As we all know, the year 2020 has been a crazy ride. We’ve all experienced some highs, and also some lows, on this rollercoaster of a year. From transitioning to a hectic schedule of 6 A.M. alarms to bedtimes of sometimes 3 A.M., to waking up two minutes before virtual meetings and napping between classes and only taking 15 minutes to get ready before work to do my hair, because why put on makeup if I’m going to wear a mask that will melt it off throughout my shift?
Being a full-time college student to become a teacher and a part-time bartender and server at a local sports bar and grill, my schedule used to be jam-packed. In March, I would wake up by 7 A.M. everyday to go do a teaching observation, have a full day of classes, then go straight to work, and sometimes only come home to change my clothes and fix my makeup before going to work a six to eight hour shift. Now, I wake up with just enough time to open my laptop and join my class Zoom call, not caring what I look like because hey, it’s 2020 and we are all going through it. For work, now all I have to do to get ready is fix my hair and throw on some eye makeup and call it a day since the majority of my face is covered with a mask. I am not complaining about this whatsoever, because when this all began, I wasn’t even sure what was going to happen with my job.
In March, when everything started to go down, my place of work tried to stay open as long as we could. We did curbside pick-up orders all day, to only being open during peak times, to eventually having to shut down all together. During the shutdown, my job got a major remodel and I was counting down the days until we could reopen and I could finally get back to work. Do you know how hard it is being a social butterfly (and a bartender) and not being able to have physical interactions with anyone other than those you live with?! So hard! I luckily live with my boyfriend, so it made time away from work a little easier, but I still missed my coworkers and our guests. I missed seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones, sharing stories and laughs, and obviously making money. It was an extremely difficult transition for me going from constant full and busy days, to sleeping my days away because I was just so sad (the seasonal depression came early this year). It has gotten better since restrictions have been lifted, but now, who knows, we might be going right back where we were *knock on wood this isn’t true*.
At my work, we are all a pretty tight knit crew. From the servers and bartenders, to our bouncers and kitchen staff, to our regular guests, we all have a pretty great relationship. We love to spend time with each other inside and outside of work, and love to get coffee or lunch with one another! Obviously, that hasn’t been able to happen much due to social distancing guidelines. Instead of greeting each other with hugs, we have to wave and smile with our eyes, and instead of being able to sit with our regular guests and our friends, we have to stand as far as we can while still being able to hear them to take their order, even through the masks. Being someone who loves to be personable and relatable with the people I come in contact with at work and being told I can’t even give them a high five when we watch football and our team scores, it is a pretty tough time. I feel as if I’m being told that everything I was once able to do is now illegal. I understand why the rules are in place as they are, but I can still say that it stings and I can’t wait until this thing fades away.
Instead of being busy with serving a whole bar of people their food and drinks, now we are busy with all of the extra cleaning and precautions we have to take. We have a whole checklist and step-by-step sanitation process we have to follow, which I think is great that we can still function and stay open as we are by taking care of ourselves and our guests. I miss when our restaurant was full of families and groups of friends for dinner, and college students and their parents during the late night. Just because I am saying I miss it does not imply I believe everyone should be out and about and not being careful, because I do agree with the guidelines we have to follow. It is just hard for an outgoing bartender/server like myself who makes an income by being personable and engaging with my guests, to having to cover half of my face when my smile is what makes me the big bucks! (I kid, I kid, but I do have certain guests who love it when I smile/laugh at them!)
All in all, this year has really put us all through the ringer. All of the sleep I have been getting lately is alarming, because shouldn’t I be stressing about some assignment?! I am truly proud of not only myself and my coworkers, but the other service industry workers, healthcare workers, students, and all other essential workers and every one who has been affected by this pandemic and how we are all coping and taking it one day at a time. 2021 is right around the corner, and all we can do is hope it is better than 2020!