Interview 1- Coworker (Works in a Restaurant)
Madison works as a waitress/bartender for a family owned restaurant, and has been there for several years. She never stopped working throughout this pandemic, and was considered an essential worker.
*I will be referencing myself as the letter J for this interview
J- How did work change throughout the pandemic?
M- At first, we weren’t allowed to let anyone sit, not even at the bar. So, I started doing deliveries and answering phones instead. It wasn’t too weird, since I answered phones already, and sometimes if we were short staffed I’d do deliveries anyways. The phones were really busy, though, especially in the beginning because everyone was “trying to support small businesses”. Then, once things started to open back up a little, it was weird. I was doing my normal job but at like, a much slower pace. Only a few regulars would come sit at the bar, and barely anyone was there on a Friday or a Saturday compared to pre-pandemic. I had to chit-chat with the bar crowd a lot more, and the dining room was so slow. Now that things are really starting to open up again though, and we are allowed to have bands on Sundays on the patio again, there are a lot more people coming out and finally starting to do things again. I feel a little conflicted again, because it’s the other end of the extreme, I was barely busy and now I’m too busy.
J- Do you feel like customers were not as nice as they had been before the pandemic?
M- It’s a hit or a miss. Customers that were already nasty got even nastier, and customers that were nice got even nicer. I remember a certain customer that usually causes issues got extremely mad over something that we couldn’t control. A lot of people also were frustrated over us not being able to seat them where they wanted. We took a lot of tables away in order to make seating appropriate with guidelines, and a lot of people were passive aggressive about. Table 12, right by the window, was the most popular before COVID, and people kept saying things like “well I really wish I could sit there just one more time” or “I just really miss that table” and it’s dumb. We can’t do anything about it, so the comments just make staff mad, it really doesn’t do anything. But people were still nice, and I got a lot more thanks for working then usual, so it was a hit or miss.
J- Do you consider yourself an essential worker?
M-I don’t really think I fall into the “essential worker” category, because in my mind, restaurant workers are not as essential as someone who works in a grocery store, or my god a hospital. I should not fall under the same category as nurses and doctors, all I do is serve drunk people food and drinks throughout the week, I certainly don’t save lives. I think the whole idea of essential workers is weird, because it’s not really even the people that are essential, it’s the job. I saw a post on instagram that said something like that. I do like that I was eligible for the vaccine earlier than everyone else though!
J- Do you think others consider you essential?
M- Yes, but they don’t know it. Again, some people thank me for working when I really shouldn’t have to, but most customers think that they have a right to be here. I think in that aspect the regulars come in and think I’m essential, because without me they’d have nowhere to go every night, and they know that, they just don’t care to say anything about it. People like Travis and Joe come in here and drive me crazy with all their orders, and without the staff here they wouldn’t have anywhere else to go, since this is their go-to spot, but they’d be caught dead before they thanked any of us for it.
J- Do you think the pandemic has changed the way you look at your job?
M- No. I’ve always worked here as a bartender and I think that the way I feel about it is the same. Before COVID shut us down I liked my job. I get to talk to people and hear their life stories, I like my coworkers, I don’t think my job is too hard, and tips are good. Now, the only thing that’s changed is the tips. A lot of people don’t tip as much because times are harder, and I’m not too mad about it. I wish some people would understand that things are different and complain less, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Overall, I still love my job and think that this experience is just a story to tell when it’s all over.
