What’s Next?
Indivisible has some ideas. Note: Indivisible and their partners are calling for a National Day of Economic Disruption on Friday, May 1 – no work, no school, no shopping.
We at Card Campaign are aware not everyone can take part. Some people can’t afford to miss work. Some people, like medical staff and first responders, can’t decide not to show up at work. And some small businesses need to stay open just to survive. Some students will be in the middle of final exams and must go to school. I’m sure there are other situations where people will need to show up.
But, for those of us who can take part, now is the time to start preparing.
Think about what you might need and buy a little extra each time you go out in the next month, or do your online shopping in little bits.
- Think about whether you can close your small business and “take a day off,” then plan how to manage that.
- Think about if your prescriptions can be renewed early, or if you have enough to carry you into the next week.
- Think about downloading audio books or podcasts so you don’t have to use streaming services that day.
If you can, do your banking and pay your bills a few days in advance – and get some cash so if you do have to go out you can avoid using your credit cards. (Disrupting banks and reducing the fees they collect is also important.)
And, if you must shop, go to local small businesses.
If this day of disruption is to work, we can’t run out and buy everything or take care of business on Thursday or wait until Saturday – or even the week before or after. That gives an artificial economic bump that makes the Friday boycott relatively meaningless.
Yes, I’ll be taking part in this boycott. I just need to move a wellness doctor’s appointment, then I’ll plan to stay home and work on the card we’ll publish sometime in May – or get a start on cleaning out stuff I have stored in my garage. Hope some of you will mark your calendars and join me!
–Leslie
