Quote Originally Posted by God Member View Post
Even though I am self-employed I'm going to be fine too.

Because of not having to worry about myself it has given me the luxury of worrying about the plight of many of my fellow citizens.

It was sad to walk past my local Thai restaurant for example and see a handwritten notice on the door saying that the locks had been changed for unpaid rent and that it was illegal for anyone to attempt entry. I looked through the glass and saw that all the restauranter's inventory was still in there that the landlord must be holding against unpaid rent.

I'm sure they wanted to pay the rent but how could they when no customer was allowed through the door. A lot of places can't adapt to "takeaway only" service. Or it isn't enough to pay for their expenses and wages.

I'd walk past this restaurant a lot, and they were good workers. The Thai waitresses were pretty, the chefs made tasty food. On Friday and Saturday evenings they'd set up a pretty scene with a little table outside with a vase of flowers and little candles and their menu to attract people in.

Well the landlord isn't getting any rent with the place shut up, and he's not going to get another restauranter in for the next six months, so either way he's going to get no rent. So why not let them stay there at, I don't know, 10% or 20% of the former rental?
If a business wants to survive in these tough times, they will need to adjust the way they do business. Yes, it won't be easy and straightforward but some businesses are able to find ways to keep trading and pay their rent.

On the other side, I heard from a friend how he was disappointed that his usual coffee shop was closing up. He knows the boss who is well off and lives in an affluent suburb. He even owns a boat moored at one of the boat clubs. The coffee shop owner was closing up because he didn't want to change anything or do takeaways. That's his choice and he was in an area where there were workers coming out of the offices still requiring meals and coffee. I wonder whether the government should be propping up such businesses that have no desire to adapt to these hard times ahead.