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Collected Item: “Merchandise in Quarantine”

Give your story a title.

Merchandise in Quarantine

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Photograph, taken by myself

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

In Cambridge, MA, we depend on small businesses, whether they’re corner stores, beauty parlors, restaurants, or specialized outlets. This picture is the lattermost, a music store called Cheapo Records, which I visited often before quarantine. Places like this are extremely important for both conserving history and discovering new music (without algorithms).

COVID-19 has only exacerbated the danger Cheapo and others are facing due to rising rents. This picture I took before they reopened spoke to me because it shows how the hiatus wasn’t expected to be this long; the merchandise is left outside, behind an iron curtain, in uncertain indefinance.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#smallbusiness, #boston, #cambridge, #music, #uncertainty, #local

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Caitlyn Green

Give this story a date.

2020-05-02
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