After doing my first assignment on my father’s local business, I wanted to expand into the other local businesses in town to see how they’ve fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of focusing on businesses that have perhaps re-opened in the past few months, I was interested in doing my radio story on a local laundromat/cafe that has managed to operate successfully throughout quarantine and was quick to adhere to safety protocols where plenty of other businesses, even upon re-opening, have made it clear through signs on their doors that mask-wearing to is a question of personal choice and not a public safety requirement.
I want to interview the owner of the laundromat, who fell ill in keeping the business running but who runs it now with his sons and with the help of some friends in the community. The laundromat is quite old fashioned, with no drop-off service, and has still thrived given the circumstances and I think I can get a good description of the place for my script, good background noise, and decent soundbites from the interviewees (owners, family, customers?). I want to see if I can get some information on another local Laundromat that perhaps doesn’t require mask-wearing, and what that might tell us about the health concerns people should have about the businesses they rely on for maintaining personal hygiene, especially now during a pandemic.