Well, as this virus has been spreading around from place to place around the world, we are all starting to see the effects throughout the population. There are conspiracy theories everywhere, and every second feels as if social media is about to explode. But, as all things go, things keep on keeping on, and life goes on in a lot of ways. One of the most important things for people who are living behind quarantine is that they are able to find some sort of distraction while they’re chilling out.
In this way, video games really are a sort of vital service or product given to millions of people all across the planet. Nevertheless, it was with some surprise we found out that GameStop has told all of its employees that it considers itself an essential service, and therefore, they ought to continue going to work despite any order given to shelter in place. This is absolutely wild, and it begs the question: Is GameStop an essential service?
“Due to the products we carry that enable and enhance our customers’ experience in working from home, we believe GameStop is classified as essential retail and therefore is able to remain open during this time,” GameStop revealed in an internal memo distributed among employees and later obtained by some reporters over at Kotaku. That’s absolutely nuts.
In some ways, gamers all over the world are super excited to hear such news. This totally means we will be able to go out and grab those games we really need to get when we realize that we are totally and completely bored at home during our quarantine period.
However, on the other hand, one has to really consider the facts here. Is this really an essential service? Is GameStop needlessly putting its employees at risk here for no real reason? These are questions we should continue to ask ourselves as we sit around contemplating the way the world is and how everything is going to big old crap.
In other news, we need to protect our essential service workers like those who are doing healthcare stuff, grocery workers, and big-time truckers who are bringing us the food and all of that stuff. This is a super important stuff that is designed to keep us alive and kicking. Maybe it is worthwhile to include the people who are working over at GameStop in that category too. Who knows?
