LA Bureaucrats Act Fast To Corner The Market On Dumb
Just when you thought LA bureaucrats couldn't get dumber, couldn't act more counterproductively, there's this. Stores are crowded. Old people (especially) probably feel good going to restaurant they've patronized where they're well-treated to get groceries.
Nope. GO HOME, GRANDPA!
Oh, and restaurant desperately working to retool to stay in business, keep employees paid...well, fuck you, bros! Love, LA bureaucrats.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are dealing with all sorts of "new normals."
The story on the restaurant thing comes from Billy Binion at Reason:
A few Los Angeles restaurants struggling to maintain footing amid the COVID-19 outbreak identified a clever way to generate revenue while still serving the community: Start selling groceries.The city's public health department promptly shut them down. The reason? The small businesses don't have a "grocery permit."
"It's not really possible for a restaurant to become a grocery store," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of Los Angeles County Public Health, said in a briefing yesterday. "You cannot just decide you want to sell groceries."
Why anyone can't do exactly that--exchange goods with those who want to purchase them--remains a mystery. Such licensing laws are typically put in place in the name of public safety, but one wonders how this decision could possibly help protect the public.
The restaurants-turned-grocery stores actually provide a rather obvious public health benefit. They are significantly less crowded than traditional grocery stores, which is convenient when considering that every major health organization has advised individuals to maintain a six-foot distance from surrounding passersby.
"Elderly people in the neighborhood really enjoy coming to Bacari PDR," says Robert Kronfli, the co-owner of one such restaurant-turned-grocery store. Foremost, "it was a super chill shopping environment," he says, with "only one or two people in there at once." Contrast that with the major chains, which have been overwhelmed with an onslaught of patrons. "They're afraid to go to large supermarkets right now because of the lines and because of the social distancing thing."
A local health inspector shuttered Bacari on Friday morning, citing the establishment's lack of a license.
What does Bacari have? Well, just " toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies--the very items that notoriously disappeared from shelves weeks ago when fears started to spread around COVID-19." And produce.
I guess it's better to let it rot, rather than letting grownass adults make choices about where they shop and who they trade money for goods with.
LA TO ENTPREPRENEURS: "DROP DEAD!"
How hard would it be to issue an emergency grocery permit? There are emergency orders telling us where we can be and such...
NicoleK at March 31, 2020 10:58 PM
If they're worried about food spoilage and such, emergency grocery permits could cover shelf-stable goods.
NicoleK at March 31, 2020 10:59 PM
An alternative might be to back off the idiot regulations and let these experienced (restaurant) food-handlers sell food, and then when someone gets a tummy ache, let the usual torts people sort it out. You'd still see an enormous improvement in broader well-being.
I love being libertarian, because it doesn't require the approval, or even the company, of other libertarians.
Crid at March 31, 2020 11:24 PM
Restaurants here in Charlotte are doing that and, thus far, seem to be having no issues with the government about it.
The restaurant could simply claim it's selling its offerings extremely rare or that they've joined the raw food movement.
I'm willing to bet the big grocery players complained to their pet legislators/regulators.
Conan the Grammarian at April 1, 2020 6:43 AM
L.A. County is now allowing grocery sales at restaurants. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/l-a-restaurants-allowed-to-sell-grocery-items/
Poppy at April 1, 2020 7:10 AM
> I'm willing to bet the big grocery
> players complained to their pet>
> legislators/regulators.
>
> Conan the Grammarian at
> April 1, 2020 6:43 AM
✔!
Crid at April 1, 2020 8:26 AM
How hard would it be to issue an emergency grocery permit?
Not very. But that's not on the radar of the bureaucrats because it aims a big, honkin' spot light on rules/regulations/laws that are unnecessary to the functioning of society. Because if they were necessary, they wouldn't be suspendable.
Can't have the pee-ons questioning muh authoritay!
https://youtu.be/4rHuinnfVJo
I R A Darth Aggie at April 1, 2020 9:04 AM
Locally, our Jason's Deli (a 29 state chain) is selling cheese, meats and bread.
So far as I know, no one has complained. And if you think a rule or regulation is stupid, then as Conan suggests, think about who benefits from the barrier to entry.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 1, 2020 9:18 AM
In Texas, Gov. Abbott made a special provision allowing restaurants to sell groceries. I suppose this was so that city/county bureaucrats (and maybe state agency bureaucrats) can't meddle. A lot of places are selling "grocery packs" with produce, meat, bread, and toilet paper.
ahw at April 1, 2020 10:51 AM
> Locally, our Jason's Deli (a 29
> state chain) is selling cheese,
> meats and bread.
Would guess the prices are a little chubby...
Crid at April 1, 2020 10:06 PM
Lol almost every restaurant in TX is selling groceries from their suppliers, in addition to take out food.
We need a wall between TX and Cali. Too much of that stupidity is tagging along with the people fleeing that insanity. We don't want it, here.
Momof4 at April 2, 2020 7:11 AM
This is a terrific opportunity for the power freaks in government.
Bet they go home giggling.
Richard Aubrey at April 2, 2020 4:21 PM
> We don't want it, here.
You need us. We're good with commas.
Crid at April 5, 2020 9:12 AM
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