re: Courtyard Brewery is mad at y’all

frick you scott

His post:

As many of you have assessed, I was very pissed off when I tweeted earlier today. I'm not going to apologize for it except to say that I usually write that kind of explicitly divisive stuff into drafts and then delete those drafts later (I learned this practice while going through my divorce). This one slipped through in a moment of sheer exhaustion and unsurpassed frustration with both our government and our citizenry. I guess I passed on yelling at the governor because I've done that and he certainly doesn't give a shite about what I have to say. I'm still pretty shocked that so many of you do - that dumbass tweet right now has over 13.5k likes, which is unfathomable. I do care what you all think, even if we are destined to disagree, as quite a few of you know intimately. It gives me hope when we disagree but come together despite our differences.

I'm not here to hit you with facts or to try and sway you but I will request that you consider my plea at the end. My concerns are purely emotional and mostly selfish. They are centered on being able to keep my small business open for the long term, safely and conscientiously, and to be able to provide for myself and my children. I would also like to provide a place for my employees to learn and grow with equitable opportunities but more importantly support their lives monetarily for as long as it makes sense for them. My staff is intensely worried about being able to work in this environment and even with doing things 'right' there is a huge risk to contracting or spreading this terrible disease, so far as we now understand. I accept that this scourge is extremely virulent and really, truly heinous.

I often drive around the city and the state to witness first hand how others are conducting themselves and I promise you that this is not a conservative vs liberal thing and that I specifically didn't say dumb Republicans or dumb Democrats for this reason. I didn't blame Trump or Cantrell or whoever because they aren't here in the stores and on the streets spreading the virus - we are. My post has been made political by so many one way or the other but it wasn't my intention at all - again, it was an anger laden moment and honest reaction to some pretty shitty information. It is what it is. From what I've seen out there, so few people are actually doing things the 'right' way it churns my stomach. I've seen so, so many people not wearing masks or with them askew or with their noses popped out so as to make them completely worthless gestures. I believe my son got sick a couple weeks ago because he went to get his haircut and the people there weren't wearing masks (he wasn't with me at the time and luckily he subsequently tested negative for Covid).
Do I have any idea what political choices the cashier at Home Depot makes? Do I care? Do I stop and ask? Nope. I care whether or not they have the mask around their neck instead of over their face and if they're standing too close to me or someone else instead of remaining distanced. I worry that the longer that people are lazy about this, the longer my son will go without seeing his grandmother because I believe it is currently unsafe and unethical to travel (especially to California where this is even worse than Louisiana). I worry that the unemployment cliff is coming in 3 weeks and my staff won't have a place to work even though we've done absolutely everything that has been asked of us. I worry that any single member of our beer community will fall ill and we will lose you. I am especially pissed off because we just made some really great beers and we can't share them with you in the way we intend them to be consumed, in our space, spinning old vinyl, together, arguing about dumb shite like sports or television shows. Everything sucks right now. I'm on fricking edge like I've never been and the anxiety and fear is real. If you aren't then you are a god amongst mere mortals. But I am mortal and I feel my mortality and it all came spewing out in that dumb tweet - fear, anger, blame, worry, doubt, dread... Should I have kept my composure and remained "professional"? Sure, I dunno, but I didn't, or couldn't.

I'll leave you with a final thought that is totally unrelated to beer. I went to a wedding tonight for two of my dearest friends. I stayed mostly quarantined for nearly two weeks prior to tonight so that I could feel safe attending and wouldn't have to worry about infecting someone else. Everything happened outside in their back yard. My son and I both wore our masks and we stayed 10 feet or more from every other person throughout our time there - a great feat for a 7 year old. They staggered us so that only 5 to 10 people at a time got to visit and they did this over a 4 or 5 hour period, with each small group only being allotted 15 to 30 minutes of visitation. Nobody hugged. Nobody high fived. Everyone wore a mask, and a real mask not just like a scarf. You couldn't see people smiling and at times it was difficult to make out what they were saying. It was both tragic and beautiful watching these two incredible people come together as one while the rest of us, their family, had to watch from a distance, pained in a way, uncomfortably standing around making forced awkward small talk with people you've known for years and years. There was far too much talk about Covid and bars closing and people out of work. In some ways it just fricking sucked. They also only had Truly and Fireball but I won't get started on that.

I don't enjoy wearing a mask. It isn't a point of pride that I put one on day in and day out. My son was not super comfortable standing out in the late evening Louisiana heat with his mask on at the wedding. My hot breath against my hot face wasn't the most pleasant experience I've had in life. But we did it because it's the right thing to do for everyone else and especially my friend who is severely immunocompromised and extremely at risk for Covid infection. This is a life or death issue for them. It isn't about waxing poetic or arguing for enjoyment online. Anyway, in the grand scheme it isn't that hard to just do the right thing. We don't need kudos or rewards. Knowing that we likely aren't increasing someone else's potential for suffering is enough. We always talk about personal responsibility in the United States. In this moment we are faced with extremely dire circumstances. We are being called upon to act righteously in order to secure the safety of people we will almost certainly never meet nor even know of their existence.

Please, I implore you to feel that pressing weight of personal responsibility with regard to public safety and to please act accordingly with mindfulness and kindness. We know that we cannot control our politicians. Getting through this means coming together and working for the benefit of one another despite our apparent disagreements or silly party affiliations. For what it's worth, I will try to be more thoughtful with the nonsense I spew. I do hope that each of you stays well, that your families stay well, and that we can find ways to support and succeed together. Cheers.

Didn't he get in trouble for not following regulations at the start of all of this and now he is blaming others?

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But maybe instead voice that anger towards the government picking winners and losers instead of shaming citizens?

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How do you know he hasn’t? Can it not be both? The government completely fricked businesses, but people that prefer to die on a mask hill are putting the final nail in the coffin.

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LSUBoo

Some screenshots would be nice. I blocked him on FB, can't see the meltiness.

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Saw a nice statement by a nice young lad.....

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I haven't been to Courtyard in years. Feels good to be ahead of the trend.

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I usually am a trendsetter.






I'm not young anymore, though.

I've been willing to give him passes for his rants in the past but he just continues to act like a middle-aged toddler when things don't go the way he wants.

I'm all for him having his thoughts and being able to share them, but man he really needs to learn how to communicate without just being angry.

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The reality is that he probably supported and voted for the people ruining his life.

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And will probably do the exact same thing next election cycle.

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Since when is Courtyard allowed to distribute across state lines in consumers’ homes??

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Unless they signed a deal with a distributor, they cannot. I haven't been since I left LA, but they didn't have a canning machine back then either.