Last week, my home state of Maine was given some national press when Tucker Carlson interviewed a restaurant owner on FOX. Maine currently has strict stay-at-home orders and has postponed its plan of opening restaurants despite having some of the lowest amount of COVID-19 cases in the country. The majority of Maine citizens are self-employed or work at a small local business, so the lockdown is preventing them from making the money they desperately need.
Rick Savage, owner of Sunday River Brewing Company, has been struggling along with the many other small businesses and has decided to take action and oppose the government restrictions. During his interview, he told Carlson that he planned on opening the doors to his establishment on May 1st, the date they were originally allowed to open. He said he would still practice social distancing procedures and provide safe dining options for cautious customers. Although he knew and understood the risks, he believed that this needed to happen and ask for others to follow along in order to save the economy and ultimately continue to protect themselves. Unfortunately, Savage's plan lasted only a day before officials seized his food and alcohol licenses.
In a press conference, Maine Governor Janet Mills stated that her COVID-19 action plan focused on the safety of citizens, and while I agree that we need to be protected, we won't be able to continue protecting ourselves if we don't have the necessary income to support our families. Unemployment has rose and many are receiving welfare and stimulus checks to help pay for necessities, but the government can't continue to go in debt and give away money. We are hoping that all of this ends soon and that storeowners can open their businesses back up, but that won't be possible if they are closed for this long.
The small business economy is a crucial part of Maine and the state cannot thrive without it. While I support Savage's movement to fix the economy, I am also aware of the deadly dangers of COVID-19 and that there needs to be a solution that meets in the middle. Restaurants are now offering take-out only options so that they can continue cooking and many small retailers are moving their business online. As a graduating senior still looking for a job during these difficult times, I have taken the initiative to begin helping my local stores with converting their business online and creating social media accounts to keep their customers informed. I advise others my age that are also looking for something to do to turn off Netflix and offer their support for their local businesses. There is still very little we know about the Coronavirus, but what we have seen is that it has less of an effect on our younger population, so this is an opportunity to rely on our healthy individuals to support the elderly and compromised. For Savage, I believe that his business should have had the right to open up and that others also have a choice, but Savage should have also done a better job to issue face masks and prevent crowds of people together.
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