Precautions

Yeah. It’s another post about you-know-what. The Lord Voldemort of infectious diseases. Sorry. But then, when we get through all of this, it’ll be good to look back at the good and the bad of how we tried to deal with it, and that will surely stand us all in good stead for the next global pandemic.

South Africa is taking precautions. Today is the last day of school in SA for (at least) the next 2½ weeks. Dodgeball is cancelled. Music lessons have stopped. Scouts has been stopped. The play we were due to go and see on Saturday is off.

And my inbox is full of local companies telling me how they are adapting to the crisis. Let’s have a look at what they’re doing.

YES! WE ARE OPEN! say Getwine:

At the moment, GETWINE’s e-commerce together with our three “walk-in” outlets will remain open for business but we are continuously monitoring the situation.
Online shopping remains the safest way to get your wine. Customers can be assured that we have taken all possible steps to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable online or shopfront experience.

Mildly concerning that they’ve taken “all possible steps”, but still admit that online shopping is safer. But they’re probably right and the alternative is there if you want/don’t want to take risks.

Oishi Sushi are:

closely monitoring local and international guidelines with regards to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

and:

are taking increased precautions by reinforcing the following health and hygiene protocols within all of our delivery kitchens:
  • Increasing the frequency of hand-washing and hand-sanitization
  • Replacing our existing hand sanitizer dispensers with touch-free dispensers
  • Increasing the frequency of cleaning all kitchen surfaces
  • Increasing the frequency of food safety audits
On the delivery side of things, we will be introducing the option of a no-contact drop-off service that allows customers to prepay via SnapScan or Zapper, and to add drop-off instructions in the comments section on the checkout page (e.g. leave outside door).

And even my firewood and braaiwood supplier sent details of what they’re doing:

Wow. And this for wood which I am literally going to burn? (Burning renders the virus inactive, by the way.)

Wine, food and wood and the three secondary basic human needs after wi-fi, Castle Milk Stout and toilet roll, and I’m hopeful that with the primary three already in place Chez 6000… and the secondary three safely available to us, we’ll be able to get through the difficult times ahead.

Now wash your hands.

 

UPDATE: Also in touch today…
My gym: “the government suggests that we should close, but we’re not going to (yet).”
My local hiking/camping/outdoor pursuits store: “go outside, enjoy the time with your family, buy our stuff online.”
My bank: “we’re being really careful – fewer meetings. Also be really careful.”
My local supermarket: “we’re wrapping things properly in our bakery section. There’s hand sanitiser everywhere (except on the shelves).”
My favoured e-hailing service: “we’re consulting with an epidemiologist to make sure our efforts as a company are grounded in medical advice.” [Woah!]

Tipping point

Incoming from Uber Eats, who we occasionally use to order ribs, pizzas, burgers and several other unhealthy – but nearly always enjoyable – items. Great news – you can now tip your driver. Officially.

There will be some of you who have already worked out that you slip your Butlers or Oishi delivery guy a few extra Rands for his trouble, so why not your Uber Eats guy too?

The thing is, the joy of Uber Eats is that it’s a cashless system, so it’s not always possible to find a R20 note without a bit of forethought. And although Butlers and Oishi also offer a cashless option in the form of Snapscan, there’s the option to add your tip there and then.

OK – we’ll continue with this in just a second, but already, I can see that there will be some people who will take issue with that photo. Stereotypes in the race of the driver, the race of the customer, and the fact that she seems to be working for Starfleet.
The fact is that every Uber Eats driver we have ever had has been black (and male* – hence my ubiquitous use of ‘he/his’ in this post), every time we have used Uber Eats, I have been white, and conveniently, it turns out that the beagle is a huge fan of Star Trek, so there you go.

And now back to the post…

Interestingly, when we do offer our Uber Eats driver a cash tip they are always surprised and delighted. This suggests to me that this is a rather unusual practice. It shouldn’t be that way though, surely?

Well, now it doesn’t have to be:

That seems pretty straightforward, now doesn’t it?

I’m not sure exactly how the Uber Eats pricing model works and how much of your order price goes to the driver, but I’d wager that 1) it’s not very much and 2) if you’re using the system as a customer, then you’re probably able to share a bit of the wealth with the guy who just saved you going out to the local takeaway joint in the no rain.

Do it.

 

* did I just assume his gend… Yes. Yes I did. Get over it.