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SF Diners Cancel Due to COVID For The Win
Pandemics are no time for gourmets
Be patient.
From the Spanish Flu in the early 20th century to the more recent COVID-19, SF diners and restaurateurs alike have loathed accepting those two words.
During the Spanish Flu, the first wave did not cause as many deaths as it might have because the city locked down, quarantined sailors, and did the same with soldiers.
Casualties were low, so an overconfident SF lifted precautions too soon.
SF diners finally seem to understand that they can’t eat out if they are infected.
Magical Thinking About Masks
The second wave of the Spanish Flu had business owners thinking they were too cautious the first time around.
They made the same mistake everyone seems to make when dealing with infectious contagions that kill. The disconnect seems to run something like this:
- Quarantines, lockdowns, and other non-pharmaceutical interventions have a definite cost but an invisible reward.
- If there is no massive casualty account, it seems like you did an expensive intervention for no good reason — you spent money you could have made because you were too overcautious.
