Hi all, this tweet kind of blew up, which makes me happy that so many of you take this seriously. So many of you have been amazing with awesome offers to support our restaurants and I'm really touched by that, and you absolutely should support good local businesses. /1

https://twitter.com/sjcalgary/status/1380640932123435008

Some have asked (very politely) if I would share what businesses I am involved in so they can help. I'm truly touched by those sentiments. If you'll allow me to be long winded for a moment, I will share with you why I won't disclose that information, at least at this time. /2

As someone who runs restaurants and bars in Calgary, I hope the boycott against restaurants staying open and defying the Covid restrictions is so severe, it permanently drives them out of business. /1 My venues have worked so hard and spent thousands of $ to try and keep staff and patrons safe. We installed plexiglass, removed half our tables, purchased PPE, trained our team members on new multi-step sanitation protocols on all touch points, do daily staff health checks /2

This ALSO means these hotels are running with minimal food inventory because of suspended or reduced food operations. This means there may be less choice, and the costs of food purchases are higher because they are ordering in small quantities instead of their usual quantity. /7 These people are bitching that they're waiting several hours until until pre-set lunch or dinner time. This is because these hotels do NOT have 24 hour staff like the old days. They have team members working at key times, because they have 20 occupied rooms instead of 200. /8

I'm gonna go on a rant about these entitled pricks whining about their stays at quarantine hotels, so bear with me here.

Is it expensive to stay at a quarantine hotel? Yes. There's reasons for that. /1 First, hotels already pay exorbitant amounts for cleaning chemical. When the pandemic happened, those costs went up exponentially because government health boards (and hotel brands) required hotels use their specifically approved anti-virulent chemicals, which of course cost $ /1

Here's the thing about cutting AHS laundry services: A Thread /1 1)Firstly, parts of the job are super dangerous. These are linens that are often soiled by blood, feces and other body tissues and fluids. Complete bio hazard. Additionally, clamps, used syringes and other medical waste are accidentally left behind in linens /2

So, I have a whole bunch of thoughts about unions in a food service business. Should I share them? I'm not even sure I could organize them all. But here it goes. /1 For background, I have been in bars, restaurants hotels and consulting for many many years. (I don't want to date myself hehe). I have been employee, manager, employer, so I have seen all side of the coin. I have also been part of a union, and worked for non-union companies. /2