Originally Posted by
Oneheadlite
It`s been an interesting time. I`ve been on the quiet side lately as I haven`t been able to pursue any personal detailing between winter (non-heated garage) and using what free time I have for home/family life. Being such a hobbyist at this, I don`t feel I can preach much if I`m not practicing myself.
Then Corona/Covid 19 comes in. I work at an independent auto repair shop. We`ve been feeling some hurt from an industry wide slow period (confirmed by our contacts at other shops/dealerships), and now everyone is hunkering down and sitting on their wallets (understandably!). This last week has been a big question mark as to what the future is here. Ultimately it`s been decided we`re laying off the other 2 techs for now, closing for a week, then reconvening to see how we proceed. Right now I`m anticipating a 35% pay cut, which I`m still trying to wrap my head around.
Britsdaddy - Thanks for sharing your side of this. I know it`s hard when all you hear is the ridicule for "why don`t you have this?!), but please know how much it means to people when you do have the things people need. When I went grocery shopping on Sunday (kind of a last pass fresh produce stock up; we do mainly fresh cooking) I was fully prepared for barren shelves and trying to come up with 2nd/3rd game plans.
I will confess I had a very emotional response when I walked in the doors and was greeted with full bins of produce - they had seen it coming and had bulked up what they could (I managed to keep it together, but it was a strangely powerful sight). At that moment, while the future is still unknown, there was a sense of relief that if people calm down we can hopefully get through this.
I`ve got a 5 year old daughter. When starting a family, you think through things like "What will it be like when she figures out boys?" or "Geez, I hope she likes me at least most of the time...". At no point did I ever think through the prospect of trying to figure out life through a global pandemic.
Last night putting her to bed, she mentioned she`d like to go to the zoo sometime. I said we`ll have to see. "Or maybe the aquarium. Not the one we went to for family birthday, the other one we`ve been to with the tubes you walk through." (Referring to the aquarium at the Mall of America, which the whole mall is currently closed). It`s hard trying to explain to a 5 year old that the mall is closed for now because of the sickness that`s going around while making it sound relatively normal so she doesn`t panic. "Do you think InnerActive (indoor play place we just had her birthday party at) is closed too?"
Yep kiddo, I think that`s closed too.
Sorry, just kinda brain dumping. It`s a crazy time right now.
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