CAN WE AUDIOPHILES DO OUR PART?


So we're all tired of hearing about nothing but Covid-19 (or, as I term it, the C-Plague). What can we do, as audiophiles, to help with all this.
I was amazed, and delighted, when I went to the Cardas website to see that they are doing their part. Go to their website and you'll see their director, Angela Cardas, wearing a mask. If you click on the Cardas Nautilus logo in the upper left corner, you'll see pictures of people there in the factory making masks with sewing machines. I called the company to congratulate them, and spoke with a woman named Darla, who said it was their way, during this economic slump, to keep their employees working and also their way of trying to "do our part."
I'm not writing all this to advertise Cardas products. They are a very good company, but trust your ears, not anything I write, when it comes to buying their products. They do get credit, however, for helping me come to a realization that pushed me in the right direction. I called a woman I am friends with, who is 85 years old and is a good seamstress, to suggest she start making masks. She already was--and is. By phone she has organized several other women to do the same, and right now they are needing more material and elastic. I managed to gather about 50 pounds of material and am starting to gather elastic while also getting more material. But I don't sew. I can't help out with that. Any ideas as to what we--all of us who are good with our ears and focused with our budgets--can do to help out in other ways?

I realize this is an odd topic to bring to an audio forum, but it was a very socially responsible audio company that got me to thinking about it, and frankly I believe I should be socially responsible enough to do what I can to get other people to thinking about it. While also being open to other people's ideas about ways someone like me who is "just an audiophile" can help.

Thank you, in advance, for any and all ideas on this.



baumli

Showing 1 response by bkeske

I’m with MC and n80 on this one.

As a sole proprietor business, most my projects/clients have been put on hold as people become fearful from the start. One was a Doctor who has suffered significantly as only 15% of his patients were classified as ‘essential’ service. I was fine with this when we didn’t know exactly what we may be dealing with, but we have a better idea now. We have done a damn good job, flattened the ‘curve’, and many parts of the country never became NYC as initially feared, and seemingly never will. As has been said, at this point some of these shut-downs and restrictions are doing more harm than good, and oddly enough, even the health sector is hurting overall, with no patients to serve and empty hospitals.

But what is more harmful is the continual fear put into the vast majority of the population, which at this point, seems largely unfounded, as smart rational protection measures can be put into place to reduce risk. And many have been and have become accepted.

I don’t get unemployment when I don’t have clients, and haven’t gotten help from any government entities in regards to my business as I have no employees, and right now, I don’t see any coming. My only hope is the return of clients who become not overly fearful to move forward and reconsider the services I provide. 3-4 months ago, this was not an issue. I’m certainly not alone.

I’m more than willing to be smart and take precautions as we move forward. But we most move forward. There is always risk to get up in the morning and go throughout our days. We are big boys and girls, we understand the risks, always have, and do what is required to reduce it. Thank goodness we seem to be slowly getting back to work, but after 3 months with little income, it would be silly to think many can do this for another 5-6 months. We will destroy many peoples lives, already have, and there is not enough government money to ‘fix it’. At that point, we will have bigger problems than we can imagine.