Items

• 
  2020

  Thrillest Serves

  Because of the struggle the pandemic has put on small businesses and restaurants, Thrillest has created a webpage that lists a variety of businesses with links to merchandise, donation pages, and places to buy gift cards. By providing this support, Thrillest is trying to prevent any small businesses from closing due to the pandemic, and are spreading the word about small businesses that need support to encourage people to support them rather than large companies that aren't necessarily struggling during this time. They hope to serve the service industry, providing direct support for businesses in many major cities across the U.S.
• 2021-03-30

  My Post-Covid Hopes

  I hope I will be able to attend virtual school. I hope I can visit my friends. I hope my friends can visit me. I hope we can eat at restaurants. I hope the olympics will happen soon. I hope I can travel all over the world again. I hope we can go to amusement parks. I hope I can make new friends. I hope I don’t get lost on campus.
• 
  2021-03-13

  Eddy County(NM) government and business leaders relieved COVID-19 restrictions lessened

  This article discusses recent easing of the New Mexico state government's business restrictions in Eddy County. Businesses have been struggling to remain open and viable for the past year, and these lessened restrictions may help some restauranteurs avoid shuttering their businesses and permanently laying off their employees. The restrictions there, like many states, have specifically targeted the food and beverage industries while mega-stores are seldom impacted. During the previous year, the mid-sized community of Carlsbad lost 2 of its 3 grocery stores to temporary shutdown mandates over the holiday season. This community and its county have been especially hard-hit by economic impacts of President Biden's new Executive Orders on oil and gas production on federal lands, and the pandemic's additional business restrictions have made this a very difficult place to operate and patronize businesses.
• 2021-03-19

  I hope

  I hope that life can go back to “normal” I hope that I can spend endless days with my friends. I hope that I can go eat at amazing restaurants. I hope I can spend birthdays with those I love. I hope that I can see a movie with my dad on a rainy day. I hope I can shop at malls with my mom. I hope I can see the teachers that have given me a great education. I hope I can safely travel with my family. I hope I can win a volleyball tournament with my teammates. I hope I can dance on the biggest stage. I hope I can sing at concerts with my choir. I hope and I wish that one day I can do all these things.
• 2020-08-21

  Living in Wrigleyville during a pandemic

  Wrigleyville home of the Chicago Cubs is known to be a neighborhood of Chicago that revolves around the Cubs. During a non pandemic year when there is a game at Wrigley Field there is people all around Wrigleyville. The neighborhood is bustling with Cubs fans everywhere. The restaurants are filled and the bars too. The cubs apparel shops are getting business and people are just happy. Now during the pandemic the neighborhood has a feeling of emptiness. No fans have been allowed in the stadium in over a year and a lot of the restaurants, bars, and apparel shops have been closed or temporarily closed until the pandemic is over. Things just aren't the same living in Wrigleyville during the pandemic.
• 2021-03-11

  AM I REALLY SAFE?

  Well, my COVID card has now been stamped twice. In one more week, I should be at full immunity. SO…am I going to rush out to a restaurant, rip off my mask, and eat my first restaurant meal that was not delivered, cold, after 20 minutes in the back of a Postmate’s car? It’s tricky! The bottom line is this: I am not there yet. There is still a lingering sense of dread. My children have not yet been vaccinated so they still live with their fear. My daughter has an infant and my son, has a toddler and a pregnant wife. Tonight, President Biden will give a speech about the return to normalcy, and I applaud his efforts to mend a broken nation. But the old normal may never return. Just as a bad fall leaves a scar, we will all be left with a mark, even those of us who emerged relatively unscathed. No one in my family died. Just a few were ill. We are so fortunate. But when I think of hopping on the New York subway this summer, sans mask, I cannot see it happening. I hope time proves me wrong. Truly, I hope.
• 
  2020-02-18

  Green Mill Once Again, in Winter

  An image of this bar front was shared on this archive almost a year ago, on March 31, 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/11917. On February 10, 2021, I passed by this bar on my way home from an errand and remembered it being shared on this archive. It looks different now, so I wanted to document it. Aside from the weather depicting a more solemn image, the next noticeable difference is in the fact that in this posting, the bar's front window is boarded up, with a most likely spray-painted tag in green ink. The boarding up is most likely a remnant from 2020's late spring/early summer protests that took place around the country in response to racial violence, which was kickstarted by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN. In addition, Green Mill also has posted a flyer in the circular window of their front door. In March 2020, the pandemic was still so new that many didn't know what to do besides close their doors for the time being. Now, in 2021, with more understanding of COVID-19's severity, many businesses have some sort of signage indicating that they are closed and encouraging readers to follow the social distancing guidelines set forth by local, state, and/or federal governments. This is most likely the sign posted in window. Hopefully, in another year's time, we'll get to see Green Mill open and lively with the sounds of jazz music, the coronavirus pandemic only a memory of the recent past.
• 2021-02-18

  Learning a passion

  During covid, like most people life was isolating for a reasonable amount of time. The people one did stay around managed to get on our nerves anyway. I am however luckier that most because we’re some 11 months in now and I have my health as does my family, and I have discovered a new passion. Since many restaurants were fully closed the only way to eat the food I was craving was to cook it. In this simple activity I found a passion that very quickly turned into something relevant to me as I found a job at a restaurant cooking, and getting paid for that passion.
• 2021-02-07

  Italy's Coming Out

  Two links to news articles talking about how businesses in some Italian cities and provinces are defying the lockdown orders. This document shows that the questioning of COVID-19 restrictions in a worldwide phenomenon.
• 
  2020-07-20

  They Survived: Beating COVID-19 After 70

  When Covid-19 cases began making the news in America, the stories were centered around nursing homes, where the population seemed especially susceptible. Day after day more reports of Covid-19 infecting and killing numerous patients and residents within these facilities painted a dire picture. And it is still dire. However, there are individuals who, despite their advanced age, survived Covid-19. This article from the AARP highlights four individuals in their 70s and 80s who suffered through serious cases involving long hospital stays and ventilators that made it through this virus. An interesting aspect of this article is every person interviewed ends their section by chastising people going out to restaurants, bars, and not wearing masks. Though they survived, they used this platform to try and convey the severity of the situation. As an 80-year-old female survivor from New York stated “This is not the flu. This is something that wants to kill you. It saps your strength and makes you feel like you prefer to die. This disease is such an unknown quantity. I cannot understand why anyone would refuse to wear a mask. It's a pandemic!” Hopefully, people reading survivor stories such as these will make people reflect on the choices, they are making for themselves and their communities.
• 
  2021-01-24

  Grabbing for Groceries

  Grocery shopping is part of nearly everyone’s life. We’re used to going into a store at most hours of the day and night and finding what we need. Many of us eat out quite often so don’t stockpile food supplies at home and don’t cook at home very often. So grocery shopping pre-pandemic was a relatively easy and boring task. With the pandemic came restaurant closures and restrictions and people started eating at home more often. People started buying greater quantities of food and other grocery items (particularly toilet paper!), which led to shortages and quotas on the purchase of particular items. The grocery store became somewhat of a combat zone, with people battling each other for items and viewing others as the enemies who either were going to steal their food or give them the virus. The entire grocery shopping experience changed precipitously for most individuals and reflected a major shift in how society acquires and shares its food.
• 2020

  Rules and Procedures in 2020

  Some of the rules we have to follow are we have to stay six feet apart from everyone. We also had a curfew sometimes. We were not allowed outside of our houses (except for taking walks or anything necessary) and restauraunts were closed.
• 2021-01-19

  feelings about rules

  During corona there have been many many rules, when it started we were quarantined and no one could go out, now we can but there are still many rules. The one i hate most is the mask rule, any mask will cause high humidity and its very uncomfortable. There were also the six feet rule, how do you have conversations or chat when so far from the other person, and the schools don't sell lunches anymore either AND the restaurants are mostly closed and we can really go to markets, so whats there to eat?
• 
  2021-01-13

  The Scent of a Deli

  If you've ever set foot in a deli - a real life, New York style deli or in my case a real life Texas deli, then you know about the powerful and delightful smells that can attack your senses upon entry. In my restaurant, the traditional odors of hot corned beef and pastrami mixed with sauerkraut, bacon and horseradish combine with the popular fragrance of Texas brisket layered in a spicy bar-b-que sauce and the undeniable fragrance of apple and pecan pie. Homemade beef stew, French Onion soup and Texas chili are reducing in the kitchen while the entire restaurant fills with the aroma of good food. There is nothing quite like a deli kitchen prepping, baking, grilling and cooking in the morning. These are the distinctive smells of my life before COVID-19. Shortly after March of last year, the city of San Antonio shut down all dine-in operations throughout the city and instantly took away our morning routines and systems, forcing our restaurant to evolve just to survive. Overnight, we became a grocery store with a curbside service selling raw products like eggs, tomatoes, cold cuts and sliced cheeses. The great morning aromas of the deli were replaced with the stale, cold odors of bleach and sanitizer. Sales dipped by seventy percent and even when dine-in was reopened to fifty percent capacity, we were forced to cut our menu by half. Now, as we keep paying for our holiday gatherings, the business has come back by half but it just doesn't seem the same or at least the smells do not. We are more of a to-go business now with items packaged and tagged in sugar cane boxes and biodegradable containers. The sweet mixture of multiple savory recipes and meats cooking side by side has been replaced by vacuum sealed soups and cold cuts prepared in a sanitized and disinfected central kitchen.
• 
  2021-05

  Smelly Hands Are Clean Hands

  I welcomed my first child into the world at the very beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States, leaving my fiancé and me isolated at home with a newborn. After three months, we desperately needed a night away from our precious bundle of joy. The only restaurant open was a sketchy looking German beer garden blasting accordion music, but we were just thrilled to be spending some adult time together while our son was with my mother for the evening. Upon walking into the restaurant, I readily pumped some off-brand hand sanitizer into my hand, and nudged my fiancé to do the same. I rubbed my hands together as we were seated, and breathed a sigh of relief that we were free from the colicky cries of our beloved child for the night. Suddenly my nostrils filled with the stench of bottom shelf tequila. The hand sanitizer wasn’t simply off-brand, it had been homemade by the restaurant. It was as if whomever had concocted the sanitizer was convinced that the best way to ward off the COVID-19 virus (and the fear attributed to it), was to completely bombard the olfactory system with the smell of alcohol. My fiancé remarked that because the sanitizer smelled so horribly, it must be killing all of the germs; unknowingly, he became a perfect example of how individuals have come to associate certain scents, like alcohol, with the illusion of cleanliness. Thinking back on that experience, I find myself pondering just how effective their homemade hand sanitizer really was. Or, more than likely, was it a last ditch effort (forced into action by society’s panic buying of cleansers), to provide their customers a sense of security through unconscious sensory associations.
• 2021-01-07

  My 2020 Christmas

  This Christmas in the year 2020 was not much different as I expected than other years. The only really change was that my grandparents couldn't come. For as long as I remember I have spent every christmas with my grandparents. Also, because of the pandemic, all restaurant seating is closed. My family and I usually go out to dinner every christmas eve. But this year, we had it at home, which was not really odd since we only started going out for dinner christmas eve a few years ago. Other than those changes, we still did everything the same, we decorated, made cookies, got christmas pajamas, and more. However, it did not feel like christmas. Even though everything we did was the same pretty much, it did not feel like christmas. Listening to christmas music did not even make me feel like it was christmas. To sum up, my 2020 christmas was still pretty much the same.
• 
  2020-11-15

  Senior Year in NYC: The Monumental Moments - After A Night Out

  Imagine...after a nice socially-distanced night out on the town, walking to your favorite late night snack joint with all your pals. **Fordham University, SOCI2200
• 
  2020-12-06

  Scan Me!

  Instead of using reusable menus, to limit what people are touching, Loretta created scannable and paper menus for guests to use. Guests can scan the code on the paper provided, and a link pops up to bring people to the restaurants menu. This is an important part of the pandemic, because people are encouraged not to touch everything they see, so by limiting what people are touching, Loretta has limited the spread of potential germs. When future historians look back on restaurants during the pandemic, they will see how a lot of establishments created scannable menus for their guests. Some people have a difficult time with the snanable menus, which is why the paper menu is offered. People are typically eager to learn how to use the scan menus though, sometimes out of frustration for it not working, but also because of the growing popularity of scanning items with phones.
• 
  2020-09-20

  Coronacation

  In September 2020, myself and three friends took a mini-vacation to Derry, New Hampshire in order to get out of our small town of Middleboro, MA. We rented this house and mainly did our homework and hung around playing games. From this trip, it was interesting to see the difference between Massachuttes and New Hampshire as we saw people leaving restaurants without masks and it felt more “laissez-faire” in a way. This picture connects to “the needs and considerations of an ethical archival collection”. This is because I wanted to show that I, like most people, was not a saint during quarantine and broke the rules at some points. We made sure the house was safe by disinfecting when we got there and other safety measures in order to not get sick. By acknowledging this moment, I wanted to show what I was really like during this time period, not an idealized version of myself that could do no wrong. I know that I haven’t always been the safest and it will help with my credibility.
• 2020-12-14

  My Covid-Thanksgiving

  The year 2020 has been a very strange year, and my families Thanksgiving experience was an odd one. Since we couldn't have a large family dinner, we ended up bringing food to both of my grandparents. I was really bummed to not be able to spend quality time with them, but I was still glad to get the opportunity to see them. After we left our grandparents, we went to our cousin's beach house. We were scrambling throughout the city trying to find an open restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner. None of the restaurants were open, but we luckily got a call from our friend to have our Thanksgiving meal with them. The lesson I learned from this day was that having close family and friends really matters and that they can get you out of any tough situation. Overall, my Thanksgiving during the pandemic was not an ideal one, but it was still a blessing to be able to be with my family and friends nonetheless.
• 
  2020-12-13

  Pick Up Only Orders At Local Restaurant

  While some restaurants have opened their dining rooms there are still some places that are only to-go or pick up only. This past weekend I traveled from San Antonio to Houstonand visited a few restaurants. Most of them allowed customers inside but Taco Flores was only doing pick up only. The small restaurant is in tune with the coronavirus and has raised their standard of cleanliness to protect their customers and employees. These changes included changing their orders served in disposable plates, individual containers for their sauces, one time use of plastic utensils are available for every order among others changes. With these smaller family owned restaurants we see a higher level of safety when running their day to day operations. They also expanded the way their customers can still enjoy the dishes they love without leaving the safety of their homes. They have expanded to the food app Grub Hub. This is a great way for the community to stay connected to the restaurant.
• 
  2020-12-13

  The 2020 Coronavirus Through Pictures: A Reflection of the Last Nine Months

  As the end of 2020 approaches, I have found myself reflecting on how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected my life. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that forgetting my mask in my car while out getting groceries would make my stomach drop for a split second or that the thought of going to a restaurant would cause my heart to race. I find it hard to comprehend how much the concept of "normal life" has changed within the last twelve months. Just yesterday, I was looking at my Timehop app to see what I was up to a year ago, and a picture of my family in Time Square popped up. I stared at the photo for a few minutes, almost laughing at the absurdity of the number of people packed amongst blinding light up ads and street vendors, all without masks. Yet, I remembered that the scene in that year-old photo used to be normal; we used to crowd ourselves into stores and stadiums, sharing each other's personal space without a second thought. We used to talk about how much we dreaded walking to an 8 am lecture or that we had to go to a family function over the weekend. Now, all I want is to sit in an artificially lit classroom with creaky desk chairs and a monotone professor. After realizing how just one photo could cause such a thought-provoking reflection, I decided to look at the pictures I had taken over the last nine months and chose one from each month that I thought captured the main focus of each one. I have attached a document of the photos I'll be reflecting on in ascending order with the date and location of each image below along with descriptions of what each month was like.
• 
  2020-12-01

  Local Restaurant Staying Safe During The Pandemic

  The last few months of the pandemic has gotten out of control to a point where I do not even like to go out to eat. I mostly have home cooked meals or order food to be delivered to my house. The 1st of December was my brother's birthday and we decided we were going to have a nice meal for him. He chose where he wanted to eat and he chose Kona Grill. When arriving there we had to be put on a waitlist to get seated. They did not allow us to wait in the restaurant but outside to enforce social distancing. When we were being seated I was looking around and they had followed the CDC recommendations and had tables six feet apart and had a reduced capacity. During dinner I had to use the bathroom and there was a sign saying any person experiencing symptoms were not allowed in the restaurant, employees were mandated to wear masks at all times and customers were asked to wear masks when possible. Within the restaurant it is known that when you are at your table a mask is not required but when not at your table a mask is highly suggested to be worn.
• 
  2020-11-18

  Staying Safe In Restaurants And Bars

  As bars and restaurants continue day to day operations all over the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers consideration on their website in ways they can reduce the risk for employees, customers and the community. These establishments will collaborate with their state and local health officials on how to implement these considerations. When considering these ideas they are meant to supplement and not replace any state or local health and safety laws. The longer people interact with one another the higher risk of spreading covid-19. One key take away from the article that stuck out to me was the spacing that the CDC recommends and that I see mostly in restaurants and bars today. Capacity has been reduced and tables have been moved six feet apart to slow the spread.
• 
  2020-11-09

  COVID 19 - QR Codes

  The QR code is now seen everywhere after the start of the pandemic in an attempt to help stop the spread of COVID-19. It is used to check-in to locations so individuals do not have to enter the building until necessary because of the importance of social distancing. QR codes have also been utilized by restaurants for customers to scan on their phones and be directed to an online version of the menu, since menus were not allowed to be reused. Moreover, QR codes are even used to pay at stores using PayPal’s app in order to avoid handing over a card or cash and potentially handing over a virus in the process The use of the QR codes requires a mobile device, and its increase of its implementation into our society further shows how technology played a huge part in our day to day lives due to the pandemic.
• 2020-12-06

  The ways how Covid-19 is annoying and helping us [ANONYMOUS]

  When I go to malls, I usually take buses and sky trains and I can see all the people in buses and trains are wearing their masks. Including children and seniors. When I get any malls, every single person is wearing a mask and getting social distancing. And if there are lots of people in a shop and there is a limitation of capacity of people, and the shop is full, then others who want to go in have to wait for it until the people in the store get out. This thing is one of stressful things for everybody. And when I go to the school, we only take 1 to 2 blocks for a day, and we have to clean our desks and chairs before the classes begin, or after the classes end. This one is really inconvenient. Of course all the students wear their masks for the whole time in the school. We have our cohort zone which makes me and my friends separate. And everyone cannot expect there will be the school next month because the school can be closed whenever if COVID spreads so quickly. Some restaurants take reservations, and some of them don’t. If I get in a restaurant, I have to write my first and last name, the number of people will join together, the time I came in, and the date on a paper. Also all the people (also me) in restaurants have to sanitize their hands before they sit. And people cannot sit before any table is sanitized. People can order by online by taking a code on desks, or order to waiters or waitresses. If I look at the online menu, that is the same as the offline menu. And when I finished to order, I can see what I ordered and the total amount to pay on the online menu. They also appear when I ordered foods offline. I can pay them online. When I park my car on the side of roads, I can pay the time for parking online, also I can add more time online whenever I want. I don’t need to go back to the spot where my car was parked when I need to add more time. Online payment is developed by COVID and it’s convenient!
• 
  2020-11-04

  Ghost Town

  This is a picture of one of the most popular and bustling tourist spots in Boston. Here is a picture of it during Covid-19 pandemic. A once busy street packed full of residents and tourists going to get food at the many restaurants inside Quincy Market and people walking along the Freedom Trail packed this destination full of people. The sea of people that one would see here is a huge contrast to what is seen now, which is an almost eerie image of the empty plaza. Once this year is over and this virus is gone, this historic plaza will return to its former glory.
• 
  2019-12-16

  A Pandemic Birthday

  With the outbreak of COVID-19 you never really understood how much it was going to change things. Everyone assumed we were going to be locked down for a couple of weeks then it will all be over. Now, it has been eight months and we are still under strict rules. One thing that we all took for granted was our birthdays. The younger kids did not understand why they could not have their friends over and the elderly were terrified to even leave their houses because they are more prone to catching COVID-19. So, the only people you could celebrate with were the people you were locked down with and depending when your birthday was, you were really not too fond of those people. Thankfully, someone came up with the idea of a drive by parade. That is when everyone jazzed up their cars with balloons and signs and drove by your house screaming “happy birthday,” making your day a little bit better.
• 
  2020-12-02

  Ethiopian Cafe Roxbury

  My dad had taken a long trip from his home to come visit me, the college student who lives in Boston. The tradition of eating at our favorite restaurant in town was soon to be. The 2019 red Toyota Tacoma was freshly cleaned and ready for another trip down to Roxbury, Massachusetts. I was picked up from my campus at Wentworth Institute of Technology on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon. It was about 75 degrees with a slight breeze on this beautiful July day. As we started driving down towards Roxbury, we could see nobody was outside. Usually Boston is full of people exploring the city and enjoying the downtown on a Saturday. Even at the Ethiopian Café there was no one in sight. We could see a mailman walking door to door dropping off mail but that was about it. There was hardly any traffic and no noise as most businesses were shut down. The birds chirping and the wind blowing was the only noise around. This looked like a ghost town. Inside the restaurant there was no one inside. There was a sign at the door that stated, “mask required to get inside”. The only business they were accepting was pickup or delivery. This was the “new normal” now for everybody. What was once an upbeat and social place to dine, is now a quiet empty restaurant running off a few customers at a time. I could not sit down with my dad and eat the food we had ordered. They would not allow anyone to dine inside or outside. Everyone had to just get their food and eat it somewhere else.
• 
  2020-09-25

  College Friends in a Pandemic

  My first few weeks of college consisted of going to restaurants with new friends and exploring the city outside (masked, of course.)
• 
  2020-07

  Night market

  To promote local economy and save the restaurants from depression due to COVID-19, the local government organized a night market for a week for the public. Restaurants can have a booth and sell their foods for a lower price than normal. Many people came to the event to celebrate. It represents the beginning of dine-in in restaurants and safety for public gathering.
• 
  2020-11-19

  東京534人感染 最多を更新　警戒レベル「最高」に（2020年11月19日） - Updated the highest number of infections in 534 people in Tokyo to the highest alert level (November 19, 2020)

  This is a news that talks about the highest number of COVID cases in Tokyo. I believe this is caused by all the GO TO Travel which promoted people to travel despite being in COVID, and how all restaurants are open to dine-in and no one doing take-out. Also, Izakaya, a drinking/eating type of restaurants are usually have seats close to each other and do not have good ventilation. 東京都できょう、新型コロナウイルスの感染者が534人確認され、２日連続、過去最多を更新しました。 都は４段階の警戒レベルを「最高」に引き上げました。 きょう、都内で感染が確認されたのは534人できのうの493人を上回り最多を更新しました。 １日の新規感染者数が500人を超えるのは初めてです。 重症者はきのうから１人減った38人です。 こうした中、都は専門家と会議を開き、「感染状況」についての警戒レベルをおよそ２ヵ月ぶりに４段階で最も深刻な「感染が拡大している」に引き上げました。 特に重症化のリスクがある高齢者が大幅に増加したとして注意を呼びかけました。 （小池知事）「急速な感染拡大の局面にあるということ。高齢者・基礎疾患のある人は会食への参加を控えてもらいたい。避けてもらいたい。」 ただ、飲食店の営業時間の短縮要請については、「時短の効果とマイナスの影響を比較して考える必要がある」など慎重な意見もあり、現時点では行わない方針です。 In Tokyo, 534 people were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, which was a highest number for the second consecutive day. Tokyo has raised the four levels of alertness to "highest". Today, the number of confirmed infections (543) in Tokyo exceeded 493. This is the first time that the number of newly infected people exceeds 500 per day. The number of seriously ill people is 38, one less than yesterday. Under these circumstances, the city held a meeting with experts and raised the alert level for "infection status" to the most serious "infection is spreading" in four stages for the first time in about two months. In particular, Tokyo has stated that the number of elderly people at risk of becoming severe has increased significantly. (Governor Koike) "We are in a phase of rapid infection spread. We would like elderly people and people with underlying illnesses to refrain from attending dinner. Please avoid it." However, regarding the request to shorten the business hours of restaurants, she stated that "It is necessary to compare the effect of shortening the time with the negative effect", so we will not make that decision at this time. Video translated by Youngbin Noh
• 
  2020-03-30

  From Dine In to Takeout: Staying Connected With Thai Dee Restaurant

  For my friends and I, Thai Dee is our most cherished gathering spot. It is a local San Antonio restaurant that is tucked away in a small building next to a convenience store. The restaurant is centrally located and 15 minutes away from where we all live and work. Thai Dee is the community dining room for my family and friends. We celebrate all our special occasions here in addition to frequenting the restaurant on a weekly basis. It is both a treat and a part of our daily lives to eat at Thai Dee as it is for hundreds of other customers. These last few months have felt strange not being able to eat inside their restaurant. The pandemic hit Thai Dee hard at first. In March they had to lay off all their waitstaff and close their busy dining room. I was laid off from my full-time job too, but I continued to support them with the little money I earned from my part-time job. I turned my weekly dine-in visits to takeout orders. I did my best to support them, but instead I found that they wanted to support me. The family who owns the restaurant has always treated me like a member of their family. When they found out that I had been laid off, the owner sweetly yet sternly told me not to leave them tips anymore. She advised me to save up all the money I had and assured me that they were okay. She would not process any tips I tried to leave on my card. Her son then told me that if I ever got to a point where I was hungry and had no money that I should call him. He would never let me go hungry. I thanked them and started crying as soon as I exited the building. I felt so loved and cared for in that moment. When I opened my bag of food, I found a complimentary order of mango and sweet sticky rice—my favorite dessert. They have since done this for me several times. Back in March I didn’t know if I would be able to return to my job, or if the company was just going to fold. I never shared these anxieties with them, and yet they helped ease them with their kind gestures. The closure of Thai Dee’s dining room saw business slow down at first. When this happened, I sent a text to my friends who immediately went and ordered food. My friends and other regular customers are now back in the habit of ordering Thai Dee’s on a regular basis. Thai Dee has many other loyal customers who love the restaurant and family as much as I do. The walls are adorned with Christmas cards, postcards, and photographs of newborn babies all given to them by devoted patrons. Even former San Antonio Spur, Sean Elliot, has several photos with the Thai Dee crew on the wall. For myself and other regulars, not a week goes by where I don’t go to Thai Dee. My visits give me a sense of normalcy. Even though I miss the social gathering space their dining room provided, I still get to eat the best Thai food in San Antonio and check in with my dear friends who own the restaurant. If I did not have regular access to them my pandemic experience would be miserable. Thai Dee is an icon of San Antonio and they have helped me through this time more than they know. Although Covid-19 disrupted my dining experience, it only strengthened my patronage and bond with the Thai Dee family.
• 
  2020-11-08

  Restaurants during Covid 19

  Outdoor seating at the restaurant Darling in West loop, Chicago.
• 
  2020-11

  Chef Serigne Mbaye Collaboration with New Orleans restaurant Turkey and the Wolf

  Sergine Mbaye a popup chef who owns Darak in New Orleans, collaborated with a famous restaurant, Turkey and the Wolf. He was able to share his knowledge of Senegalese cooking and history.
• 
  2020-07-07

  Roy Choi’s Locol is Reborn, Thanks to New Black-Owned Delivery Start Up

  Chef Roy Choi has set up a food delivery system that has helped to put money in the city of Watts. It has helped create jobs and opportunities for residents of the community.
• 
  2020-10-27

  Adapting the DiamondBack Café on campus

  These are photographs taken of the DiamondBack Cafe at St. Mary's University-San Antonio in the era of COVID19. The DiamondBack Cafe was one of St. Mary's busiest student spaces prior to the onset of the COVID19 pandemic. However, much has changed at the DiamondBack Cafe since March 2020 As a resident student at St. Mary's University I have eaten in the DiamondBack Cafe almost every day, and I can attest to just how different it is to eat a meal there. The seats are now all socially distanced six feet apart, and there are signs sitting on the tables and taped to the tables reminding students to keep their social distance. Along with the changes implemented because of social distancing, getting meals has also changed drastically. Meal protocols have changed because of the pandemic. Students have the option of taking their meals back to their doors in styrofoam to-go boxes, or they may eat in the Cafe at one of the socially distanced tables. Also, students are no longer allowed to handle their food themselves, rather they are served by employees of the Cafe. Also, some food where that had previously been open food has been changed. For example, the sandwich station which used to be made to order, was for the majority of the semester, replaced by premade sandwiches in to-go boxes. Much has changed in the Diamond Cafe, and it feels different to eat there too. There have been a few times when I have been the only student in the Cafe, which is especially weird. However, everything that has been done is necessary to protect the health of students and faculty.
• 
  2020-06-08

  When Restaurants Become the First Line of Support

  During the BLM protests this past summer, many restaurants supported the protestors by providing free food, and acknowledging that the damage to their property was less important than the damage being done to Black people by police. They also performed support tasks such as hosting makeshift medic tents for the protestors.
• 
  2020-07-29

  Elk Horn Vows Not To 'Let Up' After Weekend Riot

  A restaurant in Eugene, Oregon, was vandalized during the initial protests over the death of George Floyd. The damage was in excess of $500,000. The restaurant owner claims that the Black Lives Matter movement is being undermined by violent agitators. The owner has been criticized in the past for anti-homeless views.
• 
  2020-10-25

  Brunch With Friends

  I flew to California for a wedding and the day after we went to brunch. It was the first time since February since I had gone to a restaurant with friends. It felt weird, but I almost cried to be sitting at a table with people that I love so much.
• 
  2020-10

  Cooking in the Fire Pit

  Avoiding restaurants in an attempt to quarantine and social distance has led me to try new things. One of those new things is cooking over coals in my fire pit. I cut up a pineapple and seasoned it with Tajin, wrapped it up in foil and placed it in the hot coals for about 15 minutes. Took the pineapple out, let it cool for about 5. Delicious! Absolutely delicious!
• 2020-10-26

  Sensory Memory Changes During COVID-19

  The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected our sensory memory. All of the 5 senses have experienced a lot of change during this pandemic. Personally, I found the streets and stores to not be as packed as they used to be. When I go outside, I see most people are wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart from each other. During the pandemic, it has been a lot quieter as well. There is barely any traffic on the freeways or even the sound of cheering from football games and gatherings. The sense of taste also experienced a lot of change. Due to social distancing regulation, restaurants and cafes have been closed or only allowed takeout. Personally, it's been almost 8 months since the last time I went out to eat at a restaurant or get coffee pastries at a local cafe. For smell, California was struggling with fires so for a few weeks and all I was able to smell was smoke. Finally, the sense of touch has been experiencing change. I'm not able to see my relatives and friends. Since I can’t really go outside or visit people during these times, I haven't experienced a hug, high-five, or shaking someone’s hands in a while.
• 
  2020-10-24

  Restaurants after Covid-19.

  The meme explains the struggle of not being able to go out and eat at a restaurants and how good it will feel when you are finally able to. I thought it was funny because it took a scene from the show The Office and made it about Covid-19 instead and when I saw it it made me laugh.
• 
  2020-10-21

  Taking a break from the fridge

  A restaurant in Texas changed their sign to reflect what many Americans are thinking eight months into social distancing.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Life with Corona

  school assignment
• 
  2020-05-16

  Boss Gave a Private Prom

  This was when I worked at a cafe throughout the pandemic, and at the time I worked there with my boyfriend. The cafe was located on the edge of a lake, with lots of other nice resteraunts surrounding it along with wedding and party venues. Our boss felt bad that the pandemic took away basically everything from us, so she decided to do something really kind for us, which was throw us our own private prom. The room was very large and reserved for the two of us, and there were really great decorations, lights, and food. We had access to the side of the lake next to the water and the entire room was only open for us. It was one of the kindest gestures anybody has ever done for us, and it was one of the best moments that I had throughout the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-15

  Light at the End of the Tunnel

  Just a couple weeks ago I adopted a nine week old mini australian shepherd puppy, named Ozzy, who is in the photograph. There were many factors that went into adopting my first ever puppy, and a lot of it had to do with the world pandemic: coronavirus. All summer while everyone was staying inside their houses quarantined, I was out working at a breakfast restaurant. Of course, all employees wore masks, but not every customer that walked into the restaurant was aware of the severity of the pandemic. Some would refuse to wear masks, even though it was a state law, cough or sneeze in your face, while being ruthless and careless. Although the government is showing action by recommending everyone to wear masks, it is not necessarily helping the current state of our country. I believe that more action needs to be taken for the pandemic to be resolved or improved. This led me to leave my job, and spend more time at home to protect the safety of me and my family. Scrolling on the internet with all my free time I saw that a lot of dogs were in need of a home due to shelters and pet stores overflowing. This led me to find the most perfect puppy, and now he is a part of my family. Contrary to my beliefs there is always a bright side in unfortunate situations. Ozzy turned out to be the light at the end of the tunnel, providing me with the happiness I was missing in the past few months due to the declining state of the world.
• 
  2020-10-16T23:30

  Friday night out during Covid

  I am a server at a Chili's in Tempe Arizona. Covid has changed many things about my day to day life and work. The restaurant scene has changed a lot as well. This recording was from the restaurant on a Friday night about 30 minutes before closing at midnight. Pre-Covid I would be cleaning tables and finishing up some cleaning to get out of there but as you can hear, the place was still buzzing. Since Covid began numerous bars and late night establishments have closed and thus Chili's a relatively safe chain restaurant that was able to withstand closure has taken some of that business in Tempe. Peoples normal dining cycles seem to have also changed a bit and becoming more random. Normal lunch and dinner times matter less when everyone is working from home and night outs with friends are more rare.
• 
  2020-10-13

  「富岳」飛沫拡散を計算　“座り位置”で飛沫5倍に(2020年10月13日) - "Tomitake" calculated that the depending on the position of the seat, the droplet could be 5 times more (October 13, 2020)

  This is the news explaining how droplets travel and the risk of exposure. スーパーコンピューター「富岳」を使った新型コロナ感染リスクの検証で、飲食店で隣同士に座って会話した場合は正面で会話するよりも5倍の飛沫（ひまつ）を浴びることが分かりました。 　富岳が4人が飲食店で1分程度話をした場合を計算した飛沫の広がり方です。理化学研究所のチームリーダーを務める神戸大学の坪倉誠教授によりますと、感染者が横に座っていて話をした場合は、正面に座った場合の5倍の飛沫を受けることが分かりました。さらに、飛沫そのものも湿度が低ければ低いほど、下に落ちずに空中に漂う量が急激に増えることが分かりました。湿度30％の場合は、60％の場合の2倍以上の飛沫が1.8メートル先まで到達したということです。また、コンサートホールなどで、合唱をする場合は飛沫は直進するため前方の人ほどリスクが高まるほか、合唱で生まれた気流によって飛沫がより遠くまで届くということです。 In the verification of the risk of new corona infection using the supercomputer "Tomitake", it was found that when sitting next to each other at a restaurant and talking, they are exposed to five times as many droplets (himatsu) compared to when sitting and talking in front of each other. “Tomitake” calculated how the droplets spread when four people talked at a restaurant for about one minute. According to Professor Makoto Tsubokura of Kobe University, who is the team leader of RIKEN, it was found that when an infected person sits next to an individual and talks, he/she is exposed to five times as many droplets as when he/she sits in front of him/her. Furthermore, it was found that the lower the humidity of the droplets themselves, the more the droplets will be floating in the air without falling down. At a humidity of 30%, more than twice as many droplets, compared to the humidity at 60%, reached 1.8 meters away. Also, when a choir is singing in a concert hall, the droplets go straight forwards and thus the risk increases for the person in front, and the airflow created by the chorus causes the droplets to reach farther.
• 2020-03-31

  Hate Speech: Community and Family

  The covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world in an unexpected way including myself. Several Americans have been affected by the pandemic losing jobs with panic wreaking havoc across the nation. My family was also affected with the pandemic as they operated a family owned restaurant. Many customers started to slowly disappear until my family was forced to close the restaurant from quarantine. Everyone that I knew was affected mentally as they did not know what to do indoors and eventually broke down. During this time, I was also in my second semester of my freshmen year looking forward to interacting with new people and professors. My first semester was enjoyable as it was a whole new experience that I was exploring. The pandemic made all classes remote and the atmosphere just did not feel the same as being in person. I was overwhelmed as most of my family lost their jobs including myself and the transition to online was unexpected. I lost all motivation to even focus on schoolwork as I was also affected mentally, but I managed to get through. The reopening phase of New York slowly recovered my family as they were able to open back their restaurants, but there was still a decrease of customers. The pandemic was not the only cause of the decrease of customers, but also my family being Asian was a factor. Many people engaged in targeting Asians around my area as the form of hate speech grew more severe as time passed by. My family did not feel safe operating their restaurant as they would not know what would happen to them. The community around me were mostly Asians and there was an increase of violence around my area. The community used to be lively with neighbors interacting with their kids constantly with everyone knowing each other. However, everything changed as everyone is staying indoors and is afraid to walk out in fear of being victims of the pandemic and hate speech. This story is important to me as the pandemic not only affected my family, but the community I live in. family, hate speech, restaurant, job, college, community, Asian