ANOTHER CASUALTY OF COVID-19: DRY CLEANING PROFESSION

THE Covid-19 pandemic has had some unexpected side-effects, not all related to health. I recently read a story in a British newspaper that claimed more than 2 000 dry cleaning businesses had gone out of business across the UK in the past year. The pandemic has changed the lifestyles of millions of people and dry cleaning just isn’t a part of the regular routine any more.

Until the pandemic struck millions of men worked in offices in the city, dressing up in suits every day and travelling to work by bus or train. It was a regular chore to drop off last week’s suit at the cleaner’s and collect it a day or so later.

Today, many people are working from home, on line and probably wearing a tracksuit or pyjamas as their work uniform. Nobody sends a pair of pyjamas to the dry cleaners. When the pandemic struck, the British authorities ruled that dry cleaners provided an “essential service” and they were granted special exemption from the lockdown laws.

But it soon became apparent that very few people needed those services any more and one by one the businesses were forced to close their doors. Here in South Africa we’ve always had a less formal attitude to office dress codes, but I’ve noticed the professional people I deal with tend to wear very casual clothes to work.

I wonder whether many of our dry cleaners have gone out of business for Covid reasons. When I was a lot younger a visit to the bank manager was a major event. I remember my father putting on his best suit and having his shoes specially shined for his annual visit to the bank manager. It was a nervous occasion.

I don’t even know whether my local bank even has a manager any more. Whenever I’ve needed banking assistance I’ve chatted to a “financial adviser” who certainly didn’t wear a suit. Neither did I.

With more and more people working from home these days, maybe dry cleaners could switch their business to cleaning customers’ homes instead of their clothes. If you sit in your favourite armchair while running your insurance business, you’re going to need to have it cleaned sooner or later.

Last Laugh

A man met his lawyer in the street and in the course of their conversation he asked her a legal question. To his astonishment he received a bill for the “consultation” a few days later. A few days later he passed her on the street and said politely, “good morning, but I’m telling you, not asking you”.