One of the solutions Portland businesses found in an attempt to drum up business and recoup lost earnings during this Covid challenge was to open up outside service locations. If your business has parking spots in front of your business then you can convert them to a dining area provided you block the area off and build a semi enclosed (but open) area for seating and serving customers. See the various pictures in this article to see what I mean. I think its great people are being creative and thinking outside the box. Portland is known for it’s progressive ways and this shows another way Portlanders are weird or can find unique solutions to existing problems.

But am I the only one who sees the one big glaring issue? Most noticeably a drunk, out of control, or accidental car accident occurring involving those spaces. I don’t know why my mind tends to reach the dark corners of the world but when I saw that all I saw was a future accident waiting to happen and hoping the injuries are not too serious. I guarantee you the first time this happens, that whole ‘plan’ will be shot down. I’m not sure where I stand. Just to say I don’t like it is a personal and somewhat selfish view of the situation. I mean businesses are hurting, and someone running a car through parking spots where people are eating surely has to be the critical thoughts of paranoiac but more important maybe getting old, as in getting on in physical years. Be that as it may, I just wanted to air my 2 cents on this. The other thing is summertime coming and it’s really going to be nice for the businesses as well their patrons to have that additional outside, what’s sure to be premier seating. I’ll probably be a patron sometime this summer and will enjoy the ambiance of it all, but I’ll be staying sober and watching traffic. 😉

This business has done something particularly unique. You see those little enclosed shelters. Those are surrounded by this opaque (that means you can’t see through it) plastic structure. I’m sure it’s great. Nobody can see in and to be afforded this level of privacy while out eating at your favorite dining establishment surely puts you in a class all by yourself. However, if no one can see in, that means you can’t see out. So you won’t see that car when it comes careening… No, No, that’s not going to happen. This just poses too much of a hazard to me and I won’t take advantage of such seating should it become available to me for whatever reason. Additionally, it’s only about 5 feet high at the peak of the roof so you can’t comfortably stand inside unless your a child or unnaturally short.

All right, that will do it for this opinion piece blog site filler information extraordinaire by yours truly.