Hi. My name is Tyler. I happened to put on the green apron about a year ago in April 2019 at a cute little cafe, across from a cute little park, downtown. Everything about it is well loved, the store has been overdue for a remodel for over 5 years. It’s very compact and almost any partner that’s worked on that floor has definitely bumped elbows every now and then. It has seen many walks of life, many morning rushes, mid day lunches, afternoon hang outs, pride parades, local celebrations, concert crowds, travelers, tourists, office workers, state workers, bankers, servers, cooks, hair stylists, tattoo artists, musicians, hot summer days, dreamy rainy days, just another days, regulars, wanderers, dreamers... things and people I never thought I’d take for granted. Pieces that made my little cafe store a home away from home. And it was the people I got to know every day, every single shift I worked, my partners, my customers, my non paying customers, the people who just needed a place to go, some water to drink, a smile, or whatever, made this place what it was, and created what I came to experience looking back. Ok—but if you still misused the restroom or have ever been rude to one of my partners none of this mushy gushy nostalgia applies to you). And it was those little monotonies and my annoying regulars that I would end up missing.

I’m sure most of us felt the hush of Covid. Everyday was unclear what would happen next. Everyday tensions rose. We went to go orders only. The chairs in the lobby were gone. And then I got the text saying our store would be closing that day and I was told not to come in. Then was the initial shock.

Now are the aftershocks.

The hesitation of reopening. The question of safety.

After six weeks, I decided it was ok for me to come back. I didn’t want to take a LOA. So, now, I’m temporarily helping out at a drive thru store, and with all of these new procedures in place, the closed lobby, not knowing where anything is, I can’t help but feel like my job isn’t the same at all, and I’m also overwhelmed by a new setting and Covid and getting used to a totally different flow. This store also doesn’t seem to really have its stuff together and some of the home partners don’t seem to care much about certain standards. Also, one of the shifts were stressing about drive times today. One even went out into the line with a white board to cut drive times (is that even allowed??) It was fairly packed, but surely there could’ve been a better less stressful thing to do. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re all getting back into the swing of things or what. But today I just felt a lot more easily exhausted than I normally would be and like I was pretty useless. All I did was clean and run food out for seven and a half hours. It’s not the same.

I miss my customers. I miss my partners. I miss my life downtown. My store was how I tapped into my community when I first moved into town just a month prior to being hired. Every time I think about going back to my store my heart swells, and every time I think about someone, a familiar face, I know they might not be there when we come back, and nothing will ever be the same again... but whether I like it or not, the story continues