GIVEAWAY! Read to the end to enter today’s small business giveaway! You could win, and so will your favorite local small business! Keep reading for all the details so we can be #SmallBusinessStrong!
I think we can all agree: we’re ready for this quarantine thing to be over and done with! But just like Pollyanna and the COVID-19 Glad Game, I’ve found a few things about this experience that I wish would stay the same long after the coronavirus gets a cure. Here are my top 10 picks. What would you add?
1. Frequent Hand Washing and General Hygiene
I know we’re all supposed to wash our hands after we go to the restroom… but I also know not everyone does that on a regular basis, and I think you know that, too! But now washing hands multiple times a day is cool! People are also generally doing a better job of keeping clean in general. I think it’s great, and improved hygiene should stay!
2. Personal Awareness
People are also more self-aware. People really are trying to stay six feet apart, and they are generally more considerate as well. One of my pet peeves is just the general self-centeredness of people while they’re standing around, blocking aisles, backing into people, not looking before crossing the street, as if everyone is supposed to look out for them! I’ve noticed a huge leap in personal awareness since this whole thing started, and I hope it sticks!
3. The “We’re in This Together” Attitude
I love seeing and hearing about people working together. It’s so encouraging to know that everyone is quarantining. Everyone is calling out the people who are doing it wrong. We’re on Team American and we all share a common goal, which is to eradicate this virus, and we’re doing it together! Just when I thought our country couldn’t be any more divided, COVID-19 comes in to save the day and bring us all together. I hope that lasts.
4. Low Airline Ticket Prices and No Change Fees
I know this one won’t last forever, but I sure wish it would! I just bought a ticket for my cousin to come visit me in D.C. from Nashville over Independence Day weekend. I bought the ticket with 25,000 miles. Any other year and it would have been at least 50,000 miles! If I were to pay for that ticket outright, it would be $382; last year for the same weekend it would have been far closer to $1000!
Additionally, my first-ever press trip for the blog was cancelled (I was supposed to go to Hawaii!), so I needed to cancel my ticket. I got the full amount put into an account with United, with no cancellation fee! That’s not quite as good as a refund, but it’s better than extra fees for sure!
5. Refined Grocery Shopping Experiences
I know a lot of grocery stores have been totally nuts over the last few weeks, but my local Trader Joe’s is totally winning at the grocery game. They are only allowing 30 people inside at a time, and the line moves pretty quickly. They’re restocking and sanitizing the store in the off-hours, and they have a designated person sanitizing all the carts and shopping baskets as they come back, before they are reused. My husband and I got in and out and found everything we needed without fighting for space or products! While I know that experience won’t last forever, it sure has been nice during this hectic moment in history!
6. Big Companies Thinking of Others
The big car companies are making respirators. Breweries are making hand sanitizer. Cruise companies are taking a cue from the Navy and offering their cruise liners to use as hospital ships. Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens are letting the government use a portion of their massive parking lots to do drive-through Coronavirus testing. Large companies that have had to stop operations are doing everything they can to make sure their people get paid anyway. All this makes my heart happy. Sure, it’s good PR, but it’s also just human kindness and generosity from where we might least expect it.
7. People Helping People
Along those same lines, it’s amazing to see people helping other people. It’s a little bit sad that it’s so surprising, but it’s also heartening to see it happening just when you were about to give up hope in human kindness. Neighbors are talking to each other from six feet away. Friends are finding ways to be together from a distance. People are making actual phone calls to check on each other! This quarantine would look so different without FaceTime, Zoom, social media, and Smartphones. I hope we can all stay this kind and connected after this is all over!
8. Resourcefulness
When this whole thing started I said I was excited to see what new inventions and innovation would come out of this, and I have not been disappointed! People are making their own masks or making them for others who actually need them to do their jobs safely. People are working from home who thought that would never work for them. People are getting together any way they can, including virtually! Necessity is the mother of invention, and we are winning at this inventive resourcefulness game, y’all. Let’s keep it up!
9. Putting the Spotlight on Small Businesses
This one is near and dear to my heart! I love the courage and bravery and stick-to-it-iveness of small business owners, and they definitely deserve to be put in the spotlight during this weird moment in time. Target will be fine, Wal-Mart will be fine, McDonald’s will be fine, Starbucks will be fine, but small businesses of every sort are having to hustle more than usual these days. They’re offering free shipping, free curb-side pickup, discounts, free swag with purchases, free delivery—they’re doing a great job! I wish we would all shift our focus to small businesses for the long haul.
Want to help? Here’s how!
How to Help Boutiques During COVID-19
How to Help Local Restaurants During COVID-19
How to Help Bloggers During COVID-19
How to Help Online Businesses During COVID-19
10. Shorter Commutes Times
So, D.C. has some of the worst commutes in the country, right up there with New York and Los Angeles! My friend who works at the Pentagon (and has been deemed “essential” during the COVID-19 insanity) lives just 17 miles from work, but her usual 50-minute commute is now just 25 minutes! Y’all, that’s half! She even “slugs” so she can use the HOT (high-ocupancy transportation) lanes on a regular basis. With more people commuting from their bed to the couch (or kitchen table, like my husband and me) instead of on the roads, commute times are way down across the board. I sure wish that would stick around!
What about you? What do you wish could stay the same after COVID-19 finally ends? Comment below!
Giveaway!
I’m letting you choose your prize! I am giving away a $25 gift card to the local business of your choice! All you have to do is:
- SHARE this post on Facebook or SHARE my latest Instagram post on your Instagram Stories.
- TAG both Quick Whit Travel AND the local business of your choice on the shared post. Tag as many as you like!
If you win, I’ll buy you a gift card for the restaurant you tagged! I will choose a winner at 9:00am Monday, March 30. Enter soon so everyone can win!
Want more positive posts, suggestions for things to do, and ways to handle the stress of living in this COVID-19 quarantine? Check out my Health and Wellness Page!
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