Feel Lost During The Shutdown? Bureaucrats Didn’t

It’s one thing to be a mere store owner trying to reassure customers with requiring employees and words like contactless; but as capitalists whose income depends largely on business volume, a number of people I’ve spoken to over the years question their altruism relative to those whose allegiance is to institutions of government or education. Perhaps this is partly because such employees aren’t seen as being theoretically able to draw windfall earnings instead of a regular salary, no matter the risks.

I know someone who won a lawsuit over a surgical error which, fortunately, didn’t result in a major loss to quality of life. But I couldn’t help but think that he decided to get such surgery performed at a university, and he described to me how a private office might well have a young, underpaid assistant more focused on partying than their preparations of tools, as if private sector entities ought to be trusted less than the sanctioned selfless. I have no reason to believe the university was at fault in his case, but I long remembered the intensity of his expectation of whom to trust — and whom not to.

Think back over your favorite interactions in businesses during the shutdown, especially with strangers. The store that let you in outside of new official hours because of confusing signs, or that let you into the lobby despite not usually according that practice when they saw it was sensible for your transaction. The struggling merchants whose makeshift plexiglass or social distancing signage obviously didn’t accord to strict specifications, but were clear indications of concerned attempts to keep up with both cautious expectations and law which was not as clearly communicated as we might be accustomed to.

And caution is the key word — often due to uncertainty, like my bookstore owner friend who said the reason he hadn’t reopened beyond curbside service yet was because he couldn’t tell from the state website whether he was allowed to. If some people are so eager to parse which stores can safely reopen, do they fail to make a clear list because of time, or energy…or is it just too hard to articulate?

Now compare that to the near-uniformity of signs mandated by those who are apparently making the most of the demand for their specifications, by people whose idea of social distancing is to force people to walk in fewer areas. You may not identify with community-based entrepreneurs much or at all — and of course there are dedicated government employees who not only do the job they can, but want to do it as pleasantly as possible with the public. But what experiences do you find more moving? And even when those in the public sector do their best, is it not a reminder of those whose raison d’etre for accomplishment is that being able to brag about community service helps them in ways that private individuals working things out for themselves could not?

In Los Angeles some walk signals have been set so that no contact with the push buttons is needed, and signs were added to alert pedestrians. Maybe the cost and extra idle exhaust for cars were warranted; I’d just hate to think of the demands on people to reduce pollution with such unnecessary idling, especially given widespread leafblower noise and smog when quieter and cleaner electric blowers, if not rakes, can be used. (There are laws against gas blowers here, but not enforced enough to deter them.)

Regarding police who broke up church services, one commentator said he hoped they felt terrible about some of what they were asked to do lately. Let that sink in — especially if you can imagine a longtime supporter of officers saying it. I hope the officers who felt trapped by such demands heard the callers who acknowledged how nicely they were asked to do today’s version of “keep off the grass.” Certainly I hope how police react to being torn in different directions isn’t being lost in more recent and upcoming police reforms.