It Was Never About Corona

A man named Bart walks into a bar and is immediately shot and killed. What was the name of the killer? Well, read through the article and find out the answer…

In a departure from normal beer gossip here, I wanted to share some thoughts as we all try to navigate the new regulations around dining out and the ripple effect that I believe the take-out-only mandate will have on the NH economy and mindset of our residents.
First off, Corona beer is not the culprit and cause for the virus. Only the simplest of folk believe that bit of trash. Second, AB Inbev who owns Bud, Corona and a ton of lesser brewers is not losing their shirt due to slacking sales of the Mexican beverage. Are they seeing a little loss in sales? Well, yes of course… mostly because of the belief of the afore mentioned concept.
The Covid-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China last fall and quickly spread around the world. The Chinese doctor who first determined the nature of the virus is now dead. This virus has the potential to be bigger than what we now realize, but not nearly as terrible as the 1918 influenza known as the Spanish flu. In those days, we did not have the knowledge, research and resources to have handled it. Many thousands died only because it was a rampant mess without proper precautions to defy it.
I believe that we are on the right track to preventing more infection through limitation of contact. Understanding actions of contact to what we all take for granted in our daily routine means we are sanely going after root causes and preventing the spread of infection. Staying six feet apart from any other human is a bit excessive but whatever is necessary, go for it. At least we are recognizing the contact issue.
The unfortunate ripple effect I believe that will hurt local businesses is the change to take-out-only mentality. Think about this for a moment. Why do you go out to eat and drink at a favorite location? It’s almost purely for the experience of sharing good food and drink with friends and family, enjoying the surroundings and whatever else the establishment has to offer. We go there for the food items and alternative food items on their menus.
Now, all of a sudden, that entire experience is removed and we are forced to decide where we are going to get take-out from. And everyone now offers take-out and even delivery. It levels the playing field. Now you must make a choice of where to get food. How far to drive to get the take-out? How long is the delivery time? There are only so many options before you say: ‘Screw it, let’s just eat at home.’
This was not well planned out, but emergencies often are not calculable. If you are going to mandate closures of businesses, it might have been smart to tell businesses across the state a week before shutting everything down that this was coming and don’t order the ton of food and kegs of Guinness you were going to go through on St Paddy’s Day because it won’t happen.
I live in Bristol. I went to 5 different businesses since the March 17th shutdown enforcement was put in place. Each was take-out. Each had reduced staff to the bare minimum. Homestead Tavern in Bristol, 50 employees now closed. Gina’s Cafe in downtown Bristol is shut down. 104 Dinner is closed. Kathleen’s Cottage Irish Tavern said they lost $7k in beer revenue for the loss of St Paddy’s Day and may close. Over in Meredith, Giuseppe’s is offering curb-side pick-up and an alternative menu of their favorites. Surfside across from Hannaford is trying to creatively offer things that others don’t offer. It simply comes down to creativity and motivation. When more and more places close until life returns to normal, those that stay open receive more traffic. But it’s hard…
The folks that already have drive-throughs in place (McDonalds, Wendy’s, Dunkins, etc) are not going to see much change other than eat-in traffic. When you put everyone, who serves food and drink, on one level and compatible Google search, there’s gonna be winners and losers… all because of a bug. Thanks Wuhan.
With all of the efforts out there who are offering bail-out relief, take what you need and nothing more. Remember that a system has its limits. If everyone applies for a grant or one-time gift, it will be gone shortly without the intended support it was supposed to relieve. Take what you need and don’t be greedy. Just like TP…
My advice during these crazy times? Saner heads prevail! Don’t take more TP than you need this month! Think of the other guy; he might be having more trouble than you! And if you get take-out, tip like there’s no tomorrow!!! They are depending on that revenue to make their rent and put food on their own table each night. Bottom line, help your neighbor. Be a friend and a support system to everyone you know and talk to each other when you can each week. It’s certainly a good way to understand life in our ecosystem. We can get through this – just relax and think about someone other than yourself.

Oh, and who killed Bart? Well, the Bart-ender of course!