Among the very first phone calls that I made after the coronavirus shutdown were to restaurateurs in our area. It’s been eight months now and I’ve talked to some of those same people several times, as well as to many others in the industry.
I’ve also talked to a lot of folks in the music industry, and the two have provided what I think is a pretty good overview of this whole pandemic thing and how people have been dealing with it.
Both provide entertainment, and arguably sustenance.
One of the very first things that I learned from those early discussions was that this virus would have far-reaching ripple effects beyond anything that people could imagine. I remember one restaurant owner telling me that closing down restaurants would not just impact the waitstaff and cooks, but the guy who brought in the clean linen every week; and the food supplier; and even the garbage man who picked up the trash every week.
“There won’t be any trash to pick up,” he said.