Bet on the following: This Holiday season will be a bit different!
You may still celebrate Thanksgiving with appreciation. You are still here, have your health, avoiding the plague, and waiting with patience for the vaccine.
There will be some empty chairs around the dining room this year, those who have left us, and those who cannot physically join us.
Certainly, things have a different look and feel than just a year ago.
So much has transpired.
Who would have thought COVID would change our world? Since March 17, 2020, when the first orders to begin shutdown were issued, no one expected this prolonged transition from an active work and social life to virtually total absence.
In retrospect, we might have done some things a bit more quickly. But who really knew at the time what this virus would and could do?
We all have friends who own businesses: car dealers, salon workers, restaurants, and bars. The latest round of government directives may result in finishing off their years of investment.
This is not just survival of the fittest, it is survival for industries, period. The National Restaurant Association reports more than 100,000 restaurants in the US have closed since the start of COVID lockdowns.
Shouldn’t it really be up to owners whether to stay open? There are still a lot of folks who like to get out of the house once in a while and would like a place to go. Our own Governor proved that point last week at the French Laundry. You can only take so many precautions. Social distancing, mask-wearing, and elbow bumps are now a part of our culture.
Government can’t just close down businesses and wait for COVID to pass. There won’t be any business left.
Life is a risk. Life has risk-takers…and some who are not. Shouldn’t residents make the choice to eat out or not…as opposed to closing businesses by fiat?
It is not good to lose one life via this invasion. It is not good to lose one business via government mandate.