6.18.20: Juneteenth as a national public holiday
Plus a COVID update
June 18, 2020.
Good Thursday Morning. Today is June 18, which means tomorrow is June 19, which means tomorrow is the day Juneteenth is recognized. (It’s why we discussed whether it should be a national public holiday.) As one anonymous user noted:
I was very disappointed in myself that I really didn't know about Juneteenth until recently. Like what else am I unaware of?
I’ll admit, I’m in the same camp. I don’t recall learning about it in school, and I had never really heard about it until I was an adult.
Juneteenth commemorates the day that Union Army General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas proclaiming all slaves were free. Though the Civil War had ended a few months earlier, it took a while for word to reach all corners of the country. Juneteenth celebrates the day when it finally did.
Also, this Sunday is Father’s Day. I know there are many dads (including my own), grandfathers, uncles (ditto), brothers, cousins, neighbors and so many others who fill that paternal role in our community. Wishing you all a very happy, healthy day.
We’re off tomorrow, so we’ll talk again next week. Click on the Let’s Talk button if you’re ready to start on today’s questions.
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Father’s Day is Sunday. What’s a better gift to give than the gift of being heard?
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Results from June 17, 2020
Question 1: Have you been tested for COVID-19?
Still not a single positive test result in the Tinaverse…
Question 2: Have you been tested for COVID-19 anti-bodies?
At least some of us (a very small percentage of us, unfortunately) have the anti-bodies!
Question 3: Should the list of corporations and businesses that received taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans be disclosed publicly?
I desperately want to know what companies received PPP loans. The coffee company I work for has drastically reduced the number of people on shift because they can't afford it. So people are going from working 35 hours a week to working 16 hours a week. The solution? If you can't get hours at your home store, then your manager will find another local store for you to get hours at. Right...
And what about everyone at the other "local" store that are fighting for hours? When I asked my manager about letting people go, he got very uptight and couldn't really give me an answer. A lot of my coworkers would rather fight for unemployment and get 2/3 of their salary instead of traveling between two stores to get 20 hours a week. I think this coffee company got PPP funds and now they can't lay off any employee or else they have to pay back that money. The consequence is that a lot of my coworkers are suffering and in this climate, it's not like they can just go out and get another job.
Question 4: How would you describe the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on your personal (or your family's personal) financial situation.
Really curious to see if anyone benefited financially from the pandemic...if so, how???
Ask, and ye shall receive.
I have been financially positive due to coronavirus. I’m spending way less besides takeout and fortunate to not have my salary impacted. Also had a friend stay with me and paid rent.
I said 4/5 on the question of impact financially. My SO and I both have white collar jobs and can telework, neither has lost any pay. We're saving money on not commuting, and eating out less (though a few of our neighbors own restaurants so we try to support them as best we can) Other than that, there is no impact on us. and for that I'm fortunate.
Question 5: There is currently a proposal in Congress to pay healthcare workers and first responders hazard pay for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The plan would pay those essential workers an additional $13/hour (up to a maximum of $10,000) on top of their regular salary for each hour worked during the pandemic. Would you support this plan?
Though a majority of you supported this plan, the comments provided some pushback.
I am a nurse. I get paid well. I do not feel that I should get paid more for doing what is my job.
I support hazard pay for non-healthcare essential workers but not for healthcare or first responders. Dealing with the sick is just part of their job.
Before you support paying nurses and doctors a "hazard" pay of $16/hour, please consider the fact that your military men and women are receiving a hazard pay of approximately $0.62/hour (it's $150/month) when they deploy to a combat zone. I don't believe it is right to extend this benefit to nurses and doctors without affording the same, or more, to America's forgotten heroes.
I think hazard pay is a more pressing need for grocery store workers and delivery men and women.
Question 6: Would you support or oppose making Juneteenth a national public holiday in the United States?
I wrote I’m not sure for Juneteenth strictly because, even if it is a federal holiday, I don’t know how many companies—and therefore, people—would observe it. So then I worry it wouldn’t be meaningful. (Basing this off of one of my employers not observing MLK Day or President’s Day...)
Though the federal government can declare any day a national holiday, it’s up to private businesses to decide whether they too will observe. (I remember being upset in college that I had to go to school on Labor Day.)
Make it all the way through but forget to answer today’s questions?
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Happy Father’s Day, everyone.
