Late yesterday Minneapolis issued guidelines for retailers still open at this time like grocery stores. See here: Retailer Guidelines
It is gratifying to know that at least the City of Minneapolis is taking this seriously, but then again I see that Hennipen County leads all of MN in COVID-19 cases. I am saddened to say that neither the City of St. Paul nor the Governor have issued similar mandates, nor have I had any response from Representative Christensen, Senator Housley, or Governor Walz to my pleas for similar guidelines.
I did get template responses from Safeway and Costco assuring me that my message had been received, but no substantive replies.
And while I’m still irked over the half-assed response by business owners that haven’t been mandated to shut down, I have to ask a couple of more questions. I got a message from Inver Grove Honda telling me their showroom hours were being shortened. Really? Is this car buying season? And how about houses? Is this really the right time to have people wandering around strangers houses thinking of buying? What are you going to do if you actually buy one? Are virtual closures a thing?
Again, as we ponder getting the restaurant re-opened for take out, we’re pondering ways to do a complete no-touch pick up, which seems like the right thing to do. But until EVERYONE is thinking the same way we’re not going to flatten the curve of this pandemic.
Last but not least, I have to loop back to my favorite annoyance. Hey merchant processors, how about a break on your usury while we work our way through this crisis. No need for you to make your usual ridiculous profits while the rest of us suffer. How about a Federally mandate to stimulate on-line and touch free purchasing? Just saying.