Should New Hampshire Store Be Able to Tell Employees Not to Make Jokes?

It’s been quite some time since employees at New Hampshire businesses were allowed to light up your smoke. And according to a local Facebook group, it’s now frowned upon to be quick with a joke.

Residents in one Granite State town took to social media to express confusion and anger over a beloved employee who was allegedly told to stop his long-standing tradition of sharing jokes with customers.

From the sounds of it, the quips were of the “dad joke” nature – corny, but harmless.

Still, it seems this worker was allegedly told just to ring up customers, or ostensibly, get the hook.

Why, though?

It didn’t take long for speculation to take over, as one local posted in a Facebook group:

"This is absurd. (Employee) is the friendliest. And…who tells corporate on a guy that makes people LAUGH? It’s too bad. Some people ONLY interact with store clerks throughout their day…a smile and joke means so much."

As this could be regarded as Facebook hearsay, we’ve omitted the employee’s name, as well as that of the store.

That said, there are always two sides to a story. Did a New Hampshire store actually tell an employee to not tell jokes to customers? When asked directly about the situation, the store replied, “No comment,” so we don't have a definitive answer on that one.

But it does beg the bigger general question, what do you think of any local business telling an employee not to make jokes with customers? Should they?

Hey, this is New Hampshire, the home of Adam Sandler, Seth Meyers, and Sarah Silverman. Humor always wins in the end, right?

What do you think?