Photo Source: Argus Leader
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought several countries to their feet, but yet people continue to be absolutely irrational.
Since the closure of all schools in California, things with the COVID-19 outbreak have been getting worse but even with the U.S being “on lockdown,” people continue to leave their homes and put everyone at risk. This being said, I would like to talk about food restaurants closing and why them being considered essential businesses makes this whole stay at home order useless. With experiences from our hometown Huntington Park, people have begun to eat out more often which is completely unfair to workers of any food restaurant.
I completely understand that when the stay at home order first began, the mayor of Los Angeles made it clear that people could only leave their home for essential business, but that doesn’t mean to raid every food restaurant on sight. Not only are they putting themselves at risk, but also the employees from these businesses.
As an employee from a fast-food restaurant, I truly disagree with the logic of this whole situation because things are not going to get any better. When the mayor had stated that only essential business, the first thought that came to mind was that all businesses were going to close and only food markets, pharmacies or places needed to survive were staying open. That being said, I was extremely disappointed to learn that food restaurants were staying open because then this whole stay at home order seems with all honesty dumb.
For example, at my job, drive-thru and carryout remain open, so customers are still able to come inside and order food to go. Don’t get me wrong there is a 6 feet distance between the employees and customers, but even then when the customer needs to pay, I still have to come in close contact with them, which is where I find the six feet boundary useless. Yes, some people may say that the employees are wearing gloves, but that doesn’t help with anything if workers are being exposed while customers are paying. How do we know if they are infected or if they simply have a common cold?
Not only is this situation already bad enough, but during my car ride from my house to my job, I can see how crazy the drive-thru lines become, at my job, the drive-thru line never stops but only gets longer. In N Out’s drive-thru line as well curves more than usual, which is ridiculous to me. People say that they are terrified of this whole situation, yet they continue to put people at risk to simply go get a burger or coffee?
During this COVID 19 pandemic, even though food restaurants are considered an essential business, people should think about the workers as well and stop putting themselves and the workers at risk. As easily as a customer could be infected so can a worker and no one will know how it spread since it takes two weeks for symptoms to show according to the CDC. This is why I believe we should all be considerate and stop putting each other at risk.
By Gisell Villagomez (News Editor)