The owner of Happy Dry Cleaners in Crown Heights explains what motivated her to hang up the newspaper clippings offensive to the frum Jewish community and apologizes for doing so. Full Story
By Chanie Kozliner
I was appalled by a recently submitted article entitled “Dry Cleaners Show Their True Colors.”
I have been living in Crown Heights for over 20 years and I have never had an issue with Happy Dry Cleaners. On the contrary, the owner is always friendly. When I go in to pick up clothing, we often joke and chat.
When COLlive featured the long Erev Shabbos line winding around the block, I went into the store to jokingly inform Youn (the name of owner) that she was becoming famous.
I was therefore shocked to read of an incident related to the cleaners being accused of antisemitism. After reviewing the article, something didn’t quite add up. It wasn’t like Youn to post anything derogatory. As well, from a business vantage point, it didn’t make sense for her to post a news item that would inevitably destroy her business.
Bothered by the article, I went into the store to discuss the matter with Youn. She stated that she didn’t understand the content of the signs she posted and certainly didn’t realize they were antisemitic.
She proceeded to explain: A neighboring store owner had informed her that many police officers and inspectors were in the neighborhood and giving out fines to those without masks. When Youn saw photos of Jews wearing masks, she intended to warn her customers so that they would not receive heavy fines. By posting those pictures all over the front of her store, she hoped to warn her customers.
Youn said many customers entered her store outraged. As soon as she was told that the signs were not pro-Jews, she immediately took them down.
We discussed writing a letter to explain the misunderstanding. She asked me if I would be able to assist her. I did, and told her I would publicly share her letter.
We live in very chaotic times. Antisemitism is rampant. However, if something doesn’t make sense, if our gut senses something wrong, we do have the ability to ask, engage, and communicate.
Anyone who was outraged by what occurred could have approached her directly instead of assuming the worst and publicly posting with antagonizing headlines.
If you read an article or hear about a story online that doesn’t sit well with you, research the story and find out the truth.
Not everything we read is accurate. Not every single story is anti-Semitic, although some may appear to be.
As Jews, we have the responsibility to be a light unto the nations. Let us act respectfully and communicate when something doesn’t sit well with us. Engaging in healthy dialogue is far more effective than harboring anger and resentment toward others.
And speaking of cleaners, let’s strive to stay clean and judge others favorably without staining reputations and letting off steam.
She is currently offering a new special for hat cleaning. Ask her about it!
I’d like to share Youn’s apology for the misunderstanding:
Dear valued customers,
We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the confusion and misunderstanding related to offensive signs recently posted in our store.
We had seen articles sharing images of Orthodox Jews wearing masks and simply intended to warn our customers to take safety precautions, and wear masks. We were aware that cops were fining anyone on the street not wearing a mask.
We do not read English well and we were not aware that the articles contained content that was hurtful and offensive. We posted the signs based solely on the pictures displayed.
Upon closer examination, the images were not even of Crown Heights residents as was pointed out to us by a concerned resident of Crown Heights.
As soon as we were informed, we immediately took them down.
We respectfully apologize for posting the signs before doing a thorough investigation regarding their content and context. We also apologize to any customers we may have offended.
Since English is not our first language, if there is ever any future misunderstanding, please feel free to directly discuss the issue with us.
We have proudly served Crown Heights and the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidim for over 20 years.
As members of this vibrant community, we are actively involved with various public services and we support local organizations.
Our main goal is to continue to serve you as an essential business during this pandemic.
We thank you for your continued patronage and we look forward to providing you with the excellent services that you have come to expect from us.
Yours,
Happy Dry Cleaners
November 03, 2020 at 11:42AM
https://collive.com/dry-cleaners-apologizes-for-offensive-newspaper-clippings/
Dry Cleaners Apologizes For Offensive Newspaper Clippings - COLlive
https://news.google.com/search?q=dry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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