Company Makes ‘Bumper Tables’ For Restaurants Amid Virus

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) — A company in Baltimore has created “bumper tables” designed to allow people to practice social distancing while eating and talking in outdoor settings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The inflated tube tables created by Revolution Event Design & Production were debuted at Fish Tales, a restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland, on Saturday, news outlets reported. The tables are designed with a hole in the middle to accommodate people around 4 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) tall. Participants can then move themselves around using the wheels attached to the bottom of the table and maintain a 6-foot (2-meter) distance from each other.

Restaurants are slowly beginning to welcome back diners after putting new social distancing rules in place due to the coronavirus pandemic—and many eateries have come up with bizarre but effective ways to keep parties at least six feet apart. https://t.co/orB8HLQxGc pic.twitter.com/gUL8xa6mC9

— ABC News (@ABC) May 19, 2020

“We wanted to come up with a creative and fun way to keep everyone safe and compliant, but still bring back the social and festive and party aspect of the event,” Erin Cermak, the CEO of Revolution Event Design & Production, told the Baltimore Sun.

Shawn Harman, the owner of Fish Tales, said he and his wife have purchased 10 bumper tables from Cermak’s company. Harman said he plans to order 40 more tables so customers can enjoy their food and remain distanced while dining in the restaurant’s parking lot.

“If you come in to get a pound of shrimp and a beer, you can stand in one of these and walk around and look at things and talk to people,” Harman said. He said the reception to the bumper tables was positive when his family and friends took them out for a trial run outside his restaurant Saturday.

“There are other restaurants in other parts of the country that have contacted us to get information to order them,” Harman said.

Cermak, who is the cousin of Harman’s wife, told the Baltimore Sun that many restaurants, cafes, and even a sports franchise have contacted her after news outlets reported on the tables. She said her company can customize them for businesses and also rent them out per day.