My husband always shops at Whole Foods. We like our local Whole Foods store a lot. Every employee wears masks and gloves, along with shields at the register. Tape marks off the appropriate distance between customers.
There are a few products that we buy at locally owned stores. One store disappointed us during this health crisis.
My husband was shocked that absolutely none of the employees at this store had on masks or gloves. Only one other customer besides my husband was wearing a mask and gloves.
My husband sent an email to the store saying that we were loyal customers and wished to continue being future customers.
My husband explained in his email that he was uncomfortable that none of the employees were protected, nor were they protecting others by having bare faces and hands.
So, in a couple of days he received a phone call from the manager in response to the email saying that since it wasn’t a corporate policy that the employees were free to do as they pleased.
My husband replied by saying, “Don’t you feel that it should be a policy since Louisiana’s governor has asked all of us to wear masks in public?”
The store manager said in a cavalier attitude he wasn’t all that concerned. When my husband politely told him that we would be doing all of our shopping at Whole Foods because they chose to follow our governor’s regulations, the manager acted as if he did not care about losing customers.
Has anyone else seen cavalier attitudes among certain stores or businesses in your area?
This is why society placed ‘no smoking’ regulations in place. I could care less if someone smokes in their own space. It’s their lungs.
It’s not my business if someone smokes, nor do I want it to be but I sure as hell don’t want anyone blowing smoke in my face in a public space.
People only stopped smoking in public when regulations were put in place because people surrounding them did not want to breathe in their second hand smoke.
This situation concerning Covid is more of an immediate danger than second hand smoke.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone cared enough about humanity to wear a mask?
Why would you ask me if I would be offended by you eating organic? That question does not make sense to me. How does that put me at risk? It doesn’t. Someone not wearing a mask does put me at risk.
I could care less where people shop, online or stores. Online is actually smart! No contact with others.
I feel that business owners have a responsibility to the public and their employees to follow regulations that have been ordered by their governors.
For the record, I eat organic too. I do not use plastic bags. I do wear a mask so I don’t spread my germs.
I am quite sure people could care less if I eat organic or whether I use plastic bags or not but would care if I don’t respect them by possibly contaminating them if I am selfish enough not to wear a mask.
SO...if you are among the better educated who appreciate how easy this infection spreads, if you know someone who's been infected (I do, my young niece,) and know how serious the infection is, how it can reduce your lung function and damage your organs permanently (anyone for dialysis?), you know that you must protect yourself as you have been doing. And avoiding going out as much as you can. For several more months in all likelihood. And don't spend your discretionary consumer dollars with businesses that don't think they have an obligation to help lower the curve by taking reasonable precautions. Spending money with businesses like that is rewarding their irresponsibility.
Our 8 county Northeast TN had zero new cases today. We saw community spread start a couple of weeks back and really expected higher numbers of cases but it has not been as bad as we feared. About 10 days of community spread and then a flatten curve in our area of the state; the larger cities with a younger and more fearless populations are a completely different story.
My favorite big chain steak house has already closed all their locations and say they may not be able to re-open. So far, none of our local restaurants have closed permanently and several that closed temporarily have reopened with curbside pickup and delivery options.
I wonder how many businesses will not survive this. Safety comes first. I don’t see how all businesses can survive this.
Surely, some will have to close their doors forever. Sad to see dreams and livelihoods die.
When I see people not wearing masks or gloves I sympathize with them. I'm confused by all the conflicting advice, too. (And I hold my breath as I pass them.)
I wouldn’t personally address anyone. I would tell management of a business and let them handle it.
Our governor has had to be strict because unfortunately we have had some stupid, selfish people and some have died due to them not following regulations.
We had a ridiculous pastor in Baton Rouge hold services at his Pentecostal church with more than 1000 people attending and deaths have been reported.
That pastor will have his day in court. Fines will be issued here.
If you’re going to use gloves, I’m wondering if it’s best to use vinyl gloves instead of latex ones. The few times I mistakenly bought a box of vinyl gloves while caregiving my bedridden parents, I found out those vinyl gloves are Terrible when cleaning poopy mess. Ick!! Since it’s very slippery, maybe the germs will find it difficult to stick on it.
Are you working regular hours or pulling double shifts? Some workers at Walmart here have walked out and the remaining workers have long hours until new people are hired.
By the way, I worked in stores when I was young, restaurant jobs too while attending school, so I know how it is working with the public. There are nice people and there are idiots!
Everyone has their quirks. I would freak out if someone tasted something that I was cooking and tried to put their spoon back in the pot.
I know that some people taste and put their spoon right back into the pot. OMG! Never! I take a spoon and put a sample in a small bowl to taste it.
Also, dish out a portion and place the balance in the fridge. I don’t want anyone eating directly out of my refrigerator!
My oldest brother used to do that. I never ate anything at his house. He would make potato salad, take a few bites out of the bowl he made it in, then place it back in the fridge. No way! Yuck! A person can eat the whole thing if I know that they ate out of the container. I won’t eat it. I can’t handle any kind of cross contamination.
Aside from that, use only masks. And honestly, as a Registered Nurse, anything other than an N95 will not block COVID-19, tuberculosis and others. But they could block other ill people or people spreading colds, other viruses or bacterial infections.
But you need to keep in mind, if you pass by someone, in the same aisle, or even in the next aisle over who does NOT wear a mask and who sneezes or coughs, their residue will not just end up on your mask, it will also end up on your face, in your eyes, on your skin, on your clothes, on your basket or purse, and then you go and touch those items and then inadvertently scratch your face or your head, touch your cellphone, touch your steering wheel, your groceries, etc., etc. and thus spread the virus. So, as someone else said, we do the best WE can do for OURSELVES and can only hope others follow through.
This is a pet peeve for me..... when you wear a mask, it needs to form a seal on and around your nose, mouth, cheeks, and chin, with no gaps. Any kind of gap allows the virus in. The pet peeve??? Look around you and check out some of the photos of a crowd wearing masks, see how many people wear the mask below their nose ...... that is a waste of a mask and is of no protection.
And here is what is happening with hospital staff. A nurse receives a patient who has symptoms and is admitted with diagnosis of "R/O (rule out) COVID-19". So Day 1, they are there, quite possibly infected, but the nurse, the aide/tech, the janitorial staff are all told they cannot wear an N95 until there is a firm diagnosis, which may not be known for SEVERAL more days. So for all those days, all the staff are going back and forth into that patient's room as well as many others without PPE. So finally diagnosis comes back positive, and NOW they can wear an N95. So all those extra exposures because hospital administration REFUSES to allow nurses, etc. to use the proper PPE to begin with.
AND what's more, MANY nurses have obtained/purchased their own PPE/N95's and have been ordered NOT to wear their own N95's, and if they do, they are sent home, fired, etc. This is happening in many places!!!
Another thing that is happening is that the funeral homes are receiving bodies without being informed the diagnoses are COVID-19 and are not providing PPE / N95's to the staff. So when the family comes to the nursing home to pick up their loved ones ashes, the family (who has been in close proximity with the deceased and very likely carrying the virus.... they come in NOT wearing masks and put the staff at risk. My daughter works there, and lives with me and my 95-yr old Mom. So by the funeral home not providing PPE to staff, and families coming in and not being made to wear masks, the management/owners are putting my daughter at high risk.
We live in Florida and our county is full of nursing homes/assisted living facilities. The state of Florida numbers are going up average 1,000 a day for the last week; we are now at 25,000+ cases, 740+ deaths.
Many thanks.
Sending you much courage and strength for this very difficult time in Florida.
--50,000 people die from flu
--40,000 people die from car accidents
--70,000 people die from drug overdose
and many more deaths from other causes.
We don't shut down all businesses (except essentials), and quarantine ourselves every flu season.
We don't get rid of cars because of car accidents.
We don't get rid of cell phones because some people text and drive.
We don't stop selling drug because of overdoses.
We don't because the good outweights the bad.
Currently, the "essential" businesses and workers are still working, wearing masks and keeping distances, except in healthcare where they can't keep distances. So, if these people can work, why can't the rest of us work, provided we take the same precautions to keep from spreading germs.
My uncle and his wife were surviving on his wife's income only after my uncle fell ill and could no longer work. Now, she is not working. But they still have to pay rent, food, car payment, insurance, utilities, etc. Their small savings will dry up quick. Unemployment will only cover a portion of their expenses. The stimulus $$ will only help pay for a little more than a month of rent. If they don't go back to work, their chance of becoming homeless and starve is 100%. That is a lot more frightening than the very small chance of catching the virus and having 98% recovery rate.
I suppose everyone is trying to be extra careful. It is a struggle and is frustrating for all of us.
It’s especially frustrating for some though. I feel for so many people at this time. I am keeping everyone in my thoughts and prayers.
I feel exactly as you do. People are not taking this issue as seriously as they should.
Take care of yourself and stay safe.
I just saw in the news that Sweden is not telling its citizens to wear masks or go in lockdown but to do social distancing. They are going against the grain of what the majority of countries are doing. In the meantime, they’re building field hospitals.
@ Martz, it sounds like you had it.
What exactly does that mean? So, is the second go round easier on them or harder on them?
Are they building immunity or becoming weaker? What will be the purpose of these field hospitals?
It’s interesting to see different approaches. I hope we learn what we need to after collecting all the data.
I can relate to others, there was a controversy for a while whether masks where even helpful, then all of a sudden it is an order to wear masks. Very confusing.
My concern is opening the country back up, will people still take this seriously? The danger is not yet over.
Others who are at risk would be wise to self protect as well, as grocery workers, etc.
Wearing disposable gloves will spread more germs than not wearing them and washing hands often. They are meant to be removed as soon as contaminated. The only exception to this is grocery workers ( and similar) who are touching many surfaces and exchanging money with many people. Then gloves may be wise, since they can not wash between each customer.
The majority of covid19 cases are spread by droplet infection. If everyone did social distancing and wore a cloth mask when in public, the transmission would go way down. Then we would see the end of this sooner rather than later.
People need to have consideration of others during this time, instead of all looking out for just themselves and their close family. We are all in this together.
I also have a cousin who served as a marine in the gulf war. He is now a front line nurse at our local hospital. He does not go home to his wife and kids, but instead stay at a temporary shelter with other health workers since he is high risk of catching and spreading the virus . And last week, he did. He is resting and doing well.
I do know the risk. The majority of people who contracted will recover. Those who died were having other health issues.
As another poster said, wearing masks and keep a distance will help stop the virus from spreading. That's what those people who are currently working do. Why can't the test of us do the same?
Millions of people live paycheck to paycheck like my uncle and his wife. In a month's time, they will run out of savings. Then what? They won't have money for rent, car payment, grocery, etc. My aunt may not have a job to go back to.
Getkickson, have you faced homelessness, and not know how you can afford food? I have. When you do, you will sing a different tune.
This is definitely a complicated situation. It is not cut and dry. Safety is number one. Still, people have bills that are piling up.
Stimulus checks will help but that money will eventually run out. Plus, not everyone will be eligible for those checks. It’s going to be quite a challenge for many people to survive.
There are no magic answers in this situation. We are dealing with uncertainty. We have to continue to search for solutions to benefit us all.
People will disagree on issues and somehow we will have to find a way to work together for the common good.
Take care.
I am from the UK. Our prime minister was extremely ill and in hospital with the virus but he turned the corner after being in the icu. His attitude is very sober now as he is about to be a father. We are in lockdown now and it will last a while. I hope all of you in the States stay well with your loved ones
It’s difficult to be on lockdown. I am sorry. Safety must come first. Please keep us posted on your situation.
But honestly, the CDC can't seem to say for sure if masks will prevent you from spreading it if you're contagious. And now I wonder how many confirmed people with it are breaking quarantine, figuring "well, since everyone is wearing masks, it's safe for me to go out." And if the wolf is at the door financially, I can see that thinking becoming even more prevalent, if the choice is illness or starvation/homelessness.
Not an easy situation any way you look at it.
Stay home: no job, no money, then homelessness and starvation, 100% sure
or
Go to work with protections: less than 1% chance of getting sick, and if sick, 98% chance recovery. Those "essential" workers are making this very choice.
Why can't everyone else? Why?
I get a terrible headache every time I think of my future (bleak).
This is a huge discussion in New Orleans because as most of you know, New Orleans relies on tourism.
I personally like our mayor and governor but people are getting very upset with the mayor and our governor. Some people want businesses reopened because we need tourism dollars spent here.
The mayor and governor argue saying that if people come here, catch Covid and there are more deaths, then no one will choose us for a destination city to vacation in.
We are a fabulous city to visit. But if we aren’t safe then no one will come. It’s catch 22 for us. We need tourists to survive.
Our city is losing so much money with our festivals cancelled. Who would want to attend any festivals in our city now though? No one! Too many sick. Too many deaths!
I love festivals but I would never go this year even if they were open. Look at what happened because Mardi Gras was in full bloom because we didn’t know that we were being infected and spreading the coronavirus.
We have top notch, world class music festivals. People come from all over the world to our jazz and heritage festival. We are loosing mega millions just on that one festival. The city is going to take a huge financial hit!
Also, individual vendors that work our festivals will hurt. I will give you an example. I have friends who own a great restaurant. They do alright during the year. They work very hard.
Still, when jazz fest rolls around. They make more money those two weekends of the fest than they make the entire year in their restaurant. Does that give you an idea how many people flock to the city for those two weekends?
Plus, the month before is french quarter fest. That draws in millions of dollars too.
All of our festivals make tons of money. It’s gone now. So everyone is hurting. It’s a trickle down domino effect.
The hotels, the restaurants, the bars, our music scene, our riverboat cruises, our zoo, our aquarium, our swamp tours, our cemetery tours, our museums, our art galleries and antique shops, our local coffee shops, our snowball stands, our wonderful candy shops with delicious pralines, and on and on and on, but you get the message.
We rely on our businesses open to serve tourists. This is a hot time for us. This is our biggest time of year for festivals, French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest and Satchmo Fest (tribute to Louis Armstrong), all are so much fun!
So, I totally hear your point of view. People need their jobs. We need the people because our businesses depend on locals and tourists.
Having said that, if we don’t flatten this curve then New Orleans will have a repeat of the horrible number of deaths from yellow fever. Google it. It was awful.
Everyone wants business open as usual but we have to make sure that we are absolutely safe.
Our governor is throwing around some suggestions of seating being far apart in restaurants and servers wearing protective masks, etc.
I am not sure when this will be resolved for us because we are struggling still. We are a hot spot.
All I can say is to please pray for us. We came back from Hurricane Katrina and I sincerely hope that we can come back from this. I fear some businesses will go bankrupt. It’s upsetting.
We are living the same experience, all our Festivals, the Design Week which was at the heart of our economy in Milan, all cancelled.
But we are supporting this. It's the only way we have atm.
Your city sounds fantastic, when our world will be back I'd love so much to see it.
I'm praying for you. Hold on, my friend.
We have an idiot in our capital, Baton Rouge, Louisiana that ignored our governor’s regulations not to have church services. He had over 1000 people in a service for Easter Sunday.
He was arrested and will have his day in court. He most likely will have to pay a fine.
He was a guest on CNN. What an embarrassment! Tony Spell interview. Watch it if you want to witness stupidity.
Now he is telling people to donate their entire stimulus check to a church. He’s ridiculous.
In particular, the point that the media is too excitable to bring to the fore is included: that the strategy is necessarily very limited in time and can be used to effect only once. You cannot quarantine economically sophisticated populations for long.
I think in the UK our breaking point might be garden centres. People are stuck at home looking at their gardens, with time to work in them - but of course they can't buy plants, seeds, tools, or anything because the garden centres are all shut, being "non-essential." And meanwhile the retailers, including many treasured independents, are having to compost their stock - namely, the beautiful plants they've invested all their work and money in. It's heartbreaking. I predict mutiny.
Some businesses will mail out free seed packets in an effort to promote the benefits of gardening for the curious beginner. Starter kit stuff, but hey, it's free.
When I used to garden I would check online forums for advice. Many had seed exchange threads.
The latest figure I've seen for unemployment is 22 MILLION in the US alone. 22 Million people out of work. No income to survive.
Studies have shown that:
Unemployment rate goes up, SUICIDE rate goes up, especially among men and people with mental health issues. In 2018, unemployment and poverty caused 48,344 suicides. Expect that number to jump this year.
Unemployment also causes more DRUG ABUSE and drug abuse related DEATHS. For US population size, there is potential for an additional 28,000 DEATHS from opioids.
Unemployment also causes more ALCOHOL ABUSE and related DEATHS. In 2017, there were 22,246 DEATHS resulting from alcoholic liver disease, and another 2,200 DEATHS from alcohol poisoning. Expect these numbers to jump.
Unemployment also causes more DEPRESSION and all the ill health effects related to depression, especially in older adults.
Unemployment also raises CRIMES and crime related DEATHS. Whatever the crime statistics are in your areas, expect those to jump significantly.
As if that's not enough, some states are releasing "non-violent" CRIMINALS to make room in prisons for social distancing.
If we keep shutting down the economy much longer, we will be staring at the repeat of the GREAT DEPRESSION.
I know. I know. We're in a pandemic. Safety comes first...at the cost of deaths.
I had a meeting last week at the bank and joked with the bank manager that I didn't wear a mask because I didn't want to get arrested. We just had our short meeting because it was essential; I needed to move some funds around, and we kept our distance and so forth. Now I think back on our conversation and it doesn't seem so funny anymore. Criminals don't have to worry about cameras?
I would say,, nahhh... you are to worried.. My hubby brought home masks, and said wear this... He never goes out, unless necessary.."Naahhh, my answer".
Then my neighbor asked: Did you Hear about Larry who lives behind us?"
No.. .why? " He Died Last Week of Covid, and his wife is in quarantine.."
naah.. I can't happen this close to home...: Really? I looked it up.. and yes, it did." :( So, what are a few steps into a store, or a walk in the park with a mask on? NOT MUCH.. IT'S A MASK FOR THE FEW MINUTES IN A STORE VS A WEEK OR WHATEVER IN THE HOSPITAL WITH A VENTILATOR.!!
Wearing a Mask for a few minutes in public and to the store is shorter than a personal ride to the MORGUE. Hopefully you come home from the store. Going to start wearing the gloves now too.
So now if everyone used "social distancing" and wearing personal armor - gloves and masks, it should help. The car Line to In n OUt burgers the other night was almost from one end of the parking lot to the burger shop... At least 20 cars in line.