4/5 street protests interrupting shop visits!
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I was out in the boonies stickering garbage disposals.
There was one guy with a placard on a street corner.
I gave him a honk and a thumbs up.
There was one guy with a placard on a street corner.
I gave him a honk and a thumbs up.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
It did affect my travel time. I drive through our downtown to avoid a toll bridge to travel to the neighboring state for bonused shops. Saturday is usually smooth sailing, but yesterday was a slow go.
Had to laugh at this snippet from one of the news clips regarding yesterday’s protests:
"Our founders wrote a Constitution that did not begin with 'We the dictators,'" Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told the crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where organizers said over 100,000 people gathered.
"Our founders wrote a Constitution that did not begin with 'We the dictators,'" Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told the crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where organizers said over 100,000 people gathered.
Paid protesters probably…they probably make more protesting than mystery shopping.lol
I'm sure any reasonable scheduler will let you reschedule a shop if it coincided with a major traffic issue, whether it be a large protest, a sports championship celebration, or some emergency construction that would dramatically impact travel time. I shop a major urban area where all these things happen and try to pay attention to them but sometimes I screw up -- for example, I checked the schedule of a Major League Baseball team to avoid shopping near a home game, but then it turned out there was a concert that night, which didn't show up on the team's schedule.
If someone is so delusional as to think that all of those protesters were paid it probably means that their news source never mentioned these widely publicized protests. This is an example of how limiting your news source to your own bubble can be harmful to your business.
If someone is so delusional as to think that all of those protesters were paid it probably means that their news source never mentioned these widely publicized protests. This is an example of how limiting your news source to your own bubble can be harmful to your business.
@OldmanJames wrote:
Paid protesters probably…they probably make more protesting than mystery shopping.lol
I was there, in the thick of it. If we were getting paid, I'm still waiting for my check.
...or does George Soros pay by PayPal??
Your tinfoil hat is a bit crooked, OldmanJames.
Doing assignments since the days when reports were handwritten and faxed to the MSC.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2025 01:26PM by Sagacious.
Just curious- what were you protesting about?
Better than paid voters, I guess ...@OldmanJames wrote:
Paid protesters probably…they probably make more protesting than mystery shopping.lol
Every accusation is a confession.
Oldman James seems to have been cracking a joke- sad that all of you took him so seriously
I couldn't finish mine but for a different reason - Univ. of Florida revelers blocking the streets and celebrating.
MSC said "ok"
MSC said "ok"
Fatlady - online posts are one dimensional, without tone or body language, jokes are notoriously difficult to discern (similar to sarcasm lol)
So best to move along if not sure either way.
So best to move along if not sure either way.
No worries - with the recession looming and mass unemployment following, there will be so many new MSers that you won't have a chance to make a route.
@Fatlady wrote:
Just curious- what were you protesting about?
If you have to ask, you're not paying attention.
Doing assignments since the days when reports were handwritten and faxed to the MSC.
Do you hear that noise? money being sucked out of the economy lol omg.
@MMMM wrote:
No worries - with the recession looming and mass unemployment following, there will be so many new MSers that you won't have a chance to make a route.
They will all sign up to get paid to protest.
All I can say is pay attention to what is currently happening.
April 19 is supposed to be another similar day of protest.
And, considering the country's financial and political climate, these protests are undoubtedly going to continue.
Pay attention and reconsider your route.
April 19 is supposed to be another similar day of protest.
And, considering the country's financial and political climate, these protests are undoubtedly going to continue.
Pay attention and reconsider your route.
Isn't this how protesters get paid? We take shops near the protest! (That is humor for anything thinking otherwise)
And anyone planning to drive into a metropolitan area during a protest is not thinking rationally. Since I live near downtown, I had friend call me last Saturday and ask if could recommend a parking location in downtown for them to attend the rally. I sent them to the easily accessible parking lot outside the Metro station 20 miles away and told them to take the train in.
Same advice goes to shoppers.
And anyone planning to drive into a metropolitan area during a protest is not thinking rationally. Since I live near downtown, I had friend call me last Saturday and ask if could recommend a parking location in downtown for them to attend the rally. I sent them to the easily accessible parking lot outside the Metro station 20 miles away and told them to take the train in.
Same advice goes to shoppers.
This year and the past couple of years, I have lived under a rock during March Madness! I wasn't much of a college fan, but NIL and transfer portal has made it harder to follow and less interesting.@BarefootBliss wrote:
I couldn't finish mine but for a different reason - Univ. of Florida revelers blocking the streets and celebrating.
MSC said "ok"
I was at the last protest. In spite of the $100 million I've read that I was paid, I'm still working my full-time AND part-time jobs, AND doing mystery shopping. I'm just a giver like that.
On a more serious note, I've let schedulers know when there were events happening that would impact mystery shops and asked to reschedule. Only twice was I denied. Once when I asked to reschedule during an ice storm and the scheduler berated me for not being willing to drive ten miles over hilly roads in the ice (I stopped doing shops for that company), and once when I asked to reschedule because it was basically impossible to do that day when I arrived (it was a retail shop at a mall, and some famous people were going to be there - I did not know before arriving - and the place was packed wall to wall - there was no way to do the shop with fidelity to the guidelines). I was told to just do the best I could, and I did, describing what happened, and it was denied because I wasn't willing to wait over an hour to fake try on a piece of clothing for $15. Shrug
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2025 09:06PM by mysterioso412.
On a more serious note, I've let schedulers know when there were events happening that would impact mystery shops and asked to reschedule. Only twice was I denied. Once when I asked to reschedule during an ice storm and the scheduler berated me for not being willing to drive ten miles over hilly roads in the ice (I stopped doing shops for that company), and once when I asked to reschedule because it was basically impossible to do that day when I arrived (it was a retail shop at a mall, and some famous people were going to be there - I did not know before arriving - and the place was packed wall to wall - there was no way to do the shop with fidelity to the guidelines). I was told to just do the best I could, and I did, describing what happened, and it was denied because I wasn't willing to wait over an hour to fake try on a piece of clothing for $15. Shrug
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2025 09:06PM by mysterioso412.
Last summer the staff at a hotel whose valet service I routinely shop went on a strike that was heavily publicized in the local media. Happily it was settled long before the shop deadline. Even though the valet service itself was not part of the strike, it would have certainly disrupted operations, plus if I had ended up on the news appearing to cross a picket line it would have probably doomed my relationship with my most important non-MS client as all of my direct contacts there are very active union members/leaders.
@OldmanJames wrote:
Paid protesters probably…they probably make more protesting than mystery shopping.lol
Nonsense. Patriotic Americans.
I guess a woman laughing the *wrong* way is a problem for some "manly" (ROFL) men.
The good news is they didn't ransack the Capitol or kill any cops, so there's that.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2025 07:52PM by KokoBWare.
The good news is they didn't ransack the Capitol or kill any cops, so there's that.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2025 07:52PM by KokoBWare.
i think another one was left out:
They didn't incite an insurrection against the US Government.
"Little" things like that used to be considered serious....oh and using private email for government communications.
Funny how that works. FFS.
They didn't incite an insurrection against the US Government.
"Little" things like that used to be considered serious....oh and using private email for government communications.
Funny how that works. FFS.
Bloomberg business channel is reporting that the US tourism industry is predicting billions of dollars in losses due to foreign tourists changing their travel plans.
The US hospitality industry in general will suffer when the recessionary pressures hit....so I expect MSing will slow, perhaps similar to COVID.
The US hospitality industry in general will suffer when the recessionary pressures hit....so I expect MSing will slow, perhaps similar to COVID.
@Sagacious wrote:
@Fatlady wrote:
Just curious- what were you protesting about?
If you have to ask, you're not paying attention.
RIGHT!!!!
Just honked and waved in my metro. No slowdowns or delays.
Not surprised to see the lack of respect from a particular side both in person and on this forum.
Not surprised to see the lack of respect from a particular side both in person and on this forum.
@BarefootBliss wrote:
Bloomberg business channel is reporting that the US tourism industry is predicting billions of dollars in losses due to foreign tourists changing their travel plans.
The US hospitality industry in general will suffer when the recessionary pressures hit....so I expect MSing will slow, perhaps similar to COVID.
Absolutely. I personally know people in Canada who generally come to Michigan to visit family who will not be doing so this year as the father is a professor at a university, and their government has advised against anyone who works in academia from traveling to the US. And, just anecdotally from the news, the number of people who are canceling is huge. Hell, I usually travel for a little bit each summer, and I'm canceling my plans because I'm not going anywhere near TSA in the current environment (teacher, work with refugee/immigrant students). I was keeping my eye out for the release of hotel shops on Coylle for when I'd be traveling (they always have hotel shops where I was going), but traveling isn't worth the risk,, and who knows if these shops will even exist in three months.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2025 11:27AM by mysterioso412.
mysterioso, your comments remind me of the stories related to Germany in the last century.
SMH. JFC.
SMH. JFC.
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