By Nancy McGuire
The dictators of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran have no understanding of the American economy and the power of free, creative, inventive and innovative people.
There is huge fallout from this government-mandated shutdown, but the small business owners of our Main Streets are resilient.
Many businesses are shuttered, but others are powering through. As the warmth of spring fills the streets, I have found commerce happening all around Fairfield County. I picked up a meal from a restaurant, ordered ahead for bread from a local bakery to be picked up. I had an iced coffee from the café across the street and took a yoga class from the local studio right from my living room.
As an avid biker, I was worried that the entire weekend would be ruined by an out-of-balanced tire, but the local bike shop had opened for limited hours, blocking their door with a huge box and taking orders from the street. The fish store across the avenue took the same idea with an open door, blocked for takeout only. The attendant at the gas station cleaned his hands with sanitizer before taking my credit card, which I handed to him in an alcohol-laced wipe. People are 10 feet from each other, but they are kind and hopeful. Doors, cards and bags are handled with plastic gloves or sanitary wipes.
Nancy McGuire is a small business owner and the chairman of the Wall Street Neighborhood Association in Norwalk, Connecticut.
