My Father's Advice

 

When I was growing up, my father would tell me to always patronize the small businesses in the area.  He repeatedly told me that if you don't, then the day you need them, they won't be there for you.

I think of his words now, as I drive through the business sections of town and look at all the signs reading "Temporarily Closed", "Permanently Closed", and just "Closed".  I wonder how many of the small businesses that I have patronized over the years will be gone when this is over.  How many will still be there, but will be "different".  I look at the empty storefronts and wonder if anyone will move in once this is over, or if they will remain empty for years to come.  It's  not just the small businesses that are dying though.  The paper lists major department stores that have been around for over 50 years as closing, many because of people shopping online, a trend that was causing issues for the department stores before the pandemic started, but that intensified with the stay at home orders.  Some new businesses are opening up and some that are minor are gaining popularity, but I wonder, how many of those that are providing pandemic related services will be able to pivot to other services when the pandemic finally is gotten under control?

The paper has a running column of "Restaurants that are Closing", "Restaurants that are Opening", "Restaurants that are delivery or carryout only" and "Restaurants that allow "Dining In". How many of those will be left? When the pandemic first started and restaurants were forced to close and then "reinvent" themselves as carryout and delivery, we made a point of trying to pick up a meal from an independent restaurant we liked once a week, but as things dragged on, we found that we seldom do carryout or delivery, other than pizza and picking things up from the grocery store's deli section anymore. Now that more restaurants are open for "dining in" we have tried to patronize the ones near us that have outdoor patio options, maybe once a week for lunch after church, but we don't eat out like we did before the pandemic. Most are doing a really good job of social distancing patrons and watching sanitation procedures.  A new Ninja Japanese Steak house just opened up near us.  It took a lot of courage for them to do that, so we made a point of going for dinner the other day.  I was really impressed with how they handled the social distancing with plexiglass dividers between patrons and with their sanitation procedures.

I have actually felt safer in restaurants than I have at the few stores I've been inside.  At the grocery stores, people wear their masks, but they don't always pay attention to the 6 ft rule.  At stores like Target, Walmart and the big Home Improvement stores, people may come in wearing masks, but they don't all keep them on or wear them properly and they don't maintain the 6 ft distance.  I've learned to grab a cart when I go, even when I only need a small item, so I can use it to help enforce the 6 ft rule.

I know we are all praying that this ends soon, but it doesn't look like it is going to.  We've lost so much of the "normal" activities that we are all accustomed to.  The Holiday markers that help us tell one season from the next. I expect that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be minor affairs with just immediate family members at them, rather than the big extended family extravaganzas that we have all been used to in the past.  It would be wonderful to have an end date that we could plan toward.  Something so we could say, I can get through 3 months, or 4 months or even a year.  It's the not knowing how long this will last that drags us all down.  That and the wondering who will be left at the end.

Dale Weir

Photo by 

Anastasiia Chepinska