Community Chat

[Venezia]

I always shake my head at those who say chain restaurants closing don't matter, as they're "big corporations".

The ripple effect of local citizens losing their jobs (many who have worked at these "chain" restaurants for years), of suppliers losing their business and it goes on.  Just because a restaurant is part of a chain, doesn't mean its closing doesn't affect many, many ordinary people, just like the rest of us.  It's not always easy to find a new job or a different career.

We just found out yesterday that all four of the Ruby Tuesdays in our local area have permanently closed.  And I immediately thought of the hostess and servers that we knew by name over years of going there.  I knew they'd be in trouble because their amazing salad bar had been a main feature.  But I was still shocked.  (We only found out because we were heading there for lunch and a friend texted that they'd closed!)

The Pizza Hut I used to go to for their buffet lunch has closed.  And I'm sure many others places have.  And each time I think of the staff who I'd gotten to know and I wonder how they will survive.

No, they aren't just "big corporations".

[Sooner]

@ALRATIBA Yes we ate out a lot.  But now we simply won't risk it. 

[Puppy Lips]

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@avid shopper wrote:

This will not be a popular comment... in the grand scheme of things I really do not care about the closing of restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops etc.  I enjoy going out to eat or out to get a treat but I think our focus should be on the health of our population and our country.  It is up to us!

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@avid shopper And you don't think the "health of our population and our country" is dependent on people having a steady income?  What do you think all those people are gonig to do that are out of work and can't find jobs because there are more people looking than jobs available?

[Lali1]

I think it's strange when people say if we had all shut down for a certain amount of time this would all be gone. Really where would it go? If a few people get it when they are essential workers it spreads. This notion that shutting down everything means the virus will go away is just not true. And frankly most places did shut down for at least 6 weeks and yet we still have this scourge on us. 

[Venezia]

@Puppy Lips - ITA.  Not to mention that many will lose their health insurance, when they lose their jobs.

The stress and worry that millions of Americans must be under will be enormous and seriously detrimental to their health.

[vermint]

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@Venezia wrote:

I always shake my head at those who say chain restaurants closing don't matter, as they're "big corporations".

The ripple effect of local citizens losing their jobs (many who have worked at these "chain" restaurants for years), of suppliers losing their business and it goes on.  Just because a restaurant is part of a chain, doesn't mean its closing doesn't affect many, many ordinary people, just like the rest of us.  It's not always easy to find a new job or a different career.

We just found out yesterday that all four of the Ruby Tuesdays in our local area have permanently closed.  And I immediately thought of the hostess and servers that we knew by name over years of going there.  I knew they'd be in trouble because their amazing salad bar had been a main feature.  But I was still shocked.  (We only found out because we were heading there for lunch and a friend texted that they'd closed!)

The Pizza Hut I used to go to for their buffet lunch has closed.  And I'm sure many others places have.  And each time I think of the staff who I'd gotten to know and I wonder how they will survive.

No, they aren't just "big corporations".

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@Venezia I think some have forgotten that "big corporations" hire lots of "local people" in the areas where they have their restaurants...so I feel like I'm supporting my local area when I get food at these places. Mostly takeout these days, but still...

Just on a side note--whenever we've picked up pizza at our local Pizza Hut (which has been there for about 50 years) during all this, we are profusely thanked for our business!

[willdob3]

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@Sooner wrote:

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@willdob3 wrote:

It is going to get much worse before it gets better. If the country had simply shut down for 6-8 weeks, like other countries did, we would have been able to open businesses back up with success and this would never have happened. Shame on this country for allowing this to happen.

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@willdob3 It isn't possible to close down the country for a month.  Police, fire, health care, pharmacy, grocery stores, banks, car repair, gas stations, and hundreds of other businesses cannot close.  Houses get sold, court cases have to be tried, public utilities.

So all these people have homes to go to, can't quarantine, so the virus will spread and be in the population.  AND when things reopen as they must or people will starve from being jobless and the economy crashing forever, the virus will spread more rapidly.

It is inevitable that that will happen.  And at that point, it is what it is.  You can't legislate it away or shut down and eliminate it.  At some point, people are out and about and the virus will do whatever it is going to do.

I'm not viewing this from any stand but it seems to me that it is simply what will happen.  We can be careful, but at some point it's going to run through the population.  It's like a pachinko machine.  And one ball is going to drop sometime. 

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@Sooner 

Other countries managed to shut down 95% and they are in a much better place with fewer infections, deaths and better economies. Because we view the economy to be more important than health, we are paying the price. And we will continue to. The walls are crumbling around us. If we don’t decide to make hard changes regarding health and safety, even harder changes will be made by the virus regardless of what we want. Regardless of how many businesses will be lost. 

[willdob3]

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@willdob3 wrote:

It is going to get much worse before it gets better. If the country had simply shut down for 6-8 weeks, like other countries did, we would have been able to open businesses back up with success and this would never have happened. Shame on this country for allowing this to happen.

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Sorry, but I don't buy this at all. Shutting down totally, enough to really say your were totally shut down, would have meant no essential workers, period. How many of you were set up to sustain living like that, without power, delivery services, grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, police and fire/paramedics etc. 

A true shut down would be everything but MAYBE hospitals and safety forces, and as long as those safety forces work, they will be exposed and carry the virus around to some extent.

Even places that shut down hard are showing cases reemerging after re opening. This idea that the state/nation/world can really sustain a true shut down (long enough to do any real good) is simply a rainbow and unicorn fantasy. The virus would reappear upon opening at some level, and the continued economic devastation unbearable from the shut down.

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@Mominohio 

Of course other countries that successfully shut down at 95% (no one suggests essential workers stop but this country needs to stop claiming almost all workers as essential), got cases very low, and then have slowly reopened have seen cases. We have always known that would happen. We know that the virus is not going to go away. It is here to stay. The idea behind shutting down is to lower the number of infections and deaths at one time so it is manageable. 

What this country is currently doing is quickly running the entire country into the ground. Very quickly. We will eventually shut down either by choice from leadership or because the virus reaches even more horrific rates of infecting people and there is no one left to “mind the store.”

[golding76]

This country is already suffering from COVID-19 fatigue, and the new plague will be hopelessness added to the destruction of about anything that we have cherished through the years.

What could possibly ensue from all our collective failures up to now is frightening.

[Puppy Lips]

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@Venezia wrote:

@Puppy Lips - ITA.  Not to mention that many will lose their health insurance, when they lose their jobs.

The stress and worry that millions of Americans must be under will be enormous and seriously detrimental to their health.

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@Venezia Actually, I meant to throw that in my comment too.  How healthy are they going to be with no health insurance to cover check ups and treat problems that arise?  I find it very troubling that it seems so many people only think of themselves and their own financial situation, and as long as they are not affected, well everyone else just has to deal with it. But EVERYONE is going to be affected by it, and it is going to hit everyone financially, one way or another.