When “Non-Essential Businesses” Are Closed, “Essential Businesses” Lack Customers

As the coronavirus lockdown has continued on week after never ending week in Los Angeles, one thing has become clear.  There is no such thing as a “non-essential” business.

At first we saw long lines of socially distanced customers in front of the cafes and restaurants that remained open for take out orders.  But they have grown shorter and in many cases have utterly vanished.  In some cases the restaurant owners have given up and simply closed their doors completely.

Across the United States well over 30 million people have lost their jobs in record short time.  While some have been able to receive unemployment, many have not.  The same for the stimulus money.  In a nation that was increasingly shifting to a “gig economy,” many of the gig workers have fallen through the cracks.

Those that are getting unemployment are likely to be careful.  How long will the quarantine last?  How long will it take all of the jobs to return once it ends?  And will they pay as much?

The bottom line is more people are hanging on to what they have and many of the “essential businesses” are finding themselves in the same pinch as the “non-essential businesses.”  Without the “non-essential businesses”, the “essential businesses” simply don’t have enough customers to remain profitable.

The economic noose is tightening and more and more Angelenos (and Americans) are asking themselves if the “solution” to the COVID-19 breakout is more harmful than the virus itself… and will the “new normal” mean that we shut down the entire world economy every time a new virus breaks out?

More photos after the break…

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