A lot of people are working from home or not working currently because of the “shelter-in-place” order Governor Pritzker has put out to help control the spread of COVID-19. This started Saturday, March 21st at 5 p.m. There have been many misconceptions about what this means. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot tried to clear some of the confusion in the same speech as the Governor.
“I want to say to be clear, this is not a lockdown, it’s not martial law,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “There’s absolutely no need to change your normal purchasing habits. Please, the grocery stores will remain open and stocked. So please be mindful of your neighbors and do not hoard. Remember, this is the new normal, for now.”
With that being said, all “essential businesses” are still open. This includes hospitals, grocery stores, home improvement stores, and even restaurants. Restaurants are limited to take-out and curbside pick-up only.
This includes the bagel shop I work at, Big Apple Bagels. We are open, and plan on staying open. We are doing take-out orders only, and have changed our hours so that we are not open as long. Here are some things I have noticed while working during this time.
The phone rings 10x more than it usually does, which is expected. Most of the phone calls are people asking if we’re open. We tell them yes, for take-out only until 2 p.m. A lot of people ask if they need to order online, on an app, or on the phone. As a smaller business we don’t do much through the corporate websites, and don’t have an app. Customers can call to place an order or come in, order, and leave. We will do curbside pick-up for those who wish to do that as well.
We are very fortunate at Big Apple Bagels to have a great boss, great co-workers, and really nice, caring, loyal customers. A lot of our customers are regular customers that come in every week, if not every day. All of them have expressed how happy they are that we are open, and that they will continue to support our business. Many of them have been extremely generous with tipping us during this time. It means a lot to me, as well as my co-workers that people see that we are happy to be here serving them, but we are also putting ourselves at higher risk than those being completely isolated in their home.
A few people have called to ask us about our cleanliness. They want to know if we’re wearing masks, gloves, washing our hands, etc. We always wear gloves when handling food, even before the virus was a risk. When handling money, we take off the gloves we used for food. Working is a risk for us as well as our customers. Of course, we are washing our hands. I personally wash my hands every time I handle money on top of the many other times I wash during the day. It seems that some customers don’t realize that we are also scared of getting infected. However, I am grateful that I am able to work during this time because I know there are people struggling not being able to work.
As I said before, we have limited our hours because business is okay, but we aren’t nearly as busy as we normally are. Usually on weekends we have lines out the door for a majority of the day. On weekdays, we usually have a pretty big breakfast and lunch rush. Since restaurants have been limited to carry-out only, we have (maybe) a rush of a few people in line, or a group here and there. Nothing close to “normal” days. There is a pretty consistent flow of customers throughout the day, though. Normally we are open until 5 pm on weekdays, 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Currently we are open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. We also don’t have as many people working at once. We spend our free time cleaning anything customers touch, and finding other cleaning projects around the shop.
Another thing that has changed is the amount of products we have out. Usually we have eleven coffee pots prepared in the morning to refill multiple times throughout the day. It’s hard to even keep up most days with the long lines, and everyone’s free refills. Currently we start the day with six coffee pots and only have to refill a few them. Our bagel production has not seemed to slow down much as we’ve had many rounds of bagels in and out of those baskets. A lot of customers buy them by the dozen to stock up for the week. (Luckily our bagels freeze and keep amazingly.) Our muffin case is not as full, but we bake enough for each day.
Business fluctuates from day to day. The beginning of the shelter-in-place order caused a lot of people to actually stay home, but as the week went on, we got a little busier on some days. It’s hard to tell if the flow of customers will increase or decrease. People will want to get out of the house after being quarantined inside all day, but as that happens stricter laws might be put in place. In Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot has closed the lakefront and expressed how appalled she is at certain businesses running normally. Other states such as New York have also gotten stricter as their governor expressed how disappointed he was in some people not taking it seriously. No one knows exactly what is going to happen or how long it will last.
If you do choose to leave your house to get food and support some businesses, I encourage you to go to small businesses. Independent food places. Huge chain restaurants are going to lose business as well, but they have a way better chance of surviving.
Working during this time has been rewarding and challenging. Whether you are at home, working, or working from home, be sure to take the proper precautions. Protect yourself so that you can keep those around you healthy as well. If you do choose to go out during this shelter-in-place, be sure to show respect and appreciation for those still working and serving you.