escalation
Mar. 19th, 2020 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitSome local COVID-19 stuff under the cut. I'm not sick, nor is anyone I know.
Just over a week ago, New Mexico got its first diagnosed case. Today the count reached 35. The state has ordered dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, etc. to close.
I work in a grocery store, so we won't be closing unless things get extremely bad. Our opening hours have been cut from 7 am-10 pm, 7 days a week, down to 8 am-7 pm and closed on Sundays. Supposedly management and the board (we're a co-op) are working on a plan for emergency funding for team members who get sick and don't have enough PTO to cover the time they need to stay home. There's talk of giving everyone an extra $1 per hour hazard pay for the duration (they should make it retroactive, because last weekend after the first diagnosed cases was a nightmare) and our staff discount is temporarily increased from 20% to 30%. Also we get (limited) first dibs at certain now-rare items like toilet paper and canned goods. So, yay, I guess? It could be worse--a lot of places aren't doing a damn thing for their employees--but it could definitely be better. (I think every employee ought to be given an extra 2 weeks PTO, to keep, regardless of whether they get sick. It would cost around $300,000 to $350,000, but it would do a lot for morale.)
Anyway . . . it's scary. It was eerie driving home tonight, with little traffic on the roads and many businesses closed and dark. It feels prematurely post-apocalyptic.
Speaking of which, on Monday we had a customer in the store dressed entirely in camouflage, wearing what appeared to be a homemade leather gas mask with Mysterious Tubing, the whole outfit jauntily topped off by a camouflage-pattern witches' hat. Said customer was also about 6'5", which is tall anywhere but is really tall for around here.
I pointed him out to a co-worker, who said, "You should have been here earlier. There was a guy with a cat on his shoulder and a knife in his belt."
To which I replied, "This has gone Mad Max sooner than I expected."
May things not get any more Mad Max than that.
Just over a week ago, New Mexico got its first diagnosed case. Today the count reached 35. The state has ordered dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, etc. to close.
I work in a grocery store, so we won't be closing unless things get extremely bad. Our opening hours have been cut from 7 am-10 pm, 7 days a week, down to 8 am-7 pm and closed on Sundays. Supposedly management and the board (we're a co-op) are working on a plan for emergency funding for team members who get sick and don't have enough PTO to cover the time they need to stay home. There's talk of giving everyone an extra $1 per hour hazard pay for the duration (they should make it retroactive, because last weekend after the first diagnosed cases was a nightmare) and our staff discount is temporarily increased from 20% to 30%. Also we get (limited) first dibs at certain now-rare items like toilet paper and canned goods. So, yay, I guess? It could be worse--a lot of places aren't doing a damn thing for their employees--but it could definitely be better. (I think every employee ought to be given an extra 2 weeks PTO, to keep, regardless of whether they get sick. It would cost around $300,000 to $350,000, but it would do a lot for morale.)
Anyway . . . it's scary. It was eerie driving home tonight, with little traffic on the roads and many businesses closed and dark. It feels prematurely post-apocalyptic.
Speaking of which, on Monday we had a customer in the store dressed entirely in camouflage, wearing what appeared to be a homemade leather gas mask with Mysterious Tubing, the whole outfit jauntily topped off by a camouflage-pattern witches' hat. Said customer was also about 6'5", which is tall anywhere but is really tall for around here.
I pointed him out to a co-worker, who said, "You should have been here earlier. There was a guy with a cat on his shoulder and a knife in his belt."
To which I replied, "This has gone Mad Max sooner than I expected."
May things not get any more Mad Max than that.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-20 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-20 07:53 am (UTC)