Stormtroopers Enforce Social Distancing
By George Robbins
The coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing threat, and despite whatever else is going on in the world right now, it is still very dangerous. Many still recognize that this threat is still ever present and can harm a lot more people if the public doesn’t remain careful about what they do. That is why even though some public places have opened to some degree, there is still a lot of security around to ensure people are adhering to the health and safety rules in place. So with that in mind, it does sound a little daunting with the idea in the back of your head that you are being watched in public to make sure you are being safe. This doesn’t mean that some companies can’t have fun in keeping people safe and entertain them at the same time.
Most public businesses have been shut down sine the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic in order to curb spread of the virus. Among those businesses that were forced to shut down were many in the entertainment industry. One of the biggest types of business that was forced to shut down to the public were amusement parks. Parks have had a rough go of things since they had to keep up maintenance while they were closed in order to reopen to the public when the time came. They have also had to furlough their staff since they couldn’t afford to keep paying them until they reopened. With this being the season for amusement parks, no one knew what they were going to do or when they would reopen.
Now, as part of the phase one reopenings of some non-essential businesses, some parks can reopen to some degree. While not being able to open in an official capacity, parks can open to reduced capacity crowds who must then follow the same rules in place as other businesses. There are certain checks that must be held in place, people must wear masks, and they must maintain the social distancing rule. The last item on that list is wear companies like Disney can start having a little bit of fun with how they maintain the rules. Disney World has slowly started the reopening of its parks starting with Disney Springs to get an idea as to how the parks will run moving forward.
Disney decided that instead of having ordinary security guards enforcing the social distancing rules they have in place, they would instead have Stormtroopers do it. Since Disney has gained control over the Star Wars intellectual property, they have been putting it to good use and have been integrating it in their parks. With the reopening of one of their parks, the last thing they would want is people being intimidated by their being guards watching them at all times. Even though the Stormtroopers are meant to do the same thing as security guards, it is a lot more fun for park visitors if it is a character of some kind. This just goes to show that even during the worst times, it is still okay for people to have fun and I hope this goes for other businesses as well.