What a world these days!

I'm in rural Ontario, Canada and my family owns a restaurant. Times are tough-- take out only, most staff laid off, traffic down significantly-- and the mainstream news sources seem to want us convinced that they will only get more difficult before any of this begins to subside.

Maybe this is true, but the lack of hopefulness from those we turn to for updates is disappointing (to say the least)! We need to hear about real progress and possible solutions, not minute-by-minute doomsday reports.

And then I hear rumblings of the big social media outlets censoring the bulk of all corona-related posts. I can't confirm if this is in fact the case, but I can say I wouldn't be shocked... that would be par for the recent course.

In the midst of it all, I'm so glad I have a few forums where people are allowed to share some REAL TALK. There are two in particular that I love-- Publish0x being one of them-- and one more that I am assessing right now. We need to use these places to make some real strides toward understanding what's really going on!

READ.CASH is the other one-- much like Publish0x: open and uncensored-- and it uses Bitcoin Cash as its currency. You can give and receive tips for content you appreciate. You can use my referral link to get started... it's appreciated now more than ever.

So let's use them! They are both wonderful places to post REAL updates from around the world, and we can help support each other during this extraordinary crisis. 

A Real Update From My Neighbourhood

Here in Canada, we're being told that we will be able to defer mortgage and loan payments and that the BDC has been given money for small business emergency loans and relief. I called them, as we have both a loan and a mortgage through the BDC, and they are not deferring ANY interest payments at all on those mortgages and loans... and they have no current directives to loan out money. What's more: they will be loaning out this money WITH INTEREST. 

So my takeaway from this interaction is that the BDC is refusing to lose any profit whatsoever during this crisis, and that their small business clients will foot the bill both now and later. We also haven't heard from any of our service providers (like propane, electricity, etc.) about relief or payment deferrals... so it feels a lot like small businesses will get close to ZERO help during this time.

Needless to say, it is absolutely imperative that we all support the small local businesses around us! The "help" being promised may fall short of expectations, and the big players will be fine... so let's help each other. 

I'm hoping things change in a big way-- both in terms of the virus itself being eradicated, and our governments offering a real helping hand to families and small businesses. I work closely with the CFIB as well, and my local contact is telling me that all the discussions I'm having now will be entirely different come this time next week. So we wait...

But we CAN talk to each other! Let's use these new and exciting platforms-- both Publish0x and READ.CASH-- to keep each other informed and inspired. Let's push through this mess together, shall we?

Note: when I have completed my assessment of the other forum I'm using, I'll do another post and include that link... as well as another update about the business climate in Ontario, Canada.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope everyone is doing well. Take care of yourselves, your families and your communities.