COVID-19: Gaps, I see Gaps everywhere.....

Okay,

We're getting serious now. Boris has shut all the shops. But even now, after the most draconian rules put in place in the country's history (bar the Black Death), people are still not taking heed.

Here in Portsmouth all the pubs have done is blacked out the windows and are still open. Enter by the back entrance, cash-only, not on the books, nudge-nudge. The first gap that needs plugging. Landlords need to be warned and if they continue then fined and then hauled to the cells for a night. Maybe then they'll see sense. That's gap number 1.

My daughter works for a car spares supplier as a delivery driver. They're staying open as they are classed as essential. She can put her older son in school, but her childminder has shut up leving her literally holding the baby. She's can't go to work. She's not covered by the Government's 80% wage payment. She's now down to one wage coming into the house.
I've already had to drop a parcel containing nappies and baby food.
No help for her. Gap number 2.

The self-employed are kicking up a stink about the lack of support for them. The thing about being self-employed is making sure you save for a rainy day because your not eligible for benefits or holiday pay or any other employee benefits. That's why being self-employed you always charge more than an employee. You get paid more to cover your expenses and to salt an amount away for the bad times. You create your own safety net in the form of public liability insurance and critical illness cover. You keep money in the bank to cover you when you can't work for sickness or holiday and tide you over the lean times. The key is the phrase self-employed: you rely on yourself to provide all of those things, not someone else. Gap number 3 (Sort of).

If your client (not employer) is forcing you to work for the equivalent of a salary, then you shouldn't take the money. Simple as. That's why the so-called "gig economy" annoys me so much. Why would you do it if you cannot afford your own safety net? If you are SELF-employed, why would you expect someone else to pay sickness pay or holiday? That's probably for another time including the stupid IR35 tax rules.

Anyway. The wife is still working (care manager) and I'm still selling car parts. However our counter service and workshop services have closed to comply with Boris' announcement last night.

Tesco across the road was rammed at 8am this morning. People still don't get the idea of social distancing. I blame the schools for making so many idiots and society for not allowing kids to be slapped when they were growing up. We have a nation of adult children with no sense of responsibility. Gap Number 4.

Right now my son messaged me to say he needs kitty litter  and me and the Mrs need milk.

After last weeks shenanigans where I was apparently the only person in the family able to get bog roll, it seems I've been designated the man who can (find stuff to buy) by the family. I'm the official family scavenger.