How did you spend Black Friday? Is a great deal worth risking your health, the health of your loved ones or even complete strangers? Before you rush out the door to stand in a line for a super spreader shopping spree, ask yourself a few questions.

1.       Can I order it safely online?

2.       Can I be sure everyone who is physically shopping this holiday season will be COVID-19 free and wearing a mask?

3.       Will saving a few dollars justify endangering the health of my family or the workers in the store?

4.       How can I safely support local businesses?

5.       What can I do to protect the health and safety of essential workers?

Businesses are struggling to stay open and keep their employees on the payroll. We all get that. None of us wants to see another small business fail because of this pandemic. But, if we do not embrace wearing masks, washing our hands, and maintain social distancing, this pandemic will drag on and on.

If you are a small business owner, what are you doing this holiday season to make shopping a safe experience for your workers and your customers? How will you get the word out to the public, so they know you care as much about their safety as you do for your profit margins?

Above all, be kind to store personnel and your fellow shoppers.

If you don’t want to wear a mask, please stay home. Do not for one-minute think you know more than the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and leading health experts. COVID-19 numbers are still on the rise.

Wear your mask properly! Stop pulling it down below your nose. Always be sure your mask covers your nose and mouth.

Before you head out to shop, make sure you have a supply of masks in the car and make sure you are washing reusable masks after each use and properly disposing of disposable masks instead of wearing the same mask over and over. Watch for store signs and markings on the aisles/floor because they are there for your information and safety. Carry hand sanitizer and use it before you enter a store and when you leave. Wash your hands when you get home.

Support your local bookstore, local authors, local craftsmen, home grown/homemade products and artists. If your local store does not sell their products online, call and ask if they accept orders by phone or email and offer curbside pick-up or delivery. If you are a business and you don’t offer these services in a pandemic, why the hell not???? And how soon will you offer them?

As much as we all love getting beautifully wrapped presents for Hanukkah or Christmas, I know we’d trade the fancy packages and their contents for the lives of our loved ones. Shop like their lives depended on it.

Be safe, be well, you are important, and you are loved!