I’m a cocktail bartender in Chicago. I’ve been running programs for over five years and I love it. It’s fast paced, creative and good money (tipping culture aside). However, the pandemic has me constantly asking myself “is this my last bartending job?” On Monday this week, our GM messaged the staff saying the restaurant is out of money, and that we’ll try to limp through two weeks so staff can get paid and have time to look for new jobs in the mean time. On Tuesday it was closing that week Saturday. On Thursday it was “Friday’s it. It’s been a good ride…” I’m super sad. It’s a small independent restaurant, they treated us well, paid me well enough I could afford to live working 3 days a week so I can focus on my art/teaching practice, and they were trying to figure out how to get the staff health insurance. The pandemic has put the independent spots through the wringer and this won’t be the last of what we loose this winter. My worry is that it’ll be only the big corporate spots left by the time it’s all over.
To make it harder, this is the 6th job I’ve lost since the pandemic started. I really liked this one and I’m dreading having to look all over again. I looked at my partner yesterday and cried asking if it was me, if I was the common denominator here? But I’m not. Mis-management is, greed and ego (a couple of the others had this problem), staff abuses, and the government not doing Jack shit to help the actual small independent businesses survive. All that money that should have gone to helping places like where I work went to chains and lining the pockets of billionaires. Omicron spiked and our government went on vacation. I’m so sad I’m in this position, but I’m also fucking pissed at the state of the US that this is where we’re at, and I know I’m not alone in this fight thanks to this subreddit.
Thanks for reading. Tonight’s gonna be wild…