The Interlude

An anonymous server’s concerns about indoor dining reopening in New York City, as told to The Interlude. Edited for clarity and length.

Earlier today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that restaurants in New York can resume indoor dining at 25% capacity starting Feb. 14. Just when I thought I couldn’t hate Valentine’s Day more, I now have to serve bored NYU students and wealthy Manhattanites, who habitually need reminders on proper mask-wearing etiquette and who generously compensate for my risk exposure with an average of $10 in tips per shift.

Just over a week ago, I got a notification from BBC World News stating that the U.K. coronavirus variant — which is reportedly 30 to 70% more contagious and was discovered in parts of the U.S. — is possibly more deadly. A few days later, I stumbled upon an article from Vox, urging people to minimize their outgoings, double mask, and even skip grocery store visits if possible. COVID-positive numbers in New York City are significantly higher than they were last March, only bested by case numbers we saw following the holidays. The last time indoor dining made a brief comeback, from September 30 to December 14, it was banned to slow the rapid month-long rise in COVID cases.

But for some reason, Gov. Cuomo seems to think there are no reasons to keep indoor dining closed right now. He might use the excuse of financial losses for the restaurant industry to justify reopening, but that problem can be easily fixed with rent relief, loans, stimulus checks, and other financial assistance. Instead, he has chosen to put workers who are currently ineligible for the vaccine face-to-face with people who are irresponsible enough to not wear masks indoors.

You may say: “But there are COVID inspectors who come in and make sure everyone is being safe.” Technically, yes. But as a witness to these inspectors and the so-called safety “protocols,” I can safely say they provide little solace. Yes, the employees have to take their own temperatures and log their health every shift, but there is no diligence in ensuring they do so. Self-monitoring can easily let someone who is desperate to keep a job lie. And even if they don’t, inspectors don’t do nearly enough checkups to force an immediate reaction. As long as the person cleaning after an airborne virus at the end of the day ticks the right box, their job is done.

As a part-time restaurant worker who cannot afford to stay at home for too long, with coworkers who cannot afford to stay at home at all, I am sick and tired of feeling disposable. We are essential only when it comes to serving the needs of everyone else. To-go orders during lockdown? We got you. Deliveries after curfew? We’re exempt. We’re always the scapegoat. The first sacrificial lamb. But when it comes to distributing benefits that would protect us while also stimulating the economy, we’re all of a sudden at the bottom of the list. (Not that our human worth is determined by the size of our economic contribution.)

Perhaps, instead of playing a COVID Russian roulette with those who can’t afford not to work, the city can help out its struggling small businesses by providing sufficient financial assistance and making sure their employees can work safely. Indoor dining should not resume until restaurant workers — all from line cooks and hostesses, to servers and delivery personnel — are vaccinated.