I have been thinking about that a lot too, Lucille. Also, been thinking about

the young children hearing this talk, and seeing people nervous, etc., and

the fear that will surely hit them too. Even seems unreal to me...what must

those little minds be feeling.

Yes, do be kind to your grocery clerks, it's not their fault that there aren't any eggs or meat or bread or bananas, nor is it their fault that there are line-ups on a Monday morning.

First responders are feeling the anxiety of others as well. One of the people in my gym class is a doctor and don't forget that she isn't the one who answers the phone. It's the receptionist and hers is putting up with so much crap from people calling so be kind to them as well, this isn't their fault.

Hubs and I are retired State of California employees. Starting the first Friday of February 2009, we were furloughed. The furloughs lasted for several years, and varied from 3 days per month, down to 1 day per month. Each furlough day is equal to a loss of just under 5% of your monthly salary. So, for many months, we were down nearly 15% in salary. Luckily, we both had great salaries, but, still, we made a lot of changes, including not going out to lunch nearly every workday. There are a LOT of restaurants in and around Sacramento because of all of the State employees as well as the Legislature, etc. SO many restaurants ended up going out of business because folks just quit going out to eat. I remember one day when Hubs and I decided we were going to go out to eat lunch, and we went to FIVE places and all were closed! The furloughs therefore affected not only the State employees, but the employees of the restaurants that were closed. And it wasn't just restaurants that were affected. Any type of business that required payment for any reason also suffered. People lost their homes to foreclosure, people were kicked out of apartments for failure to pay rent, people lost their vehicles to repossession because they couldn't make the payments, etc.

Bear in mind that not everyone living in and around Sacramento is a State employee. But the Sacramento economy was decimated by the furloughs. Now, with everyone being affected by the COVID-19 quarantine/social isolation, it is going to be even worse. And not just in Sacramento -- the entire state - the entire country. It will take decades and decades for any type of economic recovery.

It's really frightening to think about.

Dawn - putting faces on the story is a wonderful reminder to each of us. Being kind to those we deal with who may be surly/impolite is sometimes difficult, but something to strive towards, certainly. A kind word may be most helpful to others who, as you mention, might be dealing with unbeknownst-to-us hard times. Thanks for the reminder.

I think this situation is going to be a test of our humanity. Remembering to be kind and tolerant. Trying to not get frustrated. Keeping in touch with and checking on your family, friends, neighbors. Keeping in mind that not everyone reacts the same way. Some people will be more stressed than others. For me, thinking that we're all in this together, no matter where we're located, is comforting, in a way.

Thank you, roxanna.

While reading your post I remembered something a co-worker said to me once. Before I retired I worked at an elementary school and we had some very difficult kids and parents sometimes. One day after dealing with a very troubled child and showing more patience and kindness than I ever thought possible of another human being, she turned to me and said, "those who are the most difficult to love and the ones who need love the most."

Anyway, I've seen that quote attributed to Socrates, but I'm not sure of the origin. It doesn't really matter to me where it originated; when she said that it really struck a chord with me and it's something I now carry with me daily.

You are so right that a kind word might make a difference in someone's day; even a smile could do the trick for some.

Please consider that many office processes will dramatically slow down. If anyone in a department or division is Covid-19 positive, the rest have to go home and self quarantine for 14 days.

In our state, there are only 54 testing positive. Guess what, today one of our employees in a satellite mortgage office tested positive. That entire office of 15 is now under home quarantine for 2 weeks. They will be working at home on their own PCs. They are attempting to do at home what they normally do with three monitors, printers, collaters, multi phone lines, etc - not to mention having to be registered with security scanning and electronic access to the banking systems. Their productivity will be cut in half. Things will go slower.

The decision was made to allow any employee who can, to work from home. Over 700 are chosing to in our multi state area. Most are older, or have children that are now home from school for weeks.

I am working from home now because I am high risk. If I haven't caught it yet, my trucker hubby may bring it home. Hope not.

@loonlake - really good point about fewer employees being in an office working if one of their co-workers test positive. Thanks for pointing it out.

A smile goes a very long way these days. 😀

I think of working parents...what are they doing with children home for 2 weeks or more? It's tough to entertain kids all day, 7 days a week, and here in CA it's been raining so the kids cannot go outside much. Cranky kids getting on each other's nerves, oh boy! And the money worries. Many families will not be ok. And if a member gets sick, then everyone is quarantined.

Local college sending kids home. Some don't have a home they can go to, don't have the money to buy fare, basically homeless. The school is trying to help them and some may be allowed to stay but certainly not to the level in which dorms are populated.

loon...you are right, it's not always easy to work from home. Yes, everything is in a slowdown, contracted state. One thing affects another. Good reminder if we are waiting for any paperwork to be processed, it may be slow.

Mayor Garcetti (LA City) spoke tonight on the things being done to help people. No evictions, no utilities cut off, food available for people who need it and more. 25 new cases in LA today.

I can't believe this. Wake me up, please!

loonlake, the experts seem to agree that confirmed cases are very understated because a grossly inadequate number of test kits have been available. I heard more than a few commentators say today that they expect the case numbers to skyrocket as and when more tests become available. A suspected case, even with unambiguous symptoms, doesn't truly become a confirmed case until a positive test result is obtained.

I called two friends today and I honestly don't remember the last time I did that just to chit-chat. It's usually a quick email. But this thread prompted me to call to say hi just to stay connected during a time when that is becoming hard to do.

I feel so bad for people who had been planning their wedding for so long and now everything has changed. Probably they will lose their down payments and they can't do the destination they wanted and friends and family can't travel. Eloping may become very popular.

My sons wedding is planned for the end of June but hopefully things will be okay by then. All groups of more than 50 are now banned in our province so if that is still in effect or if restaurants are closed down their reception will be cancelled and I assume deposits will be returned. Plan B is to still get married on that day with just family and attendants at one of the parents homes and then the other parents will do a dinner. But if the entire city is in curfew or lock down I don't know what they will do.

They will be upset but they will carry on and rebook. It's what they do. They're already caught up in it as they and our other son are now all working from home.

I'm doing my best to be a calming influence for the parents of my young students. They, like many, are really unsure of how to proceed as things change from day to day. Because I'm older than most of them and my kids are (mostly) raised, I get that they are looking to me for guidance, but I'm also trying to figure this out and dealing with all the same stresses they are. In some ways, taking care of elderly parents is harder than young kids. With young kids, you get to make all the decisions and be done with it, but with the elderly, you can't just lay down the rules and say this is the way it's going to be.

Yes, it's tough to move a wedding but here's an even worse one. Cancellation of all funerals. We have a friend that lost her husband this week after a long illness, she won't have the comfort of seeing how she and her husband were/are loved in a service. Can't imagine how heart-breaking that would be :(

daisy, thank you for being there for them.

Yes, this is a real mess.

For all those who are having to cancel or postpone weddings, funerals, birthday parties, possibly graduations (which will be here before we know it), vacations, family reunions and other events that bring people who love each other together, I really feel for you. Many of these things are once in a life time events and not things that we get to do often or any old time. However, people are adaptable and resilient, and I think once they get over their initial disappointments, they will find new creative ways to celebrate or mark important occasions.

Raye, the funeral is especially sad. I hope your friend is able to have a service for her husband later in the year once things have settled back down to whatever normal is going to be.

Raye Smith and others while people may not have a lot of people at a funeral if you have someone in this situation in this area what are called "Celebrations of Life" can be held later. With cremations this is happening more frequently.

"Probably they will lose their down payments and they can't do the destination they wanted "

For me, the money and travel-curtailment aspects of how the current crisis may affect planned marriage ceremonies is dwarfed by the reality of having illness and deaths of potential invitees, friends and family. They were planning on spending that money so they can also afford to lose it, if that's what happens.

People who want to get married can get married. Just maybe not with the pomp and circumstance they'd planned. Everyone needs to deal with today's reality.

I agree. The marriage is much more important than the wedding.

Thanks for starting this thread, Lucille. It's a wonderful reminder, because

*****THIS IS A TEST*****