeted us.

The COVID-19 QR code sign in process ceased to be as strictly implemented as it had been in other establishments since reopening to the double-vaccinated.

Interestingly, when simply asked to use the QR code to sign in, Imad breathed out in immense relief.

“That’s good.  They didn’t ask for vaccine passports,” his shoulders dropped from a sudden release of tension.

“Would you like to come in and sit down,” the waiter pointed us to the tables by the window.

The staff didn’t ask anything about our COVID-19 vaccine certificate or COVID-19 vaccination status.

I guess Imad feels uncomfortable with that sense of confrontation every time we go out to a coffee shop together.  

Those types of situations where vaccinated and unvaccinated people in Australian society are separated into two groups always make him tense.

Lively COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Discussion

Imad became seated with his chair to the wall, while I was opposite him with the service counter behind my back.

“I’ll be back to take your order when you’re ready,” the waiter said.

We relaxed on the lounge chairs at the far inside back left beside the coffee shop window.  

We both looked out the window at all the pretty sorts walking through the courtyard.  

“You’ve got a better seat than me,” I smirked.  

Imad started. “How’s everything going? How’s your business?”  

I replied, “Yeah, it’s doing excellent.”  

Soon, we talked about the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  

The waiter returned to take our order of two large cappuccinos.  

A Pure Blood Cornered By The Police

As we continued to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Imad pointed with his eyes.

“Hey, look behind you.”

I turned around to see two burly male police officers had approached the service counter.

I noticed their guns.  

I looked back towards Imad and smirked nervously, “Let’s see what happens.”  

I thought the police officers had come in to inspect the vaccine passports of the patrons inside the coffee shop.  

I turned back around, sporting a flustered grin on my face, caught in an awkward pickle, unable to show a COVID-19 vaccine certificate I did not have, calculating how many thousands of dollars a fine for being unvaccinated in a covid-safe venue would be.

“I think they’re just coming in to have a coffee,” Imad eased my concerns.

To be safe, I smiled, “I’m going to go to the toilet.”  

That was code for, “I’m going to get out of here so I can avoid a COVID-19 vaccine certificate inspection from those two burly police officers.”

The Pure Blood Flees Prosecution

I used that opportunity to grab my phone, walk across the courtyard from Coco Cubano and enter the toilets.  

This is a sign of the times, that you have to flee a coffee shop when police arrive, afraid that the police will discover that you are unvaccinated, do not hold a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and are legally not allowed to be inside.  

The pure blood patron and the business in breach of COVID-19 safety guidelines could get fined hundreds and thousands of dollars for making a simple business transaction between an unvaccinated customer and a business that legally is forbidden to serve unvaccinated people.

While in the toilets I made a few audio notes into my diary.  

Then I walked back across the shopping center courtyard, no face mask on while outdoors, only to don the face mask for those few steps back to the table, before I once again took the face mask off to drink my coffee.  

Discussing COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Discrimination

We picked back up on conversation about covid-19 vaccine mandates, what we had seen in the news, and shared which businesses ask Imad for his vaccine passport.

At one point I was talking so loudly about the discrimination that unvaccinated people faced that Imad chimed in.

“Do you think the cops can hear you? Where are they?”  

I looked around.  The police officers were seated in the far back room with the vintage lounge chairs, well away from my free-speaking thoughts.

“They are all the way at the back of the coffee shop.”  

He said, “All right.  They probably can’t hear you.”  

“I should be quieter anyway, just in case.  I don’t want to get the business in trouble.”

Moving Social Networks From Facebook To Gab

Social media became quite topical.  I tried to convince Imad of the merits of coming over to the social network Gab.  

I said, “Facebook has blocked one of my biggest groups.  The No Lockdowns In Australia Coronavirus Group had fifteen thousand members.”  

I told him the reasons that the group was blocked.  

He related, “Yeah, my sister tried to post something about the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. She tried to promote a GoFundMe account on Facebook, but they deleted her page and blocked her. She got very angry about that.”

I added, “I read a post online that said Facebook has become like communist China.  If they don’t like something that you write about, Facebook will just block you, censor you, or delete you. It’s complete censorship on Facebook now.  I frequently get blocked on Facebook.”  

“I only go on Facebook to see who’s online and to like some things, or to talk on Facebook Messenger,” he shared.  

“Yeah.  You don’t see it. But Facebook is blocking people for almost everything these days. If you promote too much on Facebook or post covid-19 content in groups that is labeled as misinformation by Facebook fact-checkers, Facebook will block you.  If your group says something about covid-19 vaccination that Facebook doesn’t like, they’ll censor you and delete you.  

“You always have to watch what you say because you can get put in Facebook jail for a few months, or your Facebook group can disappear forever.  Mine is gone.  All I did was share a post from Reignite Democracy Australia.”

“Why don’t you come over to Gab?  The only person that I really look for on Facebook is you.  If you came over to Gab?  Then we still have a social network to message each other on if we need to.”  

“I will think about it,” he answered.

Tipping Businesses Apathetic To COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

We chatted for half an hour over cappuccinos in Coco Cubano.  

Imad needed a smoke, so we hopped up from our chairs.

Imad asked, “Did you pay?”  

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” the bill for the coffees had slipped my mind.

The peppy male waiter came from the kitchen area over to the service counter.

“That will be $8.70,” he smiled.

“Just make it out to ten dollar,” I told him.

Whenever a business relaxes their covid-19 vaccine mandate guidelines to allow double-vaccinated and unvaccinated friends to enjoy a coffee together, I now give them a tip.