| Covid-19: How can we be helpful to others?
We've had some healthy and heated discussions about COVID-19.
In the midst of those conversations, I noticed that a number of people were contributing in ways that I don't think I can do. But there are also small but significant things that can be done to make things better.
I thought it'll be great if BHPians can share their experience and suggestions.
I'm starting off the thread with things that I do. I don't live in India so some may not be relevant in India considering the circumstances.
1. Buy local.: If possible support businesses in your immediate neighbourhood/community/friends/family by using their services or buying their products.
2. Offer a tip: Support restaurants/cafes, delivery folks with a tip if possible. It's very small but makes a big difference for them. Some aggregator Apps match our tips. 100% of tips go to them.
3. Support your or your Children's extra-curricular class/tuition/lesson/gym providers if they move to an online platform.: Some of my daughter's classes have moved over to Zoom or Vimeo Pay video types. A friend's Gym personal trainer is also doing something similar. It's absolutely not the same as in-person lessons but the online lessons and the revenue helps them to pay the instructors. Of course, this is based on one's financial situation.
4. Provide technology support.: Support friends/family/teachers with technical assistance. Things such as e-mail, video conferencing, screen-sharing, Facetiming, Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote etc.), Trello etc. could be easy for most of the folks working in Technology. Introduce such things to others and help troubleshoot issues for them. Just letting the class teacher know that they can contact us if in case of tech issues make them feel less stressful.
5. Fact check news and help stop the spread of misinformation.: This has the side effect of burning bridges and breaking relationships but worth it in my opinion. Since I live far away from my parents I take it as my responsibility to keep their sanity intact in the flood of WhatsApp messages.
6. Don't wipe out the last item from the store shelf if possible.: If you are looking at the last loaf of bread and you have already had one in your cart, then perhaps you can try and leave it for the next person. This is especially important for food items that are for people with dietary allergies. I personally know the difficulty in sourcing gluten-free products.
7. Make audio/video calls to friends/family that you haven't spoken in a while: This is especially true for expats. In my circle, there are a number of parents living in India whose children have settled abroad. They love it when people call to check on them.
8. Online social meetings: This may not be common in India but we have Friday online socialising with our office mates. This helps to unwind and stay connected as well.
9. Pay domestic helpers their salary if full or part if possible.: My parents have requested their domestic worker to not to come but continue to pay their salary and also wrote off their old debts.
10. Pause digital subscriptions if you don't need them right now at the same level as earlier.: Amazon Audible has the option to pause subscriptions for 3 months once a year. I did that. I still have access to my existing library and credits. I can use that money for something else.
11. Engage children in household work.: Use this time to let children/teens take care of their own stuff at home. They need life lessons and what a great time it is for that! Introduce them to cleaning, cooking, laundry etc. They'll thank you later when they grow-up. You can pay them pocket money in-turn.
Stay safe!
Last edited by Eddy : 2nd May 2020 at 19:14.
Reason: Rule 11
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2nd May 2020, 16:25
(9)
Thanks
