Coronavirus Update: Ice Cream Customers Harass Young Staff; Teen Receives $30,000 In Donations

A Massachusetts ice cream shop was forced to shut down a day after reopening because the customers harassed its young staff. Mark Lawrence, who owns Polar Cave Ice Cream in Cape Cod, had to set up a fundraising drive for his 17-year-old worker after she was verbally assaulted by the shop's impatient patrons.

Lawrence revealed on social media that his ice cream store was overwhelmed by people upon reopening Friday. A commotion started with a female customer who started yelling and screaming at one of the teenage staff, and social distancing was forgotten. At one point, the woman also cursed and even said C-word.

"Everybody's been in their cages. All of a sudden, the zookeeper opened the gates, and the animals run out, and the first thing the animals do is go after its prey," Lawrence told NBC News as he described the incident. "And a 17-year-old young girl bringing you ice cream is a pretty easy target to rant your mouth on."

Because of what happened, Lawrence said that he has decided not to open the ice cream shop until he has a plan is in place to appease the angry mob demanding their ice cream.

Meanwhile, the staff who was harassed had to quit her job even when she was saving money for her college tuition. She has been helping out at Lawrence's store for three years.

"No one deserves this kind of abuse, especially a 17-year-old young girl, in a time when we as a country should stand united," the store owner said. Thus, Lawrence set up a GoFund Me page for his teenage worker.

According to Fox News, the fundraiser received over $30,000 as of Tuesday morning. Lawrence has been posting his acknowledgment, and thanks for the outpouring of support from the community.

"The underlying message here that gets lost, is how will other businesses reopen," Lawrence wrote in another Facebook post. "There is no road map to follow. Years of being in business, no one has ever had to go through anything like this."

Lawrence has been running Polar Cave Ice Cream for 19 years.