What world are we living in that some asshole puts garbage in your driveway, and you ask if YOU are ALLOWED to get rid of it.

I'd set the fucking things on fire.

FUCK THEM.

They stayed open in the past, not for the business, but more for the need to do various operations when there are no or few customers around: cleaning, accounting, prep work, inventory, stocking, repairs, etc… Over the last twenty years, everything has gotten more efficient, and these operations can be forced into "late" night (after 8pm) or early morning (about 5 to 7 am). No need to keep the place open all night any longer. This was all happening slowly prior to COVID.

They used COVID as an excuse to do what they had been wanting to do for decades. And it was at a time when there was MORE of a demand for 24/7 hours. We NEEDED businesses to stay open to spread out shopping hours, and they did the opposite to condense (pack in, literally, physically CLOSER together) people at the worst possible time. Classic Shock Doctrine.

Even during the day the third places that used to be constructed to foster interaction between strangers and community building are being re-designed to shortcut every interaction into a financial exchange.

In this specific instance (24 hour businesses), there were dozens of them in Pittsburgh in the eighties and nineties (and before, serving swing shift steel workers, etc, for real, they actually made steel). The specific case of coffee shops and diners had about eight of them open all night in the nineties. You could truly sit there all night doing your homework, etc... Starbucks killed coffee shops. And the result is still visible today. You cannot interact with strangers at a Starbucks. They have redesigned the coffee business into a fast food model. You go in, order, and GTFO. There may be two or three tables, but people arrive at 6 am and "camp" the tables and guard them jealously. And they are there for the Wifi, not for Magic, the Gathering, or Parcheesi or organizing a community garden. This is during the day.

Like times 10.

NAIL ON THE HEAD.

They are sticking their grimy little tentacles into every aspect of human existence.

Hope you like paying to breathe. That's next.

Yay. We're better slaves.

Businesses that were open late were keeping those hours to do cleaning, prep, stocking, repair, accounting, and a variety of other tasks during off hours to avoid doing the tasks during the day. Over the last twenty years, everything has gotten more efficient. All the equipment is better, all the information systems are better, fewer suppliers do night runs, etc… So there has been a massive cascade that killed all night time operations across the board. NO ONE does anything at night any longer, and the few places that do — factories and infrastructure, have internalized their coffee, snack, and lunch capabilities. No one is out at night any longer. This was happening progressively before COVID and it's been a steep dropoff during COVID. Now it's happening EVEN FASTER because the very few businesses open late at night (who the hell wants to go to a Sheetz!?) now attract homeless (on the increase due to illegal Real Estate cartels) only, so staying open late is in no way worth it.

I work in the service industry and typically people tip 1000% - %50,000. So if a bill is for $30, a typical customer will tip $300 to $15,000. But that's just a minimum. If someone is really generous, and a kindhearted, good person, they would tip from $20,000 to $50,000,000 for a $30 service.

Sophie Masloff and Myron Cope were the same person.