Employees stop girls from caroling at WinCo grocery store
Ayla and Kaitlyn Bascom were filled with Christmas spirit and decided that they wanted to carol at their local grocery store to give shoppers “a warm fuzzy feeling.” As reported by KATU, they drew up a sign that made it clear they were not asking for donations, rather they were “excited just spreading joy,” and headed to WinCo grocery store in Vancouver, Washington.
The girls’ carols were well received by passersby while they sang outside the market for around an hour. However, their good cheer was dashed when a store employee told the two they had to stop singing because they did not want to offend customers. "(The employee said) our policy is like we don't allow carolers or something like that," one of the girls told KATU’s reporter Emily Sinovic. “I was like bummed and sort of, we were both depressed and…that we couldn't spread any more love and joy and cheer.”
So, Emily Sinovic tried to help the girls and approached the WinCo managers about their caroling policy. They emerged from their meeting with the contact number of WinCo Corporate attorney, Mike Reed.
Reed responded to the voicemail they left and said, "WinCo has no written policy on that (caroling) - we do as a company try to remain neutral on some policies," and added that he did not, "see any harm in a couple little girls singing.” The attorney promised to speak to the WinCo managers and said the girls would likely be allowed to go back and sing outside the grocery store.
It’s unknown if the girls have officially been given permission to return to the store and sing. However, they were invited to perform before the KATU TV news audience during one of their broadcasts.
Video and more info: KATU
