Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

I know it isn't easy, but I'm sorry, I don't buy this

what?

You mean re: enforcement? I don't know. My friend said it's a matter of policing, but you can't be everywhere at once. And say you come across a party of five, and Matthew Fox refuses to, say, put on his mask. How many warnings? What do you do if they ignore you? Kick him out? Kick them all out? Smell everyone's hands for soap? This isn't a situation where there may be one or two scofflaws. As we've all observed, out and about there is a whole range of divergent, inconsistent behavior we've witnessed.

I think of it like the highway. There are cops catching some people speeding, and they're there to dissuade people from speeding, but by and large, everyone is still speeding.

send him back to the island!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I mean about enforcement. In my experience checking out various businesses as they reopen, it's become very clear that some take safety and enforcement very seriously, and some just do not. With that said, there just may not be a safe way to open bars right now, in which case, they just shouldn't be open. Down here, it seems like some bars have done an exceptionally bad job and have lost their licenses as a result. This would imply that other bars are doing better, but I haven't personally been willing to find out.

Well I think Josh was partially pointing out the challenges in the difference between policing someone at the door or as they came in, versus one dude in an party of five that takes his mask off after he's already been seated.

In other words, it's easier said than done and just how much energy and time can you spend metaphorically slapping wrists when people keep trying to skirt the rules/recommendations.

Yes, there's a range of behavior and patrons, but there is also very clear range of proprietors as well, and some are more committed to safety than others. It's undoubtedly a shitty thing for states and localities to put this all in the hands of business owners the way they do here, but that's sadly where we are, and some are doing a much better job than others.

You know what would have helped? No strings-attached, no means testing monthly $$$ for every American to stay home until there's a vaccine. People out of work can survive, business owners won't feel pressure to reopen (they have bills to pay too!) Probably cheaper than what the Fed's doing! Low paid waitrons don't therefore have to become the mask police!

As far as I can tell there are lots of options for free or cheap tests right now.

xpost For sure. Especially when the margin of error is so potentially life-or-death severe. Just saying, even the best, safest places are struggling to do all they've been asked to do just to survive, but they can only do so much. Like, there are a few local restaurants I've seen that had been doing OK but closed down anyway, because it was just too much work to even break even. Or places allowed to open up again that chose not to, for the same reason. Or opened up but then closed down again.

Yes, that would certainly be better. The federal government has apparently given up in that regard.

Here in Texas we have a governor telling everyone they should stay home while also opening businesses as fast as possible, and also refusing to take any concrete action to put even a bit more restrictions in place. We are well and truly fucked.

xp

xp I also misread that but I think Boring meant cash which is not means-tested, rather than covid testing

it's not good for people to be out of work, but i don't feel much pity for owners of local businesses who 'lose their livelihoods'. given how often businesses fail and given how they're supposedly started by enterprising resilient go-getters and given how wonderful it's supposed to be for them and everyone else that they are independent and self-reliant, how are they not just facing consequences of their values that they should embrace without complaining? start another restaurant, etc. and business in general is so remorseless about tearing down the world around us and replacing it with anything that looks like it will turn a profit for owners and investors, that it seems a bit rich to suddenly be asked to weep for the ones who get caught with their pants down, thinking they could ride out another decade or three skimming lazy profits off their workers and customers.

The restaurants I go to most often are owned and run by immigrants - pho, Mexican food, poke, Ethiopian, "Mediterranean" (code for food from the Middle East around here)... Owning a business is one way for immigrant communities and POC to sidestep institutional racism that deprives them of opportunities afforded to whites. Most small businesses don't have uninvolved owners and investors, they're avenues for people to own their job. Those are the businesses most likely to go under, because they don't have access to credit to keep them afloat and they're at the mercy of landlords who want to get paid no matter what.

"No tears from me, go start another business" is how you end up with a handful of conglomerates owning and running everything. Wal-Mart can weather a storm, the mom and pop shop can't.

I don't think the answer should have been "just let them open" FWIW, but more aggressiveness with things like the EIDL/PPP to keep businesses afloat and straight up making it where bankruptcy wouldn't ruin someone's life if it came down to it.

I'm not going to restaurants and I've ordered takeout or delivery a grand total of two times since mid-March, but I guess I just wish there would be clarity on the point at which one can go to a restaurant, coffee shop, or bar without being told they're going to hell and are a disgusting person

Probably need to check Twitter for that

xp I also misread that but I think Boring meant cash which is not means-tested, rather than covid testing

djokovic sucks so hard. that's his deal.

― Yerac, Wednesday, 24 June 2020 5:04 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Djokovic is a russian experiment to see if they could decant a Twitter bot farm into an android.

about those to-go cups
https://ny.eater.com/2020/6/23/21295736/new-york-to-go-cocktails-liquor-restaurants-bars

I've ordered takeout or delivery a grand total of two times since mid-March

What do you eat? Seriously — I feel like I have at least one meal a day delivered, and I get takeout from several local places as well.

We pretty much never ate dine-in or take-out before the pandemic. We prepare all our meals at home.

Our big adjustment has been from making a weekly menu, then food shopping at three places once a week based on that menu, to shopping mainly at one place every 16 to 19 days, mostly buying a ton of miscellaneous produce, then cooking meals on an ad hoc basis depending on what is left in the refrigerator/freezer, and what is getting old or is running low. It's a challenge, but feasible enough if you get creative.

I don't think I've ever ordered takeout or delivery, as you call out, in my life. Isn't that weird? I mean, I've done it when I've been with other people but, living on my own, I've never done it.

you should give it a shot! it's awesome

plus, you can start your delivery career with the most important knowledge of all: if you order delivery at least a couple times a week, and then take the time you save by not having to make the food or travel and forth to the restaurant, and then instead use that time to learn a new skill, you will learn a minimum of 5 to 7 essential life skills every year

for example, you could learn how to cook! take an e-learning course, read some books, check out some videos, etc

i get takeout or delivery once a week max. before and during lockdown.

Sounds pretty unproductive tbh

i guess i could spend that extra time jacking it on ilx instead of cooking.

I've been getting takeout fairly regularly, and did dine in once last week, also been cooking at home a lot. Takeout and safe dine in seem like great options for anyone worried about keeping their favorite local businesses running.

xp guys . . . plenty of time for both

yerac i have now ordered a concept2; if it works out i will absolutely name my next cat after you or a related goalie

I mean nothing by it, just curiosity: do many of you cook and/or eat leftovers every day?

I cook about four times a week.

I cook almost daily, have been trying new recipes, some of them I really like, but I hate leftovers for the most part.

i'd say we cook about 5 times a week, and eat a lot of leftovers from cooking/delivery for lunch

We cook two meals a day, but we are five and we split all cooking and cleaning (we have a fairly elaborate schedule).

We cook around 4 times a week too, and I mostly eat leftovers for lunch. That said, I don't see it as a virtue in and of itself.

ohhhh, are they back in stock? alert mh, too. xpost

Some meals take literally 5 minutes to throw together in total, plus flexible leftovers. I make a breakfast burrito every day for lunch. So i guess that is cooking every day. I don't like to eat restaurant food a lot. It isn't the healthiest option, it adds up, and I always prefer to do things myself when I know how to do it or can learn.

cooking has been a nice diversion for the last three months but I'm getting a little tired of it now

I think my life before was more of a mix of cooking, leftovers, takeout, entertaining, and dinners out at restaurants with friends or at friends' houses

i cook about every day or eat leftovers from it. when i was working more i would get takeout maybe once a week, but i'm too poor for that now.

terrible at cooking, a little as possible.

i cook 5 nights a week, and we have almost all breakfasts and lunches at home (a combination of frozen meals, smoothies, basic breakfast foods, etc.). i have a policy of not cooking on friday or saturday night.

karl i very much agree with that tweet you posted. i love restaurants and bars and great meals out, but i have no interest in them under current conditions. we'll get takeout on the weekends for the foreseeable future.

I made a cheesecake the other day

to seeee if iii still feeel

I only have leftovers if it’s unavoidable because of the dish (roast/chili/etc.).

I’m rarely at home for lunch so I’ve been driving through a rotation of sandwich shops and sitting on the tailgate of my truck. It’s like I’m working construction again.

Friday nights I go pick up a dinner from a favorite local Mexican spot, they deserve the coin and they've been making it work as best as they can since March. When I shop on Thursdays I get a good deli sandwich for lunch. Otherwise it's meals at home, pretty much, and I've made it work well enough.

I’ve prepared everything my family of three has eaten for dinner since mid March other; my wife makes breakfast maybe once a week and has made dinner a few times.

I honestly love cooking and think I’m good at it, and we didn’t go out or get takeout that often but I so miss all the things I can’t or don’t want to bother to make at home - I want an espresso and bahn mi on the real deal bread and sushi and fried shit like onion rings and chicken and falafel. Not to mention all the stuff I can and do make but prepared by someone else so I don’t have to make it or clean up after.

But I’m not tired of it enough to overcome my stress about getting takeout yet.

I've been ordering sushi in once a week from a local joint for two months now. it has been something we really look forward to.

I don't cook every day but I'm only making food for myself, so anything I make is good for at least two days' worth of lunch/dinner; also, protein bars/shakes

We cook most nights, but order out (in?) maybe once each week, both because we like it but also to support local places we like. Before people started emerging from hibernation the traffic was a fraction of what it usually is, so I would drive to all sorts of places to pick up favorites, knowing it would take me 20 minutes rather than an hour. Tomorrow I'm going to a Korean market which has been running a weekly (M/F) sashimi platter special that gives you a pile of fish for $25.

Cooking as a single guy has gotten boring - protein on the grill or in the oven, veg dish or rice. I can't work up the will to start trying harder without my old neighbors (a senior citizen and her senior-er citizen mother) to give some to, no dinners with friends, no dating, etc.

I'm not putting in the effort to make pizza from scratch if it's not going to impress someone on a third date.