Cancellations due to Coronavirus and the Impact

Everyone is hearing about people stocking up, hoarding, canceling vacations and business trips. The media is constantly ratcheting up our heartbeats, adding to fears...and who knows yet whether this will just be another Y2K type scare or a real pandemic?

We're watching the stock market on a downhill trajectory. Many of us have heard how this could impact drugs and supplements, electronics, other items we use regularly. The big guys are more than likely going to weather this one. They may take some hits but they will recover.

It's the small guys who are going to be hurt the worst. They may not have viable back-ups for their suppliers. They are often on a shoe-string budget. They don't have the advertising dollars. They may not have a huge Internet presence.

Have you thought about the small businesses that depend on trade shows? They are the lifeblood for untold numbers of companies across the globe. Many companies don't have storefronts, they sell mostly at trade shows. There is an entire workforce that makes their living working these shows in various capacities. Not to mention the hits the promoters and convention centers are going to take as they are forced to cancel or see dwindling visitors. We are going to be buying more and more on-line.

I wish my results looked this good!

Personally, I've decided to revive my garden. I am going to need some new gardening tools. I figure it's going to get harder to get fresh foods whether this is a real threat or not --- fear is going to choke the food industry, too. I have always preferred food I grew myself, may as well use this to spur my butt to get back to it! I traveled a lot in the past and it was hard to keep plants going. I've cut back on my shows...and now the Coronavirus is cutting back on the shows I can do...so, no excuses. Time to grow some maters! If it will ever stop raining...

I wonder how this is going to impact concerts? The theater? Restaurants? Hotels? Small grocery stores? Small retail businesses? Realtors? --- the more we fear contagion the more we're going to stay home. I'm not letting it stop me but dang...go to any store and they are our of the useless face masks...the bleach, alcohol, peroxide shelves are emptying...cleaning supplies and germ killers are disappearing... Oh, and as I shopped yesterday at Wal-Mart the stockers were talking about their emptying shelves, how they were having to substitute products when doing the shopping for those coming for pick-up...canned goods are a hit currently!

Here's just the first page of a quick search I did about trade shows canceling:

1. How trade shows have been hit hard by coronavirus - BBC News
   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51439403

   The show, which is due to take place 5-15 March, is one of the most important events in the motor industry calendar, as the platform for some of the world's most high-profile new car launches.
2. CP+ 2020 Trade Show Canceled Due to Coronavirus Fears
   https://www.pcmag.com/news/cp-plus-2020-trade-show...

   CP+ 2020 Trade Show Canceled Due to Coronavirus Fears. The Camera and Photo Imaging Show was set to take place in Yokohama, Japan from Feb. 27 and attracted nearly 70K visitors last year.
3. MWC 2020 canceled over coronavirus health concerns - The Verge
   https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21127754/mwc...

   

   Feb 12, 2020 · After coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into chaos, the GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, has now canceled it. It comes after more than a week of exhibitors and companies pulling...
4. Trade Shows: Additional trade shows postponed due to corona
   https://www.sportswear-international.com/news/stories/Trade-Shows-Further-trade-shows...

   The effects of the coronavirus are spreading further. Now also the Denimandjeans Tokyo show (scheduled from March 4-5, 2020) has been postponed. Sandeep Agarwal, the organizer of Denimandjeans, says: “ We have been studying the virus situation for a few days and we felt that we could not take a chance on the health of our exhibitors, visitors and our team as well.
5. CP+ 2020 Cancelled due to Coronavirus - Newsshooter
   https://www.newsshooter.com/2020/02/14/cp-2020-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus

   CP+ 2020, one of the largest photography trade shows in the world has been canceled due to fears over the Coronavirus. The Diamond Princess cruise ship which is currently docked in Yokohama where CP+ was to be held has so far had 174 passengers diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.
6. Coronavirus forces cancellation, delay of trade shows ...
   https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/coronavirus-forces-cancellation...

   OVER two dozen large trade fairs and industry conferences in Singapore, China and elsewhere have been postponed due to travel curbs and concerns about the spread of a coronavirus, potentially disrupting billions of dollars worth of deals. Here is a snapshot of some of the major events that have been scrapped, postponed or scaled back.
7. Portland trade show canceled over coronavirus concerns ...
   https://www.kptv.com/news/portland-trade-show-canceled-over-coronavirus-concerns/...

   Organizers decided on Wednesday to cancel the show due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and people traveling from China. The organizers say the coronavirus is already starting to impact...
8. Coronavirus: Major tech event canceled as Bay Area ...
   https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Coronavirus-Major-tech-event-canceled-as...

   Feb 12, 2020 · Coronavirus: Major tech event canceled as Bay Area companies stay away A major annual conference and trade show in Barcelona, Spain, that draws some 100,000 participants from Silicon Valley and...
9. What Event Organizers Need to Know About Coronavirus and ...
   https://www.tsnn.com/news/what-event-organizers-need-know-about-coronavirus-and...

   They’re reaching out to her as a result of groups wanting to cancel events without penalties, due to the coronavirus. What Event Organizers Need to Know About Coronavirus and Canceling Contracts | TSNN Trade Show News
10. Trade Show Executive :: Coronavirus Postpones Trade Shows ...
    https://tradeshowexecutive.com/archive/industry...

    BEIJING — A number of trade shows and B2B events in Shanghai, Macau and Guangzhou are being postponed due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus in China. Many postponements and cancelations are expected follow as officials around the world grapple with containing the rising number of people infected with the virus.

Tea Drinker Discrimination

I'm a hot tea drinker. I don't drink coffee and unlike many of my fellow coffee abstainer friends, I don't even like the smell. For some reason the fact that I don't like the smell seems to shock people more than the fact that I don't drink it. I'm not a snob, I'm just as addicted to my hot tea as coffee drinkers are to their brew. A morning without hot tea becomes a day with a major headache. Caffeine is addictive no matter how you swill it.

I'm a minimum two huge cups a morning type. I measured my cup recently, it holds two cups of fluid thus I'm getting four cups a day minimum of tea and caffeine.

My tea of choice is PG Tips, a British tea that is very strong. Pam, who's from Great Britain, at the Broadway Diner in Fayetteville turned me onto the tea. I thought initially I'd have to just stop in there to get a cup or two or ten, but turns out you can buy it at Kroger, at least you can buy it at "my" Kroger on the south end of Fayetteville, Hwy. 85. There are 40 bags to a box, it usually runs around $4 - $4.50 for a box. Not a bad price at all for a good cup of tea.

By now you're possibly wondering why I titled this blog "Tea Drinker Discrimination". If you're not, you should be given all the rambling prior to that statement...

One of my pet peeves is restaurants who give unlimited coffee (they pretty much all do) for one price but charge me for each and every cup of tea I drink. They charge the same for coffee as they do for tea usually, yet some, a few, restaurants charge me $2.25 or $1.75 or whatever for each and every cup of tea. I was actually told the other day at one Peachtree City restaurant that no, they didn't charge per cup. If I used the same tea bag over and over they would allow me to have three cups of hot water to go along with the one measly tea bag they were willing to allow me to have. Yep, I could re-use that puny thing they called a tea bag three times. I drink my tea with cream or milk -- reusing a tea bag that's been soaked with sweetener and milk isn't pretty, nor does it taste like anything other than weird water.

Once I discover a restaurant discriminates against tea drinkers I mark them off my list. I never return. I used to politely, nicely, try to let them know why but after a few blase responses (ala, we don't give a flying flip, there aren't enough of you tea drinkers to make a difference) I quit telling them why. I just don't go back.

There are two restaurants that I've marked off my list in Fayette County. One in Peachtree City and one in Fayetteville. I'm not naming names as they're fairly popular with my friends and I like the owner of the one in Peachtree City, would very much like her to succeed. I doubt my aggravation about her tea discrimination would hurt her business anyway. Now I think I may have hurt the business of the one in Fayetteville because they were positively snotty when I raised my eyebrow about being charged. I canceled my dessert order and left the restaurant they were so snippy about it. Since then I have taken enough business from them that I've cost them much more than it would have to just give refills on 10-15 cent cups of hot tea...

Think about it. How many people drink tea like I do? I may have two cups after dinner, maybe three if it's cold outside. It's going to cost them maybe 50 cents for those three cups of tea if I'm drinking the better selection. I'm going to buy dessert. I'm going to be a happy customer. I'm going to come back if the food was good and the service at least decent.

Given the small percentage of people who drink tea and the even smaller percentage who drink multiple cups, what's the big deal about free refills? The vast majority of restaurants don't charge for tea refills, from the nicest upscale places to the lowest end dive. Why do some restaurants try to grab a nickel on tea? What's the cost of a lost customer? What's the cost of having someone pull business meetings to other restaurants? I like to enjoy my meal. I don't enjoy some meals without my after meal, sometimes during meal, hot tea. And no, I don't always drink hot tea with a meal when I'm out. It's a mood thing, and sometimes a weather or time of day thing. I rarely have hot tea with lunch unless it's really cold.

I know all you coffee drinkers and caffeine abstainers are rolling your eyes at the idea of someone walking out of a restaurant, never to return, over being charged for a second cup of tea. It's the principle of the thing. It's part of the enjoyment of my meal. I pay pretty hefty prices for the privilege of eating at many restaurants. I don't mind, I know they need to cover their costs and hopefully make a profit. Tea isn't going to make or break them. But it can cost them if they charge for refills.

So there.

It pays to be nice...

I love it when I hear a story about someone being rewarded for doing something good or for just being a good person. Life isn't always fair. OK, it's rarely fair, but I haven't found the place where we were promised it would be yet.

Here's a feel-good story of sorts. A waitress in Texas had a cranky customer she waited on in a local restaurant for around seven years. She says the 89-year old was rather mean. She smiled and catered to his wishes. The World War II vet died in July.

Right before Christmas Melina Salazar found out that Walter "Buck" Swords had left her $50,000 and a 2000 Buick.

Not a bad tip for waiting on him off and one. The article didn't say whether he was a decent tipper or if he stiffed her when he ate at the restaurant.