Take an hour off at 2-3pm in any major US city and look at how many people are just milling about. Mostly shopping. There are a lot of people in the US that are not working.

Pre-2008 retail was quiet in the middle of the day, now it booms. I can’t comment on if this is a good or bad thing, but I am surprised at how many people are causally walking their dog as I am rushing to compete an essential errand and get back to work.

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jjulius 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Asking because I'm genuinely curious myself, how much of this is unemployment vs the fact that so many more people work from home now compared to pre-2008? Many of those that WFH work a more flexible schedule and probably structure their days a lot differently than 20+ years ago.

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zerr 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, remote and part-time. Shopping on Monday afternoons is enjoyable.

	▲	ahnick 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Been remote since 2013 and can confirm Monday afternoon shopping is the alpha. ;-)

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stevenwoo 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I used to encounter maybe one person who did not have a head of gray hair, i.e. obviously retired, in a variety of mid peninsula parks in Silicon Valley on weekdays pre covid during the work day and nowadays I run into a dozen or more in a typical half day outing on a week day and this trend definitely started during pandemic. But I don’t know if it’s unemployment or WFH now.

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giobox 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think this is going to be a much more common sight in most major western economies - many of them have a rapidly growing aged retired population and a declining young working segment etc.

The effects of this change are definitely being felt, good and bad, in many countries already.

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lynndotpy 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I wonder what degree to which the shopping is inspired by a mixture of

- People anticipating high interest and price hikes in a world where many products are very-slowly-depreciating assets, in the case of game consoles and RAM, even appreciating, and

- A low current of suicidality, with an ambivalent regard towards the prospect of death once the account reaches $0.

- Alternatively, unemployed people in our field often find themselves free from a noncompete to work on profitable projects during unemployment.

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echelon 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I get my errands done at 12 - 3ish.

I work 8 AM - noon, 3 PM - 2 AM. (Exact ranges vary.)

I don't have an office and I've never met most of my coworkers.

I'm exceedingly angry that restaurants and stores are no longer open until midnight. I used to do 11 PM Target shopping, 2 AM Walmart shopping, etc. Nothing is open late anymore, and it sucks.

	▲	klipklop 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		100% agree that places close too early for folks that work into the evening.
	▲	escapecharacter 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		When I worked at Meta, in the NYC office, any time I had 2-3 hours midday without meetings, I'd use it for errands.

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shimman 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

You realize not everyone works a normal 9 to 5 right, you honestly think every person shopping are unemployed? Are tech workers this deeply out of touch with normal people?

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doubled112 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think a lot of people forget this. Similar to how the retired/disabled people in my life forget how busy life with a job can be.

At the gas stations I worked at, the shifts were 7AM-3PM, 3PM-11PM, and 11PM-7AM.

I used to do a lot of things at abnormal times. What does a quick beer after work look like when you're done at 7AM?

I also don't know many unemployed people cruising around malls looking for ways to spend money.

	▲	laughing_man 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Heh. I had a manual labor job once where I got off work at 4:00. A quick beer after work becomes "I hope I still have beer in the fridge", since in California you can't buy one until 6:00.
	▲	klipklop 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I didn’t forget this. I worked for pennies in retail longer than I ever did anything else. I see a clear change over the past few decades.

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tzs 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I don't think they implied that. They just noticed what they say is a large increase in 9 to 5 shopping compared to pre-2008 and are speculating that this increase is because more people now are out of the labor force.