On Monday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo ordered restaurants, bars and clubs to close (delivery and take out still being an option for restaurants). This was a move intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 (otherwise known as coronavirus).

The order took effect on Tuesday, 3/17 at 8 AM.

Let’s start with the hopeful and the good.

In an effort to keep money flowing to staff, some restaurants have gone and converted from mostly dine-in, to delivery and take-out.

Great, keeping business going and your employees employed is the bottom line you can expect from the place you work at. Especially when people have worked with you for years. Though, how long this will last is up for question when major cities and whole countries are doing mandatory quarantine.

Less hopeful, but more human, some restaurants have opted to feed other industry people before their doors perhaps shut down for good.

In midst of a historic economic crash, it’s not a surprise that restaurateurs aren’t hopeful that they can survive a prolonged quarantine, especially with not much word on any sort of economic stimulus for small business owners or their employees.

Now for the ugly.

An unnamed local hotspot announced to their employees with godspeed that they were all terminated. This is a local Houston chain with multiple locations, soon to be spreading to other cities in Texas.

Word on the ground, is that employees who had been with the restaurant group for 10+ years had gotten the same email.

In an epic punch to their employee’s guts, not only are they not guaranteed work till this is all over, they have to reapply for their previous position. How competitive!

This is something we don’t see anyone talking about. This is possibly the first wave of people hit by this economic uncertainty, and there will definitely be more to come. This is troubling, especially with not much reassurance of any sort of safety net. This is a group of people that make $2.13 an hour before tip. Many industry workers live paycheck to paycheck, and a move like this is devastating. This is also a group of people that usually does not have health insurance, and if they did, they are now out of luck.

Here is what Houston hospitality workers have to say about whats going on:

As someone who is without healthcare and is immunocompromised, I’m glad the government is doing what it needs to do to limit the spread of coronavirus. However, as a service industry employee, I’m next to panic about how I’m going to pay my bills for the next month. I’m concerned for my family and friends who rely on tips, as we are all struggling greatly with these closures. While I know there are a limited number of programs and services to help people like us, they are being stretched thin. It’s time for the government to step up and do what is right for the people. — Madison How am I going to keep a roof over my head? How are my co-workers and friends going to be able to survive? Last night I kept on thinking about the many science fiction movies that give me a sense of hopelessness and fully realized that perhaps we will be in a similar situation. This isn’t science fiction, this is our reality. I cannot imagine our way of life changing but by the way things are going, there’s definitely something very serious right in front of us. I haven’t heard of any initiatives to ask landlords to stop collecting rent or big lenders and banks cancelling some mortgage payments. Utilities haven’t been addressed either. At some point our government needs to step in and help the thousands of industry workers like myself left out of a job. We need the help. — Juan Goddamnit, just keep washing your hands and you’ll be fine unless you’re immunocompromised. So, you know, don’t visit the immunocompromised. I have a 15 day-old son, will people go crazy and horde formula? Will I be able to get enough food for my 191 pound Great Dane? Will our business close? What will my employees do? I’m very fortunate and won’t be majorly affected but some of my employees live paycheck to paycheck. I don’t know that there is a great answer. I hope the situation opens the eyes of many people to realizing that democratic-socialism and the usually super scary topic of “wealth redistribution” is actually a great thing. That Bezos boy definitely has enough toilet paper and baby formula; how many people don’t? — Marshal

Feel free to leave a comment on how you have been impacted by all of this. I would be interested in hearing how other cities/states are dealing with the ramifications of mass hospitality unemployment.