COVID-19: Not Another Stephen King Novel

It’s summertime. My favorite time of the year. One reason is that I get to read a lot of books due to long summer nights. I read the latest from Dean Koontz, Devoted, about dogs that are telepathic and relate to humans (his Jane Hawk series was perhaps his best); John Grisham’s Camino Island about a bookstore owner and mysterious deaths; and of course, a couple from James Patterson that are just fun reading. I’m currently reading The Most Fun We Ever Had by first time writer, Claire Lombardo which is quite the chick book (hey, always good to get more perspectives in life). The book details a family over a fifty year span and is quite good. It might be fiction but I am sure it more real than not.

COVID-19 is non-fiction and a book that right now has no ending in sight. In fact, this book could last through the entire decade. Most likely 2021 is going to fare as bad as 2020 with false hopes coming and going. With CA’s Governor, Newsom, pretty much shutting down everything yesterday (all salons, gyms, religious buildings, bars, restaurants), it is only a matter of time before other states follow including AZ, FL, NV and TX. NV has already shut down all bars except those in casinos. But hey, is anyone going to a casino to lose money wearing a mask?

Summer was going to be downtime for COVID-19, everyone thought it hated heat. But nope, Brazil, Mexico and other hot spots are all hot spots. And what happens when October comes with the real flu season?

As this novel keeps getting longer and longer, we must sit and wonder why is the USA the most affected country in the world? Why does Florida have more cases than most countries with the exception of two?

With November 3 seemingly right around the corner, who is going to be our next president? Face masks or no face masks will win. Face masks appear to be the hero and the villain in regards to COVID-19. In Michigan, the Macomb county Sheriff department stated they are not enforcing Whitmer’s requirement to wear masks. Employees seem to be threatened daily by customers who do not wear face masks. I don’t get the drama, it is proven than face masks save lives. We all know when you went to a hospital before COVID-19, doctors and nurses wore face masks. And what the heck, you can wear cloth face masks with Mickey Mouse if you don’t like the medical blue disposables.

Speaking of those, we just introduced the cutest little purse pouch containing 5 face masks. With cases rising daily and soon to hit 100,000, demand for face masks is going up. Demand for nitrile gloves is going up too and this poses a huge problem because there is a tremendous shortage of them (I blogged about this months ago). Most fortunate I ordered millions before COVID-19 and now TNG has the largest inventory of gloves in the business. We just received new extra long cuff and extra large sizes for our first level providers.

We also have the largest inventory of 70% and 99% ISP and the #1 selling brand of hand soap gallons. However I would give all this up for our main customers to be open for business. I miss my massages, spa days at resorts and although I am back on schedule for weekly mani’s, the experience is not the same. But I will say this: Salons have been doing an excellent job during COVID-19 maintaining cleanliness and adhering to safety guidelines. If anything, salons in CA should be allowed to remain open.

The state of CA gave us a wake-up call. Wear a face mask. Social distance. Sanitize often. If you go out, be responsible. We all want to have fun and enjoy summer. But if things don’t change and we don’t wake up now, book reading will go well into 2021 as a thing to do. Delta CEO Ed Bastian told us today that he doesn’t expect air travel to get back to normal for at least two years (yes, at least two years). YIKES!

Happy Tuesday!