Recently I had to go Home Depot and I noticed that the store has started limiting access to a set number of customers at a time. This pattern was not just with Home Depot, but has been spreading to “big box” stores across the country, as AP News reports concerning the retail giant Walmart:
Walmart still wants customers, just fewer of them at a time. The nation’s largest retailer said it will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly about 20% of the average store’s capacity. To oversee the restriction, workers will mark a queue at a single-entry door, and direct arriving customers there, where they’ll be admitted one by one. Walmart joins Target and others in trying to limit the number of customers in the store to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (source)
This is an interesting trend, in that it may become a standard practice.
The effects of the virus are not going away. They are being used as an excuse to exert more control over life than has ever been done before. These are amazing times to be alive.
Having noted this, it will be of interest to see what happens after the virus is said to have been brought under “control” and especially as it pertains to public movement.
Will people be allowed to congregate in large groups again? Will there be limitations? Will there be other requirements made?
One does not know what the future holds. However, it should be of concern to all that in this case, sometimes the window of tomorrow is but a reflection to the past.