A MOM AND POP PERSPECTIVE

November 2, 2019 was our grand opening! My brother and I had dreamed of opening a business together for 20 years. Now, with the incredible support of family and friends, we had finally made it happen. We had created a business that was environmentally responsible, beneficial to our community, and celebrated our passion for creativity.

The community embraced us. As we began to build a clientele, we received a unanimous thumbs up from everyone who visited our store. We knew we had a lot of work and sacrifice ahead of us but we now had every reason to believe that our efforts would be successful.

Within four months, the nightmare began. As the world became consumed with fear, our store grew quiet and our revenues disappeared. 

In the beginning, we were supportive of the first lockdown, hoping that we could nip this new virus in the bud and quickly recover. It soon became apparent that we were not “all in this together” as advertised. Two weeks stretched into two months while huge corporate retailers and online businesses flourished. Many small businesses perished while waiting for the promised government aid that was often too little and too late. As a new business, we did not qualify for financial help but were fortunate to have an amazing landlady who bent over backwards to ensure our survival.

When the economy reopened, we enjoyed a surge of success that restored our hope for the future. However, when masks were mandated in July, our sales abruptly dropped  by fifty percent! Very few people wanted to browse with their faces covered. I felt forced to choose between my mask exemption and my business so with great reluctance, I covered my face and forfeited my enjoyment of the genuine human interactions that were a cornerstone of our business.

People were “staying home and staying safe.” Our goods and services were no longer “essential” in their “new normal.” Drug abuse was escalating and we started to feel the impact of theft. The  thieves were certainly benefiting from the mask mandates.

And we weren’t seeing any evidence of a devastating pandemic. We were experiencing the devastation of government overreach! Common sense was telling us that the pandemic response was very disproportionate to the risks posed by Covid 19.

In November of 2020 we saw the video of the WEF’s predictions for the future. “You will own nothing and you will be happy.” Suddenly the end game was very clear. We spent countless hours sifting through research, separating verifiable facts from theories, crunching numbers and weighing the realities against the propaganda. We knew that we had been buried in bullshit and our business didn’t stand a chance if we continued to comply.

This was never about a deadly virus.

It was a full scale attack on the middle class and those working towards it.

When the second lockdown started, we advised our landlady that we would not be able to pay our rent at the end of January and offered our notice. She declined, prefering to keep good tenants and holding onto the hope that we would find a way.

My brother and I continued going to our store every day despite Ontario’s stay at home order. Our sign said closed but our door was unlocked  and, much to our surprise, enough people wandered in and shopped to keep the utilities paid.

Spring arrived during the third lockdown and we propped our door open and put sale items out front. We stopped wearing masks and encouraged our customers to do the same. People asked questions and we gave them Druthers. While I was terrified that we were risking our good reputation, we knew it was time to make a stand. If we were going to lose our business, we were going to go down fighting. Our clientele grew and the customer feedback was one hundred percent positive!

The government has severely restricted our business for fifteen months now, including six and a half months of full lockdown. During that time, we have managed to qualify for twenty thousand dollars of government aid, enough to cover our rent for three and a half months. Our business would not have survived without customers. We don’t consider it selfish or criminal to protect what we worked very hard to build and we are so grateful that our community has supported our non-compliance. 

While we prefer to maintain a positive outlook and focus on our gratitude, we feel that it is also important to share our perspective  because this isn’t over. And we don’t believe that it will be over until either the middle class is eliminated, or we collectively embrace civil disobedience and force our government to release it’s economic stranglehold.

What’s been driving us insane since this madness began is that the government has spent untold millions of tax dollars on conflicting propaganda. On one hand we are being urged to support local businesses and bombarded with false assurances that these businesses are receiving all the help they need to survive. On the other hand, these same small businesses are being restricted and locked down, deemed non-essential and portrayed as vectors of death and disease.

How can we support something that is not available?

Why would we support something that is unnecessary and dangerous?

This is classic Orwellian doublespeak! And we’re paying for it!!!

But what can you do about it? Forced experimental medical intervention can NOT be the answer.

First, you must take an honest look at the Covid 19 data. Compare it to other seasonal illnesses. Consider the testimonies of professionals who have risked their livelihoods to present verifiable facts and reasonable perspectives.

Ask yourself the hard questions. Why are qualified doctors and scientists being censored. Why would the world’s governments collaborate against the people whom they are entrusted to lead. And how? Follow the money. The answers are hard to digest, but they are easily available and they do make complete sense.

Next you must live in harmony with your convictions. 

If you firmly believe that masks serve no purpose except to signal compliance, then please TAKE IT OFF! Most people will not be judging your facial nudity. They will be envying your courage.

If you own a small business and understand that you are not imperilling anyone’s health, OPEN UP FULLY! You are self employed because you are a courageous, independent, hard working leader. Please act like it.

Quit depositing your money in the bank accounts of greedy, corrupt corporations. You know who they are. When you lose your job to a computerized machine, do you really think Walmart is going to offer you a snack and a change of clothes? Hell no! But we will. We do it every day because you are more than a transaction to us. Our community is not our bottom line. It is our first priority.

What can you do?

Envision the future that you want for yourself and for future generations. Then make it happen.

Wake up. Stop complying with ill conceived mandates. Go for a leisurely  browse in a local store that honours mask exemptions. Smile. Connect. Reclaim your humanity!

Written with much love by a small businesswoman, a warrior, a survivor.

By Becky Burgess

Becky Burgess owns Buzzy’s Nifty Thrifty Place, London, Ontario