My family interacts with several businesses and organizations that have outsourced their decision to keep their doors open to Lincoln Public Schools. If LPS closes for foul weather, the businesses and organizations close too. It's a simple approach that saves them the headache of having to make an often difficult decision. Fair enough.
The thing is, though, that folks at many of these organizations spend a whole lot of time bitching about their policy once it goes into effect. Today is no exception. LPS cancelled classes because of the bitter cold. As a result, two businesses we were going to interact with today have been "forced" by their own policies to close as well. Both of them resent it. And they should! They've inconvenienced themselves and their customers for no good reason. Cold weather has no impact whatsoever on either of these businesses' operations or their customers' ability to arrive safely and on schedule. This isn't a snowstorm, it's an excuse to say "Sure is cold out there today!" to everyone you see today. That's hardly worth locking doors.
This isn't the first time this has happened, either. It happens every single year, sometimes multiple times depending on the type of winter we have.
I wish fewer businesses would implement the "as LPS goes, we go" policy. It's relevant for some, of course, but not for most. Critical business decisions like when you open your doors should be based on what's good for your business, not what's good for a public school system. In most cases the two have very little in common.
As I typed this, one of the businesses we work with called. They're going to open today after all. Make of that what you will.
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I am curious what kind of businesses these are, because I haven’t experienced it at all. And boy, it sure is cold out there today.
Daycares are the obvious culprit. And it’s too bad. They could make a killing on a day school is closed.
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