Page 11 - June Hernando 2020 Senior Voice
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Senior Voice of Hernando County • JUNE 2020 • 11
        2 0 2 0  Dis as t e r                                                                               Geor        ge Carlin
                                                                                                            George Carlin

                                                                                                            Humor
        Pr e pa r e d ne s s                                                                                Humor



        S a le s  Ta x  Ho lid ay                                                   •  One good reason to only maintain a small circle of

                                                                                       friends is that three out of four murders are committed
        The 2020 Disaster Prepared-          qualifying items.  Additional-            by people who know the victim.
        ness Sales Tax Holiday was           ly, the sales tax holiday does         •  Whenever you see the word “cuisine” used instead
        passed by the Florida Legis-         not apply to sales in a theme             of the word “food,” be prepared to pay an additional

        lature and signed into law by        park, entertainment complex,              eighty percent.
        Governor Ron DeSantis.  This  public lodging establishment
        year’s sales tax holiday begins  or airport.                                •  Why is the man who invests all your money called a
        Friday, May 29, 2020, and ex-        For more information and a                broker?

        tends through Thursday, June         list of qualifying items, please       •  Why are hemorrhoids called “hemorrhoids” instead of
        4, 2020.                                                                       “assteroids”?
                                             see Department of Revenue’s
        During this sales tax holi-          Taxpayer Information Publi-            •  Have you ever noticed that the lawyer always smiles
        day period, qualifying items         cation on the 2020 Disaster               more than the client?

        related to disaster prepared-        Preparedness Sales Tax Hol-            •  Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower
        ness are exempt from sales           iday webpage: https://flor-               than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you
        tax.  However, the sales tax         idarevenue.com/DisasterPrep/              is a maniac?

        holiday does not apply to the        Pages/default.aspx
        rental or repair of any of the

        Eight Surprising Products That Are Booming During the Pandemic


        Hand sanitizer and TP aren’t the only hot things seeing a surge in demand


        by Andy Markowitz, AARP search data and other indicators.                message that most of its products  with Americans stockpiling
                                                                                 were sold out.                       spirits and stores accommodating
        The coronavirus pandemic is          1. Bidets                                                                social-distancing customers with
        wreaking havoc in many corners                                           Bidet advocates view the de-         delivery and curbside pickup.
        of the economy, but amid the         Long common across Europe,          vices as more hygienic than

        bust some products and indus-        Asia and South America, bath-       wiping, and more environmen-         Retail alcohol sales in the eight
        tries are reaping benefits from      room fixtures that use water to     tally friendly — producing toilet  weeks ending April 25 were up
        the massive swerve in how we         clean the nether regions remain     paper “is incredibly resource-in-    24.6 percent compared to the
        live, work and shop.                 rare in the United States. But      tensive,” Scheer says. “There’s a  same period last year, data com-
                                             with toilet paper scarce, bidets    reason why 80 percent of homes       pany Nielsen reports. Hard liquor
        We all know it’s a good time to      are having a major moment.          in Japan have an electronic bidet  (up 33.5 percent) and wine (29.4
        be in, say, videoconferencing,       Consumer interest shot up 300       toilet seat. The more people that    percent) have been the main
        disinfectants or grocery deliv-      percent as people explored          use them, they become lifelong       drivers, although beer is also
        ery — just ask Zoom, Clorox or       alternatives to TP, according to    users and advocates. There’s no      seeing double-digit gains. And
        Instacart how business has been      Glimpse, a company that ana-        going back to paper.”                the longer the lockdowns last, it

        lately. But beyond the brands        lyzes search and other online                                            seems, the thirstier we get: Sales
        that have become nearly synon-       signals to track product trends.    2. Booze                             have continued to rise on a week-
        ymous with lockdown life, many                                                                                by-week basis, Nielsen found.
        specialized products are seeing      Brondell, which makes bidet         Contagion mixed with isolation
        mini-booms of their own, meet-       attachments and accessories for     can produce a potent cocktail of     3. Bread machines
        ing newly urgent needs from the      toilets, expects to see a 40 per-   anxiety and boredom, and while
        bathroom to the backyard.            cent jump in sales this year, dou-  it may not be the best thing for     Baking bread has emerged as
                                             ble its typical growth, company     the immune system, many of us        another salve for a stressed-out
        Here are some of the goods hun-      President Steven Scheer says.       are responding with cocktails of     nation (at least that part of it that

        kered-down consumers are turn-       Hygiene For Health, an online       our own. Liquor retailers have       can still get its hands on yeast),
        ing to as they wait out the out-     seller, was greeting visitors to    seen a sales boom since the          but one that can demand a good
        break, according to sales figures,   its website in mid-May with a       outbreak began and bars closed,             Continued on page 20
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