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Interviewer: Christopher Perez
Interviewee: Juan Yahuitl
Where: Moe’s Southwest Grill, Marlboro
When: September 26, 2020
Christopher Perez: So, this interview is being conducted on the 26th of September. Can I have your name please?
Juan Yahuitl: Juan Yahuitl
C: Okay, and how do you spell that?
J: Y-A-H-U-I-T-L
C: Okay, thank you. So, Juan, I’m going to ask you a few questions and you just answer them to the best of your ability. You can be as descriptive as you want. Sound good?
J: Yep.
C: Okay. So, first question: do you remember what your life was like before the coronavirus happened?
J: Um, basically it was mostly just waking up, going on the internet before coming to work and then working until close.
C: What’d you do on your days off?
J: Mostly just go on the internet, play games like Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links or draw. I’ve been trying to get commissions so that I could sell them online.
C: You mean like sell your drawings?
J: Pretty much, yeah. They tell me what they want me to draw, I draw it and then give it to them for a price.
C: Wow, that’s pretty cool. So, moving on to our next question, do you remember anything that happened on March 11? Like, what your day was like on that day. Cause that was the day the coronavirus measures went into effect, I think.
J: Um… Nah, I don’t think so. I can’t remember.
C: No? Nothing?
J: Not really. I pretty much forgot.
C: Eh, it’s okay. If someone asked me the same thing, I’d probably say the same thing.
(We both laugh)
J: Actually, I do remember something.
C: Really? What was it?
J: I lost my job that day.
C: Oh, ouch, really? What happened?
J: Nothing much. I remember getting a call from Lesli (our manager at the time) telling me that they wouldn’t be needing me for a while.
C: I’m assuming it’s because the dining room was closed during those months.
J: Probably. (Juan’s main role at that time was cleaning the dining room)
C: So, was everything okay after that? I mean, losing your job must’ve sucked.
J: Eh… Not really. It actually made things worse.
C: Really? In what way?
J: ‘Cause I was already late on the rent, and now I had no job. So, I was kinda screwed.
C: So, what’d you do?
J: Well, at first, I kept hoping that I’d get called back to work. Lesli never told me how long I’d be out, so I thought it’d only last a week or 2. So when it almost April and they still never called me back, I had to borrow money from my dad.
C: Really? How much?
J: About $1,000.
C: Damn. That’s a lot of money.
J: Yeah.
C: What did your dad say? Was he angry or concerned?
J: Not really. I mean, he lent me the money no problem because he knows that I never ask him for money at all. I told him that I wasn’t going to be working for a while and that I needed help paying rent, so he lent me the money.
C: So then he knew that this must’ve been serious.
J: I guess.
C: So you didn’t come back to work until around June, I think.
J: Yep. I got a call asking to come back to wash the dishes, which I know how to do, so I said yes and came back.
C: That must’ve been a relief, huh?
J: Yeah. I was getting worried that I might’ve had to borrow more money again.
C: Crazy. So, since you were out of work for a few months, what did you do during quarantine?
J: Nothing much. Mostly I would draw or go online. Stuff that I usually do.
C: Did it get boring after a while?
J: Yeah. I was really bored after a while. I think like two weeks in I was really desperate to leave my apartment and do something.
C: If they called you back to work, would you have risked it.
J: Definitely.
C: How do you normally get to work? Do you take a taxi?
J: No, I go by bus.
C: Do the buses get crowded?
J: Sometimes, but not usually. Probably because of COVID and stuff.
C: Okay, well I think we’re running out of time so first of all, thank you Juan for agreeing to take part in this interview.
J: No problem.
C: Were you nervous in anyway doing this interview?
J: Not nervous, more like surprised. Like, because why choose me for this? I doubt anyone’s gonna care about what happened to me during COVID-19.
C: Because you’re someone who’s living through and experiencing COVID. Everyone deserves to be heard. When people read this, they’ll gain a better understanding about what COVID was.
J: I guess you’re right.
C: Anyway, once again thanks a lot for contributing, Juan. It was a big help.
J: No problem.