Dublin Core
Title
Struggle to Get By: An Account
Subject
An account of the first days of COVID of Juan Yahuitl, as written by Christopher Perez
Description
Christopher describes the the first days of COVID as experienced by Juan Yahuitl, a restaurant worker from Freehold.
Creator
Christopher Perez
Source
Juan Yahuitl
Date
Spring and Summer 2020
Contributor
Christopher Perez, Juan Yahuitl
Language
English
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
First Days: Juan’s Account
The arrival of the Coronavirus and the lack of preparation for its arrival affected nearly everyone in the U.S. I reached out to a co-worker named Juan who agreed to share with me his experiences in dealing with the outbreak of COVID-19. I interviewed Juan on the 26th of September 2020 during our lunch break at work; we work in a restaurant where I work the line and he washes dishes. He was receptive of the idea when I asked to interview him; he was probably more surprised than anything, about my desire to interview him. But I chose him specifically because I believe his experiences could serve as a contrast to mine. While we are both of Mexican origin, there are also differences in our lives, I live in the suburbs of Old Bridge, whereas Juan lives in the city of Freehold. I still live with my parents, free of the burdens of paying rent, while he lives with his brother in an apartment. I am interviewing him so that I can get a different perspective on COVID-19 from someone whose life is different from mine.
The first question I asked him was if he remembered what his life was like before the pandemic started. He exclaimed that his days were primarily spent going to work most of the week while spending his free time playing games online or drawing art. When I asked him if he remembered what he did exactly on March 11 (the day WHO declared COVID a pandemic), he admitted he didn’t remember at all. We shared a laugh when I told him that I really didn’t remember either. He told me that what he did remember was that on that day, he received a call from our manager telling him that he did not need to come to work for the foreseeable future. This effectively left him jobless, a fate that befell him and millions of other Americans; according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, more than 20.6 million jobs were lost from mid-March to the end of April, a loss in employment not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s . Businesses like restaurants were hit hardest under the pandemic, and workers like Juan were unfortunately affected financially from it.
I asked Juan if he had been prepared for the issues that were about to ensue as a result of the coronavirus and he confided in me that he was not. The pandemic completely blindsided him. He had already been behind on his rent, and the loss of his job meant that paying rent was going to be much harder. In fact, by the end of March, Juan told me that he had to borrow $1,000 from his father just so that he keep up with his payments. Apparently even his own father was surprised at his predicament, as he told me that his father did indeed lend him the money that he asked for, as he knew Juan was not someone who asked for money unless he really needed it. Eventually he ended up coming back to work, which allowed him to get his finances in order. I told him that he must have felt relieved, which he promptly told me was the case. And just in time as well, as according to CNBC in July 2020, as up to 40 million Americans could lose their housing .
I then asked him how he spent his days during the beginning of the pandemic. He told me that he mostly had free time to draw and go online, not too different from what he normally did. Of course, he also told me that by the second week, he was tired of being inside all the time. When I asked him if he would have risked COVID-19 just so that he could go back to work, he said he would have definitely taken the risk. Juan, like many other low-income workers, uses public transportation to get to and from other places. In his case, he takes the bus. I wondered if there any risk in taking public transportation while the pandemic was in effect, but according to the website Scientific American, the risk of catching COVID-19 from riding public transportation is not significantly higher than was once originally thought . Afterwards, I thanked Juan for allowing me to interview him for this project. He said it was no problem, but also said he didn’t think his experiences were worth writing about. I told him everyone deserves to have their voices heard and that his experiences will help illuminate future generations on how COVID-19 affected people from all walks of life.
The arrival of the Coronavirus and the lack of preparation for its arrival affected nearly everyone in the U.S. I reached out to a co-worker named Juan who agreed to share with me his experiences in dealing with the outbreak of COVID-19. I interviewed Juan on the 26th of September 2020 during our lunch break at work; we work in a restaurant where I work the line and he washes dishes. He was receptive of the idea when I asked to interview him; he was probably more surprised than anything, about my desire to interview him. But I chose him specifically because I believe his experiences could serve as a contrast to mine. While we are both of Mexican origin, there are also differences in our lives, I live in the suburbs of Old Bridge, whereas Juan lives in the city of Freehold. I still live with my parents, free of the burdens of paying rent, while he lives with his brother in an apartment. I am interviewing him so that I can get a different perspective on COVID-19 from someone whose life is different from mine.
The first question I asked him was if he remembered what his life was like before the pandemic started. He exclaimed that his days were primarily spent going to work most of the week while spending his free time playing games online or drawing art. When I asked him if he remembered what he did exactly on March 11 (the day WHO declared COVID a pandemic), he admitted he didn’t remember at all. We shared a laugh when I told him that I really didn’t remember either. He told me that what he did remember was that on that day, he received a call from our manager telling him that he did not need to come to work for the foreseeable future. This effectively left him jobless, a fate that befell him and millions of other Americans; according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, more than 20.6 million jobs were lost from mid-March to the end of April, a loss in employment not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s . Businesses like restaurants were hit hardest under the pandemic, and workers like Juan were unfortunately affected financially from it.
I asked Juan if he had been prepared for the issues that were about to ensue as a result of the coronavirus and he confided in me that he was not. The pandemic completely blindsided him. He had already been behind on his rent, and the loss of his job meant that paying rent was going to be much harder. In fact, by the end of March, Juan told me that he had to borrow $1,000 from his father just so that he keep up with his payments. Apparently even his own father was surprised at his predicament, as he told me that his father did indeed lend him the money that he asked for, as he knew Juan was not someone who asked for money unless he really needed it. Eventually he ended up coming back to work, which allowed him to get his finances in order. I told him that he must have felt relieved, which he promptly told me was the case. And just in time as well, as according to CNBC in July 2020, as up to 40 million Americans could lose their housing .
I then asked him how he spent his days during the beginning of the pandemic. He told me that he mostly had free time to draw and go online, not too different from what he normally did. Of course, he also told me that by the second week, he was tired of being inside all the time. When I asked him if he would have risked COVID-19 just so that he could go back to work, he said he would have definitely taken the risk. Juan, like many other low-income workers, uses public transportation to get to and from other places. In his case, he takes the bus. I wondered if there any risk in taking public transportation while the pandemic was in effect, but according to the website Scientific American, the risk of catching COVID-19 from riding public transportation is not significantly higher than was once originally thought . Afterwards, I thanked Juan for allowing me to interview him for this project. He said it was no problem, but also said he didn’t think his experiences were worth writing about. I told him everyone deserves to have their voices heard and that his experiences will help illuminate future generations on how COVID-19 affected people from all walks of life.