The main front aisle at our local Home Depot, midmorning on a Tuesday. Normally there would be a good number of contractors and suburbanites wheeling carts and dollies down toward the cash registers at the far end. When I was there at 0930 this morning I encountered more staff than customers. Found my kitchen faucet replacement and checked out without touching anything other than the package and the scanning wand.
All the more surreal because we are not under any community lockdown or restrictions other than for large gatherings. And we are in a state with relatively few (known) cases of coronavirus. People in Madison seem to be self-isolating. It's obvious that there will be a lot of businesses hurting in terms of cash flow, and those suffering the most will be small businesses that don't have the financial resources of larger corporations. A reminder to everyone that if you have the wherewithal to be generous, this is the time to deploy those resources. Your barber/hairdresser will appreciate a larger tip, as will anyone in a service industry.
After much internal debate, I went to my local Home Depot this morning. It was as busy as usual. Traffic everywhere was completely normal.
ReplyDeleteI didn't use the scanning wand at the Home Depot. I went to a cashier so that I wouldn't have to touch one.
I visited a local hardware store here a couple of days ago and it looked much like yours. Staff hanging around waiting for customers, and almost no-one shopping. Meanwhile at the supermarkets the shelves are empty and the lines at the checkouts are very long.
ReplyDeleteHonest question: WTH were you doing out? If I'm not mistaken you're of high risk age. Stay home! Keep TYWKIWDBI alive!
ReplyDeleteI am of a higher-risk age, so I held my breath the entire time I was out of the house.
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