In Italy they’ve closed all stores except food and pharmacy type stores as essential services
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Yes, I wish that would happen here. I saw a post by a restaurant owner in Boston saying they want to close but need the government to issue to order so they can have the closure covered by their insurance and not go out of business.
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And our government has put out a financial aid package bill thing that hopefully will be passed in various levels and will then go to supporting those who are casual and retail type workers. Hopefully you can contact your representatives to tell them to do the same.
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It’s happening here but I think the proposal was only like 2 weeks pay and quite a few workers wouldn’t be covered. I didn’t dig into details because it’s only passed one legislative branch so changes may happen yet
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Or maybe we could splinter another thread just for politics discussion, lol
I live in Canada’s poorest postal code. The drug store in my neighbourhood, which is part of a nation wide chain, is selling toilet paper and cold meds for 10x the price shown online. Some sick fuck is setting up poor people to be extra sick and have no way to wipe their asses, to make an extra buck.
Fuck capitalism.
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Thanks for this info! I will contact my senators now to push them on this.
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My husband’s grocery store had to have the police come in and stand in their toilet paper section while store managers handed out the allotted one package of toilet paper to customers.
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I’m “liking” some of these posts as a way of acknowledging, but I wish there were other reactions available!
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In person meeting is now a phone call.
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I’ve been reading on and off a Britain and US focused history of capitalism and critics thereof starting ~1600 or so with the Puritans and “Protestant work ethic” and it’s been interesting to see all the different ways people have promoted capitalism but tried to modulate it with other impulses to try and keep it in check.
I think there’s value in capitalism worth preserving because it’s a way of organizing economic work in a society where relationships vastly exceed the Dunbar number that’s so critical in tribal societies but we’re still finding the best “check” on it to keep dehumanization down. Forms of democratic socialist governments seems promising, perhaps paired with something like the certified B corporation in the US where an individual artisan/proprietor size business isn’t appropriate.
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I got an Etsy sale this morning. (What? People are buying jewelry now?!). I don’t have a printer at home. I am not going to work so I can’t use the printer there.
I can either go to the library and use the public computers to print out the mailing label, as I usually do if I get a sale in a weekend or while off work. Or I can hand write the address and go to the post office. I have no idea which is riskier. Homeless people use the library computers often, are they more at risk than the rest of us? I suspect so? But the PO is certainly contaminated too.
Do I just shut down my Etsy and amazon and cancel this sale? I could really use the money.
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Can you email the doc to a local print shop and pick it up there? That seems safer in terms of traffic volume.
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I’d probably go to either post office or a local UPS or FedEx store and have them print a label for you.
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You can limit things you touch most with the handwritten label. Then keep your distance at the post office/ scope out the line before you go in.
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I’m not sure we have any that would do that around me? If I have to take CTA, that defeats the purpose.
What about a neighbor/friend with a printer? They could print for you and put it outside the door for you to pick up. No contact necessary.
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I could also use the automated machine. Either way I have to touch things (if I go to a clerk I have to touch the liquid/fragile/perishable touchscreen questions, credit card machine as of course I have no cash on me). That’s probably better than the library, thinking this through. It’s also far away, we don’t have one near where I live and since I don’t want to take CTA it is a long walk. I’ll probably have to sign off for the day early to make it before it closes.
I asked Boyfriend if he’d be willing to try printing it at his work if he goes in. Officially he is not supposed to do any personal business at work either as it is a fireable offense - this includes things like checking his personal email or returning a call from a medical provider! - but he’s done it before, like to print boarding passes or whatever. He said he’d do it if he thinks it’s possible without getting caught. I told him to let me know by noon.
This is only a solution for as long as he keeps going to work, though.
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Tried that before, when I got sales during the polar vortex and didn’t want to go out. No one I know has one. Everyone I know prints all their stuff at their jobs!
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