Pondering Pundit

During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals have been affected and it has changed the world we live in. It has changed how we interact with each other and how we do business. This pandemic has touched all our lives. Families are having to deal with the death of loved ones due to the coronavirus. Families not being able to get together for special events or holidays has put a huge strain on all our livelihood. Yet we still must carry on.

Business owners have had to make serious adjustments just to keep their doors open and some have had to close. Many jobs have been lost and many people have been left not knowing what tomorrow will bring.

I know of a few businesses right here in our town that do not know if they will be able to survive. One business owner went as far as telling me that they may close shop and move to a state that is being more proactive with reopening. This owner said that the way the governor is handling the reopening of New Mexico is killing small businesses everywhere.

The state’s unemployment rate as of December 2020, was at

8.2 percent or about 76 thousand people without a job, according to the deptofnumbers.com.

Many of those unemployed will never go back to their former jobs based on the business owners closing their doors for good and other owners finding new ways to keep their business going with fewer people.

The Cibola Citizen suffered the same fate during this pandemic. At one point the Citizen employed 12 people. Five which were full time employees, three parttime employees and four contracted employees. Now we have five employees. Two full time and three parttime. But the work must continue to move forward. Many businesses are having the same issue. Fewer workers mean more work for the employees they do still have on the payroll.

The citizens of our county have risen to the challenge and are continuing to shop locally and that is keeping many of our small family-owned businesses alive. Keep up the great work Cibola residents.

On another note, I just wanted to say that the Cibola Citizen always appreciates feedback from its readers; it only makes the paper better. Please continue to call the newspaper with your feedback or ideas. We are a small staff, and we are doing our best to get to all the news and events we can during this pandemic. I would encourage all to call me to voice your concerns or ideas for the newspaper. I can be reached at 505- 604-4347. Please leave a message if the call is not answered and I will get back to you.

Happy reading Cibola