Pandemic Push/Pull

I work in healthcare, and the vast majority of my work this year has been in support of the COVID-19 response at a major NYC healthcare system.

My social circle for the last decade has been NYC’s service industry. 

Since this summer, I have tried to straddle this contradiction. It’s been challenging trying to support friends while minding the state of the virus. What do you say to the people demanding bars be closed to limit the virus while your friends face financial ruin?

This weekend’s declaration that NYC’s indoor dining is being forced closed once more? Pretty cut and dry nonsense. Indoor dining isn’t the source of the recent resurgence. NYC’s restaurant scene isn’t riskier than the rest of the state’s.

So this weekend, we’ve been trying to support, to spread the love, to say farewell. It’s not clear when this nonsense will end. But without government support, the lifeblood of this city is unlikely to survive.

I am broken hearted it has come to this.

“When we were young the future looked so bright
Now that we're closer, we can see that it's on fire
I used to think the best was surely yet to come
And now sometimes I think I'll die before it does”