Changes that will be sticky & changes that will snap back post-pandemic

[thollandpe]

...other reasonable precautions including more frequent hand washing, social distancing contracts and school only footwear.

That last one is a really good idea. The whole thing about droplet transmission and the 6-foot distance is that the droplets fall on the floor. I recall reading a study about surface contamination in health care settings, and the floors were 100% positive.

And we green building geeks know that walk-off mats are extremely effective at improving indoor air quality, because what you bring into the building on the bottom of your feet will end up in the air.

So changing my shoes, just like this awesome guy, will be one post-pandemic change I'll try to stick with whenever I return from a public setting.


"You know what, kids? There could be some of the deadly 'rona on the soles of these shoes, and we don't want that shit to kill grandma, or our neighbors' grandmas, do we?"

[beeatnik]

More on (kids and) colds:

coldz.jpeg


https://twitter.com/apsmunro/status/1401898584631615488

[Bingissimo]

There's no mention of a crisis at General Mills. They appear to be firing 20% of their folks simply because they don't think they need them.

I suspect a whole lot more of this is coming as employers get ready for a new normal.

I hope those execs are looking beyond the next quarter earnings reports and the impact on their profit sharing and employee stock plans. 20% of the American workforce unemployed and unemployable for an extended period of time will mean that huge numbers of ordinary people can't feed their kids or keep a roof over, especially on unemployment or a minimum wage of $7.25. This will kill any pretense that there is an American Dream.

There aren't enough fast food locations and Wal*mart stores to absorb those kind of numbers, not to mention who will have the money to patronize those locations? And it's not like those employers don't rely on government programs like SNAP to direct their employees to because they don't pay enough for someone to survive. Hedge fund managers and C-suite dwellers don't shop discount or grab Big Macs from the drive-thru.

With the tax codes heavily weighted against the rich paying any meaningful tax and the middle class destroyed by 20% + unemployment those legislators in Washington and various state houses will say they have no choice but to again cut benefits and reduce taxes on the wealthy even further. Lather-rinse-repeat.

[caleb]

Lather-rinse-repeat.

Yeah, it's just another round of Disaster Capitalism: use a crisis as an excuse to push through "reforms" that further concentrate wealth.

However, so far the executive and professional classes have largely been exempt from these practices.

If the new move to WFH is the basis for applying the logic of the steel mill to corporate management, engineers, and other professionals, the rodeo just went from mutton busting to bull riding.