Items
Mediator is exactly
Service Industry
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2020-10-30
Disneyland Workers Face Huge Layoff
California guidelines dictate that the state's largest theme parks won’t reopen until infection rates drop considerably in their counties. An Orange County health official has said that means Disneyland likely won’t be able to open before summer 2021. Due to this, many Disneyland workers have been laid off from a job that felt like home. Many furloughed Disneyland workers are struggling to make ends meet. -
10/13/2020
Patrick Murphy Oral History, 2020/10/13
Patrick Murphy, a delivery driver for a large online retail company, provides his thoughts and opinions on the Covid 19 Pandemic. Being a deliver driver he gives insight into how his job and the world he moves through has changed. Being twenty one years old Patrick discusses how the internet and social media has shaped his experience during the pandemic. -
2020-10-20
Face Masks. Corona Virus Media
This media is a photograph of several shoppers leaving Walmart all within 6 feet of each other and wearing face masks. I chose this image because I work in retail and experience and enforce this requirement on a daily basis. The reality of wearing face masks while completing everyday tasks is still something that I personally am getting used to. Face masks create a barrier especially in the workplace because it makes it difficult to communicate with customers and coworkers. When working in retail stores you are supposed to create and maintain a connection with the customer in order to push sales. This is difficult to do when wearing a face mask because you have a difficult time speaking and maintaining a distance while shopping, selling, and cashiering multiple customers. -
2020-10-20
The Las Vegas Strip
This picture to me represents how much Las Vegas has changed within these few months and the Las Vegas strip is one of them. The strip has never been lonely it was always a place of tourism but ever since the pandemic started the tourism has slowly decreased and has affected people's jobs due to it. People have been laid off and those who weren't laid off have not been working their full hours therefore not gaining as much money as before. Plus, the economy right now isn't the best and not working the full 40 hours is causing lots of problems for families who only have one family member working at the moment. Speaking from experience since my dad had to get a second job due to his job working at the Bellagio not giving him enough hours so he wasn’t making the same money before. I hate seeing him work so much and I'm grateful he's doing what's best for our family. -
2020-04-08
At-Home Union Action
Text reads: WAGE SUBSIDY FOR ALL #NoWorkerLeftBehind #PutYourApronOut Trade unions were strong advocates for a more robust safety net for workers who had lost their jobs owing to the pandemic. The JobKeeper package left behind casual workers (like me) and workers on temporary visas who were already had the most insecure labour conditions. My union shifted online. We ran social media campaigns, online pickets, and a whole range of other digital actions. Unfortunately, this one didn't get up. LNP stuck to their guns of looking after wealthy, white folk. Typical... HIST30060 -
2020-10-19
Las Vegas, a Petri Dish for the Coronavirus
News of China’s “coronavirus” began to circulate in December of 2019. In March, the risk of the virus was very well known. This is when my high school shut down. In May, casinos shut down too. This was a good response by the government that was practically reversed in the months afterward. The picture above was taken on June 6 of 2020, months after people have become painfully aware of the virus. Casinos had recently reopened, and businesses were attracting tourists to make up for the massive losses of revenue during the quarantine. As you can see, there is a complete lack of social distancing, with some people failing to wear masks. This picture, to me, is but one of many examples of the government failing to protect its citizens. It’s no surprise that the reopening of commercial activity in Las Vegas resulted in another peak of Covid cases, unraveling all of the previous progress made to flatten the curve. Las Vegas is now a petri dish for the virus to thrive and spread. People in the healthcare field, including my father, are now under immense amounts of stress as Covid patients come pouring in. If officials, and citizens, had listened to common sense and scientific evidence from the start, we would have stopped isolating months ago. -
2020-10-16
Selling Coffee during the Plague Year
A journal of a Starbucks employee working during the pandemic. Describes the ways in which the company provided in ways adequate and not. Six weeks of paid stay-at-home that spiraled into depression, and the mounting stress from working with the public, and the pressure to open space for customers to stay in store. -
2020-10-02
Keep Calm and Coffee On
This picture was taken recently during a coffee tasting with my coworkers. I did not take the photo. I am an ASU student submitting this as part of an assignment for HST485. This photo captures a light moment during what has been a stressful time (both for customers and retail workers like myself). It demonstrates resilience and humor in the face of challenges. The photo was taken in Gaylord, Michigan on October 2, 2020. -
2020-04-20
Grocery Shopping During a Pandemic
When COVID-19 became classified as a pandemic the United States started to shut down. As a result, grocery stores experienced long lines and shortages. Toilet paper, bathroom essentials, and cleaning supplies quickly sold out and became a difficult commodity to purchase. These shortages went on for months. The importance of this is to demonstrate how unprepared humanity is for an event like COVID-19. Seeing these pictures and experiencing the long lines and shortages for myself made me realize how dependant I am on the grocery store. This experience gave me a sense of awareness. I became aware of how easy it was for me to go to the local grocery store and get what I needed before COVID-19; additionally, I became aware of how quickly that can change. -
2020-03-01
COVID and RETAIL
It shows a fresh perspective of someone working in retail during a pandemic. -
2020-10-08
Essential Worker
The object that I have uploaded reflects several aspects regarding the pandemic as it presents an implication as to the spread of Covid-19 throughout the United States, methods regarding the prevention of the transmission of Covid-19, as well as the efforts of companies, in this case Dollar General, to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. On its own, as the mask of a Dollar General Employee from Sevierville, Tennessee, the object brings with it the implication that, in the event that evidence for Covid-19’s spread within East Tennessee is lost, there was at least a concern within the Dollar General corporation regarding the spread of Covid-19 into the East Tennessee area. The object, as a photograph of a mask, also provides information about the ideas circulating at this time to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, such as the donning of a mask to cover the mouth and nose. The object also informs regarding the efforts of retail corporations, in this instance Dollar General, to curb the spread of the pandemic through their establishments and across the nation, such as providing official masks for their employees to utilize. The uploaded object is important to me because it is a reminder of the various reactions, primarily from customers, to the spread of the pandemic within a retail-based environment. Among these reactions has been the bulk purchasing of certain products once they are restocked, specifically Lysol and alcohol but toilet paper and hand sanitizer were also frequently bought in the early months of the pandemic, as well as the influx of various hand sanitizer and face mask based products to be purchased. Aside from what items are frequently purchased, the customers of the store also react frequently to the implementation of face masks within the store as many comment on their lack of comfort while a minority speak positively about their benefit in preventing the spread of Covid-19, though the majority of customers make no comment at all regarding face masks. -
2020-10-05
A barista's pandemic story of retribution.
This is a short viewpoint from a Starbucks barista in a city setting and gives an idea of some of the panic that set in initially during those few days leading up to lockdown. -
2020-03-10
Living in the middle of a global pandemic
My experience about the pandemic is that it was not easy. I am an essential worker. I work as a cashier at Whole Foods Market and a full time student so since the pandemic has started, we have taken precautionary steps moving forward at both work and school. School has been a little bit tougher because I have to maintain more discipline in getting my assignments done on time and I don't have the resources that I used to have such as being able to go to the library when I cannot focus at home. -
2020
Working during COVID-19
It describes my work experience during the whole pandemic -
2020-06-01
Precautions at Retail Shops Related to Covid-19
This image shows what precautions retail stores are taking relating to the corona virus. Though I found this picture on the internet, I have also experienced going to the stores and seeing how they have changed because of Covid-19. For example, when I walked into the store, the employees were keeping track of how many people were in the store at a time and limiting the max occupancy. After waiting in line outside, they provided hand sanitizer before I could enter. There was a sign similar to the one in the picture that explained what they were doing to protect their customers, such as requiring masks and marking places to stand throughout the store to make sure I was social distancing. This image outlines the extremities of the pandemic and how stores are taking measures to ensure their customers are safe. -
2020-08-25
Wendy's During Corona Season
A job in food service is almost never fun. However, a global pandemic tends to somehow make it worse. I work at Wendy's along with my friend Trinity (pictured in photo #2). Working at the same restaurant before and during the COVID-19 pandemic allows us to really experience the impacts of it all, and we see the changes every day. Wearing masks, gloves, and sometimes face shields, at all times is just one example of the "new normal" in food service. The lax environment of work before the pandemic seems almost comedic compared to what is now required. However, the internal changes during COVID-19 are a drop in the bucket compared to the change in how customers treat us. What used to be a few rude customers in a majority of nice customers has completely changed. It may be the fear of the virus, or the newfound unfamiliarity with the outside world, but food/customer service has never been so taxing on workers. -
2020
'Grounded' Podcast Series - Australian Aviation and Covid-19
‘Grounded’ is a series of podcast interviews (created in the first three months of the pandemic) with aviation industry participants regarding the impacts and issues that the Covid-19 pandemic creates for the General Aviation industry in Australia. This is important because General Aviation is often forgotten about in the discourse. What is generally talked about in the media is the AIRLINES - not the small, family run General Aviation businesses and pilots). In these podcasts, I interview the smaller players in the industry - a small tourist charter operation manager, an airshow organiser, a flight school operator, the chairman of Recreational Aviation Australia, a light aircraft manufacturer, a maintenance facility operator, and even the editor of a general aviation aircraft trading magazine. All interview participants of the podcasts provide significant personal insights into the impacts of Covid-19 on their industry that are not generally part of mainstream media discussion. I have submitted this artefact as it provides a unique insight into the lesser-known parts of the aviation industry in those first three months of the pandemic. -
2020-08-10
Corona and Coffee
I'm a barista at Starbucks coffee company. It's been a disturbing and fascinating few months, to say the least, and like most, I've experienced some significant changes to my work and personal life. Most notably, my job is now my bubble. When the quarantine orders went out in Oregon, Starbucks kept going. I had two weeks of mandatory self-isolation after one of my work crew came into possible contact with COVID early in the pandemic. Otherwise, I've been working more than ever before. Interacting with the public makes me constantly on edge. But the coffee industry seems to have been deemed "essential," and my team and I are kept busy supporting the public's caffeine addiction through the global madness that has been 2020. Because of my hundreds of interactions with strangers daily, I've cut off almost all contact with my friends and family outside of work. The risks of my coming into contact with the virus are high, especially when not all of our customers feel inclined to comply with COVID-19 regulations. I'm happy to have my job and not have experienced the economic uncertainty that so many have dealt with in recent months. Despite the loneliness of feeling removed from my family and friends, this pandemic has brought my work team closer together. We have all experienced the pandemic the same way and become a support system for each other for which I feel lucky. -
2020-08-10
A Tale of Two Masks
Working During a Pandemic is Fun In late March both of my part time jobs closed down. I have two contrasting occupations. One is at a Worldwide cooperation. The other is a small, locally owned business. I’ve felt the effects of the pandemic most forcefully while at work. Before the pandemic, I was working 60 hours weeks to support myself and go to school. I did not go anywhere else but work and home. The bars, salons, and other recreational areas shutting down had little to no effect on my day to day life. This is a cross correlation of the similarities and differences of the issues I have run into while working through the pandemic. At the beginning of the shutdown, my corporate job surprised me with increased wages and benefits to help aid through the initial closings. At my corporate job I was considered an essential employee, but my particular store did not have a drive through. I was able to stay safe at home for four weeks while the company shipped in barriers and masks and other COVID equipment. My other occupation at the small business, as a swim instructor for children shut down immediately and opted to put their employees on furlough until we were allowed to open back up. Because I already worked one part time job, I did not receive much unemployment benefit. Through no fault of my own, my income was cut in half and my savings are, to this day, empty. Even with the temporary pay raise given to me by the corporate job, rent and my 3,000 dollar tuition made my expenditure even to my income. When I went back to work at my essential job, which was making coffee, there were a lot of new rules to keep up with and enforce on customers. On my first day back a lady threw a handful of rocks at our window because we did not allow her to sit down at the facility. Many, many more occasions like this happened on a daily basis. People were frustrated with the new rules and unclear on their necessity. Customers were not required to wear a mask in the facility until very recently. This was very frustrating. If only one part of the party is wearing a mask no one is protected. It felt useless to be wearing something that was only designated to make customers feel better without risking their own comfort. The pandemic started affecting Butte county at a dangerous level in May, but people were not required to wear masks in public until four months later. Around mid July is when the Governor issued a State wide mask regulation and we were finally allowed by the company to ask customers to comply. Even with the statewide mask regulation, and every single business requiring it, customers continue to yell, demean me and blatantly not follow the rule. Every time a customer comes in without a mask I get extremely anxious at how they are going to respond to me politely asking if they have one. My company is even allowing me to give our mask supply to customers without one, for free! Even when offered a free mask, I am turned down and shamed. On this occasion I have to politely reply that I can walk their beverage to them and they can wait outside the store without a mask. If even one person is not wearing a mask, they are spreading their germs and infecting the entire room. If they are contagious or asymptomatic, COVID droplets can live on clothes, and services for up to three hours. It can reach your eyes and infect you that way. If you go to the Doctors office you will see them wearing a mask and face shield for this very reason. My finance, whom I live with, is immunocompromised. He has had bronchitis twelve times in his 21 year lifetime. This is due to being exposed to mildew and mold in his formative years creating a deadly combination of asthma and a severe dust allergy. If he was to catch COVID-19, he would become fatally ill and possibly die. This thought is on the forefront of my mind everyday at work. I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of knowledge and leadership in the Trump Administration during the Pandemic. It is now 5 months since we first started practicing half hearted health regulations. We are at 1,500 American deaths a day. Our death to population ratio is shameful compared to other countries. We have mass graves being dug on an island in New York for the unnamed victims of COVID-19. This is affecting our prison populations, our urban and rural communities. No one is safe. We have very simple precautions to follow but the constant negation of the validity of these practices from our president has left most of the population under a false sense of security. I have begun to resent customers I once enjoyed chatting with, due to their constant apprehension of wearing a mask. My other job, as a swim instructor, opened up June 17, about three months after my job as a barista did. This came with the forced opening of the economy. Within the first two weeks of being open, three teachers had to be tested and put into a two week quarantine.However, due to constant sanitation and all employees wearing masks, the spread stopped there. At this job, masks are required or no service is given. All staff and teachers wear masks at all times, and the building and equipment is decontaminated every night. Even with this constant sanitation, you can’t control people’s personal lives. As time goes on people are becoming more restless. When the president claims he does not believe in masks, and holds rally not servicing personal distance or masks, the populace feels safe to socially fraternize. Many of my coworkers are holding small gatherings, drinking with acquaintances and risking contamination through ignorance. The customers of this job are a lot more understanding. We make it abundantly clear what is required of them and we will not give them service otherwise. These clear boundaries, ultimately, are what ensure proper cooperation. We called every single client personally before we reopened and confirmed the new rules. We sent out emails, we have signs posted and every employee is specially trained on how to facilitate the new rules. I believe these regulations reflect how the populace responds to strong leadership. If we had clear rules from the beginning, with strict boundaries, would this second wave of infection have spread? -
2020-07-22
The Food Industry Has a Well Known Secret
This meme created from a Facebook post has been making the rounds among food industry people. It's a well-known secret that food workers don't take sick days so why would they start now? If you've ever worked in food service you know you don't call in sick even when you are violating food safety rules. It's hard to find a job in food service, it's even harder to keep that job, and you can't afford to lose that job. -
2020-06-24
Restore Pandemic Pay // Make it Permanant Poster
A poster shared on social media in support of advocacy work being done by a friend of the artist. At the beginning of the pandemic, workers in Canada's major grocery stores were given pay increases across the board by their individual employers, as compensation for the additional work and precautions they had to undertake and the hazards they would face having to interact with many different people during the near complete shut down. As time has gone on and other business sectors have begun to open up, the grocery chains have repealed this pay increase, a move which many workers and supporters consider unfair given they are still facing the same risks they have been since the beginning of the pandemic in Canada. -
05/24/2020
Malesia Lyles Oral History, 2020/05/24
An incomplete interview with Malesia. Malesia Lyles tells the story of the illness in her family from November 2019 through March 2020, and the steps she went through to get medical help. This involves themes of racism, homelessness, shelters, education, and children. -
05/22/2020
Anthony Jodlowski Oral History, 2020/05/22
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Public History Seminar Covid-19 Project -
05/19/2020
Caitlyn Kirchoff Oral History, 2020/05/19
Caitlyn Kirchoff, a senior at Augusta High School in Augusta, Wisconsin, discusses the difficulties and disappointments of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing the State of Wisconsin’s quick and effective response, Caitlyn expresses excitement at the thought of stores reopening, summer vacation plans, and attending college in the fall. As a part-time employee at a local restaurant, Caitlyn describes the shift from dine-in to take-out service, outlining newly imposed food service regulations. Caitlyn recalls the full range of emotions experienced by high school students as the initial excitement associated with school closures quickly became displeasure at the thought of canceled rites of passage. Addressing the shortcomings of distance learning, Caitlyn describes technological malfunctions responsible for incomplete assignments and the travel required to obtain reliable internet service. Caitlyn openly expresses concern around other states reopening too quickly and believes a slow reopening will help keep the number of positive cases low in Wisconsin. -
05/11/2020
Charles Redbird Oral History, 2020/05/11
Charles Redbird, a chef from Osseo, Wisconsin, reflects on his experience being laid off and filing for unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a single father to a two-year-old boy, Charles shares his frustrations with delayed processing times and bureaucratic red tape as his financial savings dwindled during the initial months of Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order. Charles describes the steps taken by the Ho-Chunk Nation to ensure economic stability and longevity among tribal members and employees. Citing increased time spent with his child and the opportunity for personal growth, Charles shares positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic that are often overlooked. Additionally, Charles notes the positive impact of internet celebrities and charitable giving, specifically mentioning the work of David Dobrik and h3h3. Comparing the experience of working as a chef before and during the pandemic, Charles provides insight into the changes that restaurants have implemented to ensure health and safety. Looking ahead, Charles expresses a belief that the social isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic will improve his familial relationships in the future. -
2020-07-07
"Anti-mask racist rant at T&T"
The caption accompanying the video reads: "My heart was broken and tears shed... 'I am Canadian'. When that guy shouted at him, he didn't know how to fight back, he kept saying 'I'm Canadian'. Obviously, Canada is his home! Where is our multiculturalism? Where are our national values? Even PM Trudeau called grocery store employees "heroes"! Why are heroes treated like this...? I don't understand... facts also prove that wearing a mask can help stop the spread of coronavirus. What did he/they do wrong? Just because he asked you to wear a mask? Ridiculous!" A video which has gone viral and prompted a police investigation which shows a middle aged man going on a loud rant varying from how he feels masks are bad for general health and how they impact his specific health, to how the virus was released on purpose and blaming it on people of Chinese descent in a T&T in Missisauga. T&T is a Canadian grocery chain specifically offering Chinese and other Asian goods and catering to Asian communities, though in recent years they have also gained some degree of popularity with Canadians of other backgrounds. In the video the man continues to advance on a masked, older male employee who is standing with his arms out, saying "where are your 2 metres?! Back away from me!" while moving forward. Several employees are gathered around asking the man to leave the store repeatedly while his wife, likewise unmasked, pulls on his arm in an attempt to deescalate. When the male employee's place of birth/citizenship becomes challenged, and the customer begins spouting off racist conspiracy theories the employee begins repeatedly yelling that he is Canadian, while attempting to get the man to leave. The customer does not mention until about halfway through the video that he has asthma and claims he will suffer and asthma attack should he wear a mask, but by that point he has made himself unwelcome and the staff tell him they reserve the right to have him leave regardless. Once again, the man's female companion is also not wearing a mask and gives no reason for this. The city of Mississauga does not currently have a bylaw or health order requiring masks indoors like Toronto, of which it is a suburb, but the T&T chain has an store policy requiring masks and has for nearly a month. -
2020-06-27
Confrontation over mask devolved to Racism at Kingston Coffee House
A Facebook post relaying an incident in which a staff member at a Kingston coffee shop was verbally attacked when she asked a customer why they weren't wearing a mask in keeping with a city policy requiring them indoors. It reads as follows: "Is it not enough that business owners have to contend with troubling and uncertain times? Weighing survival of the business and employees against our own health and lives ? Is it not enough that we have to deal with confusing directives from provincial and municipal levels who on one hand are asking we do our best to open up patios, and serve customers from outside our region and on the other, are asking us to ramp up the sanitation and work for 8 hour shifts with masks on ? Is it not enough that following the protocols leads to slower service and irate customers who then leave a lasting 1 star review on google that impacts what's left of the business? Apparently NOT. We at Kingston Coffee House are deeply hurt and angered by what one of our staff member had to face this morning. She is from India and has been with us since 2018. @KFLAPH has made masks mandatory starting from today and we are imposing the same on every customer who enters the premises. One caucasian woman entered Kingston Center location today and was asked by our employee to wear a mask. In return, she waited for other customers to leave and started banging the tables and abusing the employee by saying : 'you are a bloody Indian who should not be here, your mom and dad haven't raised you well'. NO , THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! As a BIPOC owned business, we would do our best to track her down and make her responsible. Bringing race into the picture was uncalled for and the ensuing racial slurs were horrid and inhuman. You can thank your lucky stars Karen that I wasnt personally at the store. You would've got more than your fair share of an earful had I been on site. ( We understand not everyone wants to follow rules and they are entitled to their opinions. We are only trying to enforce what has been made a guideline. PLEASE BE POLITE to every person trying to serve you in these confusing and challenging times. You have to wear a mask for a few minutes when you come in, our staff is wearing it ALL DAY ! ) @ Kingston Coffee House Inc." -
2020-06-30
Epic Pandemic
Mental resilience and strength of oneself -
2020-06-10
Pandemic Panic
The pandemic is a struggle for everyone, and [it's] also hard for me who also lost income sources. As much I can, I take photos whenever I go out to buy supplies. I also felt the frustration of government processes with long lines and unnecessary procedures. But at the end of the day, I am relieved to always come home which I can always feel secure. -
2020-04-10
Action for Boston Community responds to the pandemic on Twitter
Action for Boston Community Development(ABCD) is a nonprofit organization that works with low income individuals and families in Boston, Massachusetts. Low income communities have been hit the hardest during the Covid-19 pandemic, and ABCD offers resources such as food pantry services, diapers, and activities to keep children occupied. ABCD has been a staple in many Boston neighborhoods and while Covid-19 has created obstacles for the organization, they remain committed to serving the needs of the Community in any way possible. -
2020-06-02
Para sa bayan [For the country]
My girlfriend (Krizia Rodriguez) volunteered as an encoder in the Philippine Arena mega-swabbing center in spite of the risks and having no hazard pay. She was well aware of all the things but still pursued to be part of the team and for this, I am truly proud of her and I believe her story should be shared too. -
2020-05-28
Edgar the Lyft driver showed how to perfectly respond to an unhinged, racist customer
A Lyft driver handles a racist rant from customer in video. He is refered to as "boy" and "wetback" for asking the customer to wear a mask because he believes Covid-19 is real. -
2020-06-25
Scottsdale night club charged with failing to follow Covid protocols
Popular night clubbing area "Old Town" in Scottsdale has been ordered to follow covid protocols when open to lower spread of the virus. Arizona has been fully open for some time now, including night clubs and bars. One popular night club in Old Town, Riot House, has been charged with a misdemeanor for failing to follow health protocols. Fully open close contact businesses like night clubs and bars have been pointed to as to why Arizona cases have spiked in recent weeks. As a student at Arizona State, i personally frequented Old Town and Riot House as many students do, so to see criminal charges being brought against them caught my eye. Although it is unlikely the owners will face serious legal trouble, it is clear they placed profit over health. Places like Riot House and other nightclubs currently open during the pandemic likely served as super spreader hot spots. These hot spots also likely played a large role in why Arizona is currently a global covid hotspot. I personally know many friends and acquaintances who attended night clubs in Old Town and Mill Ave in the previous weeks who have now tested positive for the virus. -
2020-05-26
No Mask, No Service
I went to the grocery story with my 83 year old grandmother and was more than a little irritated to see that so many people were refusing to wear a mask. It gave me an uneasy feeling. My grandmother who lives alone and very far from any family, has no choice but to leave her home to buy necessities. I am worried for her safety. -
2020-06-11
Do you want masks with that? Alberta offers free COVID-19 masks for all — at fast-food drive-thrus
The first Canadian province to attempt to provide free masks to its population, Calgary, is doing so via fast food drive thrus such as McDonalds and Tim Horton's. The article describes the scheme, its potential positives and negatives, and the journalist's experiences when requesting masks at various establishments. -
2020-03-17
Exodus Bagels, March 17
Exodus Bagels is a black-owned business in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, MA. This Facebook post is an announcement on March 17 that Exodus Bagels would close indefinitely due to the pandemic. -
2020-05-14
Local Diner Feeds Grocery Store Staff
This Facebook post details how the Viriginia Diner donated lunch to the retail workers at Wakefield, Virginia's Great Valu Market. This post illustrates some of the ways in which the community of Wakefield came together to help one another in the pandemic. -
2020-05-18
Working In Retail During A Pandemic
Narrative describing experiences of working in retail during the pandemic. -
2020-05-29
Quarantine Sucks But So Does Student Debt
It has become a universal agreement that Covid-19 is absolutely one of the worse things to happen on this planet. Many people have been impacted in many ways, whether it’s not being able to see their loved ones while they’re on their death beds, contracting the virus, losing your job, your main source of income losing their job so your household takes a financial hit or losing your best parts of senior year. For me, the most that Covid-19 has done as far as negatively, is by stripping my senior year away...and my first fall semester of college. As much as I have been in mourning since it was announced we were no longer getting what we were promised at the young age of six, such as proper graduation, I have matured in my position and realized that all I’ve lost was my senior year, where others have lost their loved ones or even their lives. I won’t go much further into my senior year when my everyday life has changed way more above that. I have a job. Before quarantine, I was working very few shifts due to school hours restricting my work hours. The main point of having this job was to save up money, which I will wrap back around to why it’s actually a good thing that my fall semester got announced it will predominantly be online. When quarantine happened, I was fortunate enough to be amongst the very few that did not lose their job. When the news broke out that we will be put on quarantine but the restaurant I work at will stay open, my manager jumped right on that and scheduled me as much as possible. And I didn’t complain one bit. This is a perfect opportunity for me to catch up financially so I am not totally swamped in student debt. This is the part where I come full circle and explain why I’m actually glad my school announced that they’ll be starting the fall semester online. Again, I am guilty of mourning losing my “first day” of college, but I realized, I get an entire semester where the majority of the expenses I would be paying for, I won’t be and I will still be working. It won’t be much, but as someone who isn’t very frugal, quarantine has been an enormous aid to my bank account. With stay-at-home order, I’m never going out with friends and spending money on things I have plenty of at home. My point of talking about all of the great things that have happened to me during quarantine is not to dismiss how terrible this entire pandemic has been worldwide, it’s to show that even though this sucks, I’ve been trying my best to look at things optimistically because with me losing my graduation and not being able to see my friends, I haven’t been getting a whole lot of serotonin lately, so I have no choice to look on the bright side. -
04/26/2020
Living through Covid-19: 04/26/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
2020-04-25
Living through Covid-19: 04/25/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
2020-04-24
Living through Covid-19: 04/24/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
04/22/2020
Living through Covid-19: 04/22/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
04/19/2020
Living through Covid-19: 04/19/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
04/16/2020
Living through Covid-19: 04/16/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
04/12/2020
Living through Covid-19: 04/12/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
04/10/2020
Living Through Covid-19: 04/10/2020
This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc. -
03/18/2020
Order take out food, get free toilet paper
As it became increasingly clear the coronavirus was going to effect the United States people began stockpiling food and other supplies, especially toilet paper. It quickly resulted in no store, online or brick and mortar, had toilet paper in stock. As restaurants tried to quickly shift to pick up and deliver as their only options for remaining open many got inventive with how to attract customers. This restaurant, on the square in Georgetown, Texas, like many others, offered customers a free roll of toilet paper with their take out order. -
05/19/2020
Franklin restaurant announces it won't be reopening
Franklin is the first high-profile Hobart restaurant to announce that it is permanently closing in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic. ABC News online describes Franklin as "one of the restaurants that helped build Tasmania's reputation as a foodie hotspot". While many locals dined in once or twice (usually on a special occasion), the venue relied almost completely on interstate and international visitors - a meal at Franklin, with a constantly changing menu of ever-surprising, (sometimes slightly ludicrous) locally sourced ingredients and a fabulous natural wine list was a must on the high-end MONA visitor circuit. I had the best glass of pinot noir I've ever tasted at Franklin. The general consensus is that the demise of one of Tasmania's most ambitious and well-known restaurants - perhaps the first major casualty of Hobart's food scene - is a portent of things to come. Covid19 will likely spell slow inexorable disaster for much of the hospitality industry here. With Tasmania's borders closed for now, it is an unfortunate reality that our most visionary and daring restaurateurs will likely be the hardest hit. -
2020-05-14
FedEx Safety Promise
I needed to use FedEx to return some books, and noticed the sign posted on a table at the entrance. A manager rushed to help me as soon as I entered, and told me to feel free to use as much hand sanitizer as I wanted. It seems part of an effort to keep the number of people inside the store to a low number, and get people in and out as quickly as possible. *Joey Dorion took the photo *Photograph, taken at the local fedex store *FedEx created the sign