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Maybe shaking hands isn’t a good idea. Maybe science will bear that out in time. Lots of cultures do not shake hands as a greeting. We’re not entitled to touch other people who don’t want to be touched. We will come up with a new social practice that makes people feel welcome, and in time it will seem normal.
Years ago, people drank from a common cup at water fountains. Doctors did not wash hands or sterilize equipment between surgeries. There was a lot of push back and anger over the recommendation for doctors to wash hands between patients back then. Now it seems disgusting and reckless to drink from the same cup as a stranger, or for medical staff to not wash hands between patients.
Standards change when we have data to back up the recommendations. We’re flying blind right now. People are trying to make the best decisions possible with limited information.
If the media upsets you, I still think turning it off is the best route.
As for masks, the people wearing them when jogging or driving solo may have come to the same realization I did: my allergy symptoms have improved since wearing them. If I go outside, I put on a mask and don’t take it off until I’m ready to come back in my home. I’m less congested, the low-grade sinus headache I’ve had for a month is gone, and I don’t sneeze so much. I don’t have to take allergy meds any more. This is a winning combination for me, so the general public is just going to have to get used to seeing me in a mask during allergy season going forward, even if they think it’s silly and hysterical.
Also, once you put on a mask to run errands, you aren’t supposed to be touching it or remove it until you’re errands are complete. If I have to go to the post office and then the grocery, it’s not good to take the mask off in between trips. The more you touch the mask, the more chances you have of getting the virus on your hands and face. That’s not media hype; that is medical advice. Put on a mask and leave it alone until you are done. Then take it off carefully and either discard it or wash it.
This is not the first pandemic the US has seen, nor will it be the last. People behaved in weird ways in 1918 as well, and the losses then were far, far worse than anything projected to occur now. Our country did not collapse into ruin then, and it will not happen now. Life is stubborn and insists on continuing. People are resourceful when they have to be. Turn off the news for awhile, and you’ll see the people rising to the challenge, finding ways of solving problems, and helping their neighbors.
Uncertainty over the future can be overwhelming. Don’t let it drown you.
There will certainly be permanent changes to society as a result of this pandemic. Some people will not survive emotionally or financially, as well as those that will not survive, period. I grieve for all those losses. The key to our country and global community moving forward and again thriving is to look for opportunity and hope for the future, rather than falling into despair over what we leave behind in the past.
As the Queen said, “Better days will return”. They always have. Humans are too resilient and stubborn to have it any other way.
I just had someone complain that shipping was “too high”, and couldn’t I decrease the price of the item to make up for it?
It was media mail @ 2 lbs, for a budget crushing total of $3.26.
Just no, dude.
This was several years ago, but I left a “false positive” feedback on a real pain in the socks customer, and eBay removed it. It has been a long time so I don’t remember the details of how it happened, but the reason for removal was something to the effect of it being an inappropriate use of the feedback system. Basically, feedback should not used as a way to exact revenge or vent one’s spleen.
Crazy buyers leave negative feedback, send endless diatribes regarding your merchandise and character, open cases, and start chargebacks. I don’t want to deal with any of that!
I would set it all aside and not say anything. Wait for the buyer to contact you. If it’s a shipping mistake, the buyer will contact you soon. If the buyer is nuts, then you don’t want to poke the bear.
He definitely gets points for creativity.
He also gets a hot block, lol.
I homeschool my son in a semi-rural area. Getting out to meet people takes a concerted effort. When you go to a place like school or an office, you have a built-in social network. You see the same people day in an day out. Friendships develop over time, if for no reason other than you are used to seeing and working with each other regularly.
The most important thing I’ve learned about making friends over the last 6.5 years of homeschooling is that you have to show up to events regularly. It seems like somewhere from 3-6 meetings is the magic number for people to realize you aren’t going to flake out and they can emotionally invest in knowing you. It takes time, and honestly? It feels awkward at first, kind of like a first date. You have to make small talk, it feels artificial, ugh. But by meeting 3, a few of the regulars will remember you and by meeting 6, they’ll be saying “It’s good to see you again!” By meeting 12? You *are* a regular, lol.
It really doesn’t matter what the “meeting” is about. Pick anything that seems interesting and do it consistently for a few months. Yoga, volunteer at the library or animal shelter, join a Meetup.com group, go to game nights at comic book shops, whatever. It just takes persistence.
I once found a beautiful, mahogany Victorian vanity table in the dumpster at my apartment. I actually climbed into the dumpster to rescue it. That was almost 20 years ago, and I still have the vanity table in my hallway now.
I’ve gotten a lot of free things lately. I know someone who is about to sell their home and be a full-time RV family. They have given me books, towels, nice Crate & Barrel cloth napkins, plastic totes, games, so many things. I’m only half-way through scrubbing out the 50 plastic totes they gave me (!!!)
I’ve had a few of these. It’s not a big deal, and ebay will side with you, so don’t panic.
I haven’t had one in awhile, so my memory of how the process flows may not be 100%. But…what I’ve done in the past is reply to the buyer inside the case with: “Your item ‘Acme Widgets’ was delivered via USPS on April 1, 2019. The tracking number #12345 shows it was delivered at date/time/place. My suggestion is to check with your neighbors and other household occupants to see if one of them picked it up and forgot to tell you. Otherwise, you should contact your local post office for guidance. USPS has tracking including lat/long coordinates for where this package was left. They will be able to help you locate it”.
And that’s it. The buyer has so many days to respond. They usually drop it at that point, and then once the time has run out, you escalate the case to ebay saying that the Acme Widgets were delivered on date/time via USPS, tracking number 12345, and that since you have not heard further from the buyer, you assume they located their item, and thus would like the case closed in your favor. Then ebay closes it.
It’s worked 100% of the time for me this way.
Thanks, y’all. I have to head to Austin in a few weeks, so I may try to get an estimate on cleaning the paintings while I am there to satisfy my curiosity.
Husband and I have always joked “Ugh, when will we find expensive art for pennies at Goodwill?!” like those stories you see on Antiques Roadshow. Guess it’s finally our turn, lol.
“So tell me, where did you find these and how much did you pay for them?” “They were $5 and shoved in a box with a bunch of other random things. They were in a dirt floor barn in Where-the-Heck-is-That, Texas”.
Gotta love it.
