0:00

Welcome to Worst Year Ever, a production

0:02

of I Heart Radio. Welcome

0:10

Together Everything,

0:14

So don't don't Oh.

0:21

Hi, Hey, this is Cody Johnson from the Worst

0:23

Year Ever podcasting you are listening to

0:25

with your ear holes. I'm

0:28

joined today briefly by

0:31

my co host Robert Evans.

0:34

Use your words, Robert. H

0:37

h ah. That's the

0:39

sound of the tone of

0:41

the rest of this segment of the episode.

0:44

Uh

0:49

see, that's I was gonna ask you, um

0:52

a question leading into that, but you've nailed

0:54

it. You've answered my question. Um.

0:56

Katie stole H is another of

0:59

our co host She is um in

1:01

the woods right now. What

1:04

a concept? What an idea

1:06

that we should all subscribe to? Robert,

1:10

do you want to briefly explain to

1:12

our listeners how you're feeling and

1:15

follow up why I

1:17

feel pretty good? Well, I feel like I

1:19

haven't slept and like I'm strung out because

1:22

I passed out at seven am after a

1:24

massive adrenaline dump finally faded.

1:27

Uh. And I had a massive adrenaline dump that

1:29

kept me up until seven because last

1:31

night, like two thousand people including

1:34

a mix of like black blocked

1:36

up, you know, anarchist activists

1:38

and like local moms and dads

1:40

with leafblowers started

1:42

tearing apart of Federal courtpouse with their

1:44

bare hands and a skateboard. Um.

1:47

And then when the federal agents charged

1:49

out and started shooting and grenading them,

1:51

they fought them back inside. I

1:54

saw that. I feel like I feel I feel like I

1:56

saw something about that. Uh

2:00

and um. And then the Feds were like sorry

2:02

and they left. No, they

2:04

shot at people from holes, and so people

2:06

threw bottles at their hands. But

2:09

then they were like, oh, they mean business, so I guess

2:11

we'll leave them alone. No. I think

2:13

now the DHS secretary the

2:15

statement he just made was something along the

2:17

lines of, uh, if the federal

2:19

agents leave that courthouse today, they're going to burn

2:22

it down, which they

2:25

might. That

2:29

there's a decent chance. Um.

2:33

Yeah, I mean I feel like that's going

2:35

through a lot of the minds of UM.

2:38

Any officer like

2:40

law enforce and officer in the vicinity of anything

2:42

like this knowing that, like, well, if

2:44

we leave, they might burn it down. Now because

2:47

of that thing that happened, they know. I'm

2:50

gonna be honest with you, If the

2:52

Feds actually like left the courthouse,

2:55

I I find it highly unlikely

2:57

that it would be burnt down. I think it's much more

2:59

likely that people would occupy it an attempt

3:02

to start a rib restaurant out of it, right

3:06

Courthouse ribs, Yeah, yeah, yeah,

3:09

it'd still be riot ribs, bar Barbara

3:11

Courthouse cothouse.

3:14

People will figure it out. Yeah, that's

3:16

not that's not the important thing right

3:19

now. Um, So this has

3:21

been happening for how many nights? Would you

3:23

say at this point? I think last

3:25

night was night. Like it's

3:27

been going on and on and on and on and on.

3:30

Um, would you say that obviously

3:33

this this started. Um, it's all started

3:35

when the you know, the massive civil unrest

3:37

across the nation occurred in

3:39

response to George Floyd's murder. Um

3:43

is uh when you say, like it's

3:45

grown quite a bit. Uh,

3:47

ebbden flowed? Um is their

3:50

their response, I imagine is probably

3:52

fueling a lot of people coming out now. It's

3:55

EBB didn't flow about like a week and a half

3:57

ago. You know, when the Feds were

3:59

starting, you know, when the fence had been

4:01

coming out for a few days and beating the hell out

4:03

of people, the movement was at a real low.

4:06

EBB. You know, three hundred people would have been a big action.

4:08

It was usually more like a hundred most nights, and

4:11

you know, as a journalist, those were the hardest days

4:13

because you were just when you were showing up, you were showing up

4:15

to just watch two hundred people get

4:17

the fucking pist beat out of them, Like

4:19

that's that's what was happening. Is these small

4:22

crowds were showing up and trying to do actions,

4:24

and you know, they were at this point tough and skilled

4:27

with all the things they needed to do, but they just weren't enough

4:29

of them to do much and they were just getting wailed on.

4:31

And it was really a bummer, um, and it

4:34

was kind of driving some of us crazy.

4:37

Uh. And then the you

4:39

know, the Snatch fan video went viral

4:41

and Domino Donovan Labella getting shot

4:43

in the head went viral, and then uh, President

4:46

Trump started talking about how he'd quelled the

4:48

protests and he kind of made it into

4:51

he he like it. You couldn't have

4:53

done anything better to revitalize and

4:55

bring more people out into the streets. Like it. It absolutely

4:58

changed the game. Yeah,

5:00

I um, I wonder how

5:02

that will continue. And the I

5:04

guess it's hard. It's you don't

5:06

want to like apply logic to any

5:09

of these people really, um, certainly not

5:11

him. Um, nope. But

5:15

I don't know. Sometimes you get a sense that like, well, okay,

5:17

so like they poked the bear to

5:19

make it worse so they can crack down worse. Yeah,

5:22

I don't know. It feels at this moment

5:24

maybe that's where en up. It feels at this moment like

5:26

they made a major miscalculation, right,

5:30

Like a lot of this happened because this crowd

5:32

of mom showed up to protest the Snatch

5:34

fans and they shook offense

5:37

and so the Feds tear gassed all of these people.

5:39

And one of the results of that is

5:42

that like a whole lot of just like

5:44

normal, kind of middle

5:46

of the road folks in Portland have

5:49

now decided it's actually really fun to

5:51

go out and fight federal agents every night.

5:53

Uh, and maybe fight the police too, We'll see.

5:56

Yeah, it's it's you get the sense

5:58

of that from a lot of the videos, like oh, you're just like you've lived

6:00

in like down the street and

6:02

you were like, oh, all right, let's

6:04

do it. Yeah. It

6:07

was kind of like there was there was a lot of from

6:09

the more cynical members of the press Corps when

6:11

like the moms and and stuff started coming up,

6:13

there was this feeling like, Okay, you know, we've

6:15

seen this before. We'll get some huge numbers.

6:18

They'll start doing marches while they march around

6:20

the city and don't confront

6:22

anyone because they're not gonna want to like actually commit

6:25

serious federal crimes, and then

6:27

this will all fade away. But then the

6:29

moms just started committing serious federal

6:31

crimes. Yeah,

6:35

yeah, they keep they keep seem to keep doing that, and yeah,

6:37

it seems to be like, okay, well if they do that, then

6:39

we got to do this. But then if we do that, then

6:41

that creates this image that is

6:43

going to influence other people

6:45

to come out. Um.

6:49

Yeah, like yeah, if it will, if it

6:51

will continue that way, or if

6:53

they will like wise up.

6:55

You know, like there are so many protests around protest

6:58

are still going on. Um, it's not

7:01

necessarily national news all the time as

7:03

it once was. Um. But

7:05

as we've seen, when

7:08

the cops don't show up to the protests

7:10

and riot gear and bother people, they

7:13

don't, it doesn't turn violent. Yeah,

7:16

and that seems to be, yeah, maybe

7:18

something they should consider. You know, there

7:20

are some tactical lessons for them here

7:22

because like the Portland Police headquarters

7:25

is right next door to the courthouse, and last

7:27

night the Portland police just let

7:29

the crowd go after the Feds like they didn't

7:31

show up, they were nowhere nearby,

7:33

and nobody fucked up with the Justice Center.

7:35

Everybody just kind of like wailed

7:38

on the Feds um,

7:40

which was interesting, like the kind of lack

7:42

of loyalty between the two groups who had been

7:44

beating up people together for a couple of weeks,

7:47

but they're popular.

7:49

Like the cops were like, Oh, we actually don't

7:51

like the Feds at all. We love we love

7:53

our we love our citizens. Yeah, go

7:55

get go, go get the feds, folks.

7:58

It's like it's like that bit like you like slowly

8:01

like back up into the crowd and go, yeah, let's

8:03

get them fellas

8:09

um. Which is something that really does worry me. I

8:11

am worried that like people will focus

8:13

too much on the Feds and then be

8:15

like when the Feds leave, you know we did

8:18

it, and you know there's still a big problem

8:20

here. Yeah, we'll

8:22

see. I guess that's one thing. The other thing

8:24

I'm wondering because I, uh, you know,

8:26

these protests started

8:29

uh in response to a lot of specific

8:31

things, and um, it's this when

8:34

you like, when you go to these protests, do you get a sense

8:36

that these are still like Black Lives Matter protests

8:38

or is it more just like, man, the

8:41

cops they're just awful and

8:43

the Feds are here, and like this has gotten

8:45

this is ballooned into this other thing that

8:47

is driving people out as opposed to

8:50

the sort of original purpose. They

8:52

are still Black Lives Matter protests.

8:55

That's still like a big thing that drives a lot

8:57

of what folks say, Um, it's

8:59

it drives lot of the chance it's it's

9:01

driven a lot of like is a lot of white people got

9:03

out there in the first place. That said, after

9:05

fifty something nights of getting assaulted

9:07

by law enforcement, there is

9:10

now like a personal dimension of not we specifically

9:12

hate these cops because they've

9:14

been beating us up and we don't want

9:17

them around anymore. Um So, yeah,

9:19

it is it has gotten to be like

9:22

after fifty days of continuous fighting.

9:24

It's not gonna be exactly about

9:26

the things it was when it gets started. But

9:29

yeah, there's I would say Black Lives Matter is

9:31

still centered as kind of the core of like

9:35

if we don't get these people out of our community

9:37

and start spending the money that we currently spend

9:39

on them on reinvesting in these

9:41

in you know, minority communities, be

9:43

Indigenous communities, black communities.

9:46

UM, we're we're

9:49

we're not gonna fix any of the problems we have,

9:51

Like we have to actually like make

9:53

some real changes for those people

9:56

and also for ourselves. UM.

9:58

And it just the thing that has gall vanized

10:00

everyone is the repeated assaults right

10:03

right and sort of UM, I think opening

10:06

up a lot of people to these

10:08

to the to the end goal, the ultimate

10:10

goals and um that

10:13

that are swirling around. Um, you're

10:16

these are these are the solutions

10:18

to this problem that we started protesting for.

10:20

You're you're you're

10:23

exemplifying the problems we're talking

10:25

about against us. UM.

10:28

And it's almost like bringing Yeah, it's sort of like

10:30

building solidarity through these shared

10:32

experiences, building um,

10:35

understanding of what those issues are and like what

10:37

what can be done about them? UM. I saw

10:40

there's that one guy, um, just

10:42

a just a solid

10:45

brick of a human man who

10:48

was attacked by cops. There's

10:50

video of him like with batons

10:53

they like try to beat and

10:55

he just does not. Yes,

10:58

um, and they like, right, they spraying with maize

11:01

and he's like, alright, twirls around, flicks

11:03

him off, and that's it. Um. He was just

11:05

a guy. Um, who's

11:07

just a guy. But everyone's just a guy. Um,

11:09

But he was he had seen how

11:11

the uh protesters being were

11:14

being treated um through

11:16

various avenues of reporting, and he's

11:18

like, and so I wanted to go and

11:21

check it out because I I think he was in the

11:23

Navy maybe yeah, he was adem

11:27

yeah, and he was like, I don't like how these

11:29

people are treating the protesters.

11:31

I'm gonna go now too. And he's

11:34

like, I'm gonna have a conversation with them

11:36

and talk about the oaths that we both

11:38

swore and like how they're holding up to

11:40

them. Yeah. And then and

11:42

their response was that

11:45

freaking video um and yeah,

11:47

just sort of like building um. Yeah, these

11:49

sort of collective um

11:52

frustration and experience and pain

11:55

um and reaction to what's going on and

11:58

uh build you know, getting the moms out

12:00

there, the MILFs

12:03

as I call them, Yeah, you do

12:05

that a lot. It's it is mother's mother's

12:07

in love with freedom. Yeah, mother's in

12:09

love with freedom. I want to be really clear what I

12:12

meant by that. Thank you. It's

12:15

very funny, goody thank

12:18

yeah, um

12:21

man, it was. I just can't

12:23

get over what I saw last night, like

12:25

and and some of it's terrifying because I am

12:28

fairly certain people are going to get

12:30

shot with live rounds at some point. Like

12:32

last night, at one point, a federal

12:34

agent try to arrest someone

12:36

and was tackled by four people. Yeah.

12:40

Yeah. They pulled their friend

12:42

away and knocked his helmet off, and he pulled

12:45

his side arm and started waving it at the

12:47

crow. But

12:49

they de arrested there. But it's also like

12:51

at some point, and it was one of those things

12:53

where I was like, I'm glad

12:56

this is a right, like at least that person

12:58

wasn't a cop, right, Like that would is a cop

13:00

would have shot them. That story

13:02

has has one very specific

13:05

ending. Um yeah,

13:07

yeah, that's that's

13:10

like part of it where it's like some of these

13:12

interactions you see like thank god these

13:14

people have actually been trained in like

13:16

restraint and precision, but

13:19

at the same time guns, yeah,

13:21

right, at the same time, you're like, ah, I wish

13:24

these people weren't here who have been trained

13:26

for like precision, you know, like weird

13:29

this weird conflicting um

13:32

reaction to just like state violence

13:35

happening, and you're like, well, that

13:38

guy at least he didn't shoot the person for

13:41

stopping the arrest, but well,

13:43

and there's like so one of

13:45

the things that was really unique about last night is the

13:48

crowd finally got the fae Lenx move right,

13:51

where you get dozens or a couple of

13:53

hundred people with interlocking shields

13:55

and you just take what punishment

13:58

the police and you keep moving forwards, rely

14:00

inching forward as they shoot you to kind of

14:02

make the point that like, you can't stop

14:04

us now. And they had leafblowers all around

14:06

the sides and in the back to blow tear gas

14:08

away from the phae Leanx, and this crowd

14:11

was just like continuously marching forward

14:13

under fire while fucking um

14:16

rage against the machine blared out of a boom

14:18

box behind them, just like fuck you, I won't do

14:20

what you tell me. A fuck you, I won't do what you

14:22

tell me. And when they got close enough

14:25

to the guys with a R fifteens,

14:27

they just started hooking bottles at him.

14:31

Wow, there

14:33

are there are things

14:36

happening. Yeah,

14:39

God, it is some of this It's like

14:41

a complete breakdown of just like what people

14:43

thought, like just

14:46

like it's like so many cops, Like I thought I

14:48

thought we were cops and we can't do that, Like

14:51

I thought they were to let to throw bottles at us.

14:55

Um, do you have a lot of um

14:58

contact, like any contact or interaction with the

15:00

actual like Portland Police. I

15:02

mean that we I was with an action

15:05

on Saturday that lit their union on building

15:07

on fire. I

15:10

mean like just like beyond the observation like do you

15:12

like ever did do you ever contact

15:14

them? Do you get statements from them? Obviously?

15:17

I mean one of the things

15:19

that was really unique about the Portland Police prior

15:21

to all this is that they were famously very

15:24

difficult to get statements out of for any

15:26

reason. Really. Um, They're

15:30

just a pain in the asked to to get to talk to

15:32

you, you know. Yeah.

15:36

And you know, the more traditional good

15:38

journalists in Portland like Alex Zelinski

15:41

and Sergio almost um

15:43

have been you know, getting statements and

15:45

doing the proper journalism stuff.

15:48

Um, while the the rapscallions

15:51

among us. Uh, just

15:56

bottles get tossed at him. Yes,

15:58

I'm familiar with your life streams. Yeah,

16:02

um, okay, Yeah, it's just it's just interesting

16:04

that that relationship and like because

16:06

also like you know, uh they have

16:09

arrested and like beaten up journalists.

16:14

Um, and uh, just that

16:16

that dynamic is just so fascinating

16:19

just to see and like even just

16:21

like simple stuff just makes me really

16:23

laugh about them. The they tweeted

16:25

last night the police

16:29

social media is so it's

16:32

so good. Um. It's

16:34

just like this one thing they did last night, um,

16:37

during the courthouse uh fiasco

16:39

you're talking about. Uh, just they

16:41

tweeted out randomly like hundreds

16:43

of people are clogging this area Southwest

16:46

Third Avenue outside the Federal Courthouse and packing

16:48

it. This activity is being live streamed.

16:50

Avoid the area for safety. And like

16:53

it's just so funny to me the choices

16:56

they make in like the things they want

16:58

to tell the city because this tweet went at

17:00

midnight, so like at

17:02

midnight on a Monday, they're like, hey, everybody

17:04

steer clear of the Federal courthouse.

17:08

Like what do you talk? Like why bother? Who

17:10

are you? Who are you telling to to avoid

17:13

the courthouse at midnight on Monday?

17:15

Other than this weird performative like

17:17

by the way, Antifa's out, stay

17:20

in your homes. It's

17:22

very funny. Um it was very

17:25

very funny. I I

17:28

it would have been interesting to see the crowd that we had last

17:30

night go up against the Portland police again because

17:32

the Feds are so much earlier. UM

17:36

yeah, you get, you get like, I

17:38

don't know that they know what the funk to do at this

17:40

point. Um, I'm sure they'll

17:42

figure out something really really

17:44

terrible. UM oh yeah, we're

17:47

yeah, Like obviously

17:50

it's not over, and I'm sure the next chapter

17:52

will have some horrible darkness in it. But

17:55

it after just weeks of getting

17:57

wailed on. Um. Like the last

17:59

time him before this that I really saw

18:02

like a real fight with the Feds. Um,

18:04

other than Sunday, UM

18:07

was like the Thursday before where it

18:09

had been like seventy or eighty people who

18:11

were just there was just this line of forty soldiers

18:14

shooting at like this crowd of the

18:16

same size and just fucking

18:18

beating the piss out of them. Um.

18:20

And it was like it looked like something from a fucking horonmous

18:23

Bosh painting. They had like this giant, this

18:25

giant burning bucket they carry

18:27

that's like filled with tear gas pieces

18:29

and they like ladle it out onto the

18:31

street. It looks like a fucking nightmare. A

18:33

lot of a lot of heads made out of butts with horns

18:36

and stuff, classic bosh stuff. Yeah,

18:39

yeah, a lot of a lot of butt heads. Um,

18:42

but man, they last night was real

18:44

different last night. The crowd one. Uh

18:47

yeah, that's um, I think,

18:49

and uh, you're

18:51

probably gonna go to sleep after this, so

18:53

good good work, good work, and in all that you

18:55

do. I think that that's just that's

18:58

how it's going

19:00

to be. Right, You're gonna have those nights where

19:02

it does feel like it's forty armed

19:04

like feds, just like against a

19:07

small crowd of people, and then others

19:09

it's rib night, right, it's look at

19:11

look at look at all the ribs and moms everywhere.

19:14

Um there's something there was something just really

19:17

uh inspiring

19:19

and powerful and joyful about that,

19:22

like the chance coming from all those moms

19:24

who were like fuck off, um

19:27

and not in so many words. Sometimes I'm sure they

19:29

did say that, but um, there

19:31

was the mom behind me because as

19:34

as we were, there was like an hour where we were all crowded

19:37

around the court, as people were like barricading the doors

19:39

with their bodies and it was just kind of this like

19:41

I don't are people are gonna push things enough that the Feds

19:43

do come out? And you

19:45

know, I was looking around at all these mothers

19:48

who you know, a lot of them looked uncertain. They're all

19:50

very new to this for the most part. And then one

19:52

of the moms behind me said, I

19:54

want to get a fucking sledgehammer and break open

19:56

the doors of this cord and

20:00

in she went up to the door

20:02

with a kids in block and they

20:04

both started trying to kick it down. Unreal,

20:09

I swear the just

20:12

some beautiful alliances being made this

20:14

year. Um,

20:16

that's so bizarre. And uh,

20:18

speaking of some alliances

20:21

we've made this year, Cody, you want

20:23

to intro what will happen after the break?

20:26

I couldn't possibly want two more? Oh,

20:30

thank you so much. UM. Yeah, So we're gonna come back.

20:32

Um you'll hear Katie's voice when we come back from

20:36

the UM.

20:38

And so we we will

20:41

be interviewing Brenda and Hayden from Rock

20:43

Music City. Uh it's the Restaurant Opportunities

20:45

Center UM and talking

20:48

to them about their workers, movement

20:50

for the hospitality and service industry in

20:52

their area and sort of what they do and what

20:55

can be done UM locally

20:57

if you don't have the resources to

20:59

get a sledgehammer with a bunch of moms and

21:02

breakdown Federal Courthouse building. UM

21:04

tour, so see us soon together

21:14

everything, so don't hello

21:19

again. Hi. Today we are

21:21

joined by Hayden Smith and

21:23

Brenda way Brant, who are both

21:26

on the steering committee I Believe

21:28

for Restaurants Opportunity Center Music

21:30

City, which is a collection of Nashville

21:33

based restaurants employees

21:36

who are advocating for workers rights

21:38

within the industry. Hi, guys, Hello,

21:42

did I did I do that? Intro? Right?

21:44

Is that's the gist of what you guys do? Yeah?

21:47

Yeah, that was great? UM, perfect

21:50

intro Katie, thank you, gosh,

21:53

thanks and goodbye. Alright, are

21:56

learning? Yesterday I talked extensively

21:58

about how well I respond to positive

22:01

affirmations. Uh,

22:04

thank you for putting that to practice. Guys. Yeah, we

22:06

all have our different things we respond to. For

22:08

me, UM,

22:13

guys, according to your website, you

22:15

are fighting to create a food

22:17

service industry that empowers

22:20

workers to thrive, not just survive.

22:22

UM. And you have been organizing

22:25

fellow workers and allies UM

22:27

to provide resources for people

22:29

within the industry. Can you, um,

22:32

uh take us back to the beginning, and tell us a

22:34

little bit about, uh, the organization,

22:36

how you got started? Yeah, absolutely,

22:39

um So, UM, I had

22:41

done a little bit of organizing around

22:43

a wedge theft suit at one

22:45

of my former employers, and UM,

22:48

through that started talking to some local

22:50

labor organizers and stuff that got

22:53

me hooked up with Restaurant Opportunities

22:55

Center United, the national branch of

22:58

the organization, and

23:00

UM. So you know that kind

23:03

of that kind of was going pretty

23:05

slowly, and then COVID hit and all

23:07

of a sudden, everybody was out of work and it was

23:09

like extraordinarily obvious that

23:11

um, nobody was going to be there to help

23:13

us because like Tennessee's

23:16

unemployment system was terrible, like

23:19

there was just there was no safety net for

23:21

us. UM. And so like all

23:23

of a sudden, there was this huge interest in getting

23:25

organized UM and I'm met like wonderful

23:28

people like Brenda here UM who

23:30

you know, shared the same interest. UM.

23:33

And you know, we built a steering committee and it started

23:35

rolling. UM So.

23:38

Okay, So you guys had the

23:40

organization had been in existence a little

23:42

prior to COVID nineteen, but then

23:44

when this hit and you saw the impact on

23:46

your community, UM, it started to become

23:48

more focused on response to COVID

23:51

nineteen. Yeah. Well a

23:53

Restaurant Opportunities Center United has been

23:55

around since two thousand

23:57

one, UM, and so

24:00

I just got in contact with them. But UM,

24:02

the Music City Affiliate UM

24:05

didn't get started until like it was a it

24:07

was a response to COVID nineteen. I

24:09

see, UM, So can you tell us

24:11

a little bit about the work that you are doing

24:13

in response to COVID nineteen. I believe

24:15

this is your Safer Artwork initiative. Yeah,

24:18

okay, I can take this one. UM.

24:20

Yeah, so, UM, you

24:22

know, Safer at Work to play on Safer at Home.

24:24

And we're just trying to push restaurants

24:27

to basically

24:29

just follow the guidelines and do the bare minimum

24:31

of keeping people safe and not getting

24:33

them sick when they go out to eat. UM.

24:37

Like we've we've had a lot of

24:39

bosses UM in Nashville

24:41

just not pay any regard

24:44

to the capacity limits,

24:46

to anything like that. So we're trying to

24:48

UM serve as a bit of a watchdog

24:51

there and watch UM watch out

24:53

for that. And then also we've

24:56

been pushing for like stricter

24:58

fines UM for way and people

25:00

do violate those things. UM, we

25:02

had a pretty good win with the beer board

25:04

who UM yanked the beer

25:06

licenses of a few UM

25:09

local restaurants that weren't UM,

25:12

you know, playing by the rules. So

25:15

yeah, how long were you guys shut

25:17

down and out of work before reopening? Have

25:20

you seen UM have

25:22

have have any of the people that you work with or

25:25

you know, organized with been

25:28

affected by this rushed reopening

25:30

in all the different places? Yeah,

25:33

we we all have, UM a majority

25:35

of us. I actually work at a really

25:38

large venue downtown Broadway

25:40

UM that decided they aren't going to open

25:42

until October UM, and they

25:44

decided this in in June, before

25:47

our case counts started to go up. But so

25:50

UM, I brought up my issues

25:52

to my to my employers

25:55

UM probably towards the beginning

25:57

of March, and I was like, hey, so

26:00

if we have to shut down, saying what was happening

26:02

in Europe and Japan and UM

26:05

and China and everything. If we have to

26:07

shut down, what's

26:10

our what's our process on that? Like? Are

26:12

we going to get paid? Because front of house workers

26:14

we make to thirteen or fifty an hour

26:16

depending on our position, what's our

26:18

pay rate gonna be at? Like? Do we get to keep

26:21

our health insurance since it's employee sponsored

26:23

health insurance. And I'm fortunate enough to

26:25

work at a restaurant that actually offers health

26:27

insurance. UM.

26:29

And and they kind of laughed at me. They

26:31

were like, Oh, we're not going to shut down, no big deal whatever.

26:34

UM. And then my last table

26:37

was from Seattle and that yeah,

26:40

I was like, okay, I'm I'm done. I'm gonna

26:42

like voluntarily stay at home after

26:45

that. And then like I think that was on a Thursday,

26:47

And by the next Monday, we were shut down. And

26:49

that was March is

26:52

somewhere right around there,

26:54

you know. And then we immediately had

26:57

some of the bar owners on Lower Broadway

27:00

UM, who were notorious for flouting the laws

27:02

UM, start protesting and picketing

27:05

and saying that it was their civil

27:07

right to be open and to

27:09

engage in their business UM. And

27:12

you know, we've called out several bars UM

27:15

in Nashville and also outside of Nashville

27:18

for having people sitting at

27:20

the bar when it was UM

27:22

not included in UM the phase

27:25

one that we were in at the time. UM.

27:27

And we've seen so many pictures

27:29

of bars that are just packed with nobody

27:32

wearing masks and now we have

27:34

a higher per capita case count than Florida.

27:37

Just Davidson County our county today

27:40

per capita case count than Florida.

27:42

Yeah, and that's of July fourteenth. We have

27:44

like a hundred and eleven cases

27:47

per hundred thousand people in Florida's

27:49

less than that. So, Brenda, You're

27:52

restaurant that you work at has not reopened

27:55

since then, So you've just been

27:58

without out of hank for this time, hanging

28:01

out on unemployment UM,

28:03

which in the state of Tennessee is

28:06

two and seventy five dollars per week pre

28:08

taxes UM. So it's really imperative

28:11

that we get something passed before

28:14

the end of July. So Tennessee's

28:16

Cares Act, we get our last payment on July.

28:19

Because of the way the week runs, we don't

28:21

get it anything after July one, and

28:23

so we are cut off date, is they

28:26

um. And so that's gonna be a lot of hurt for a lot of

28:28

people, right. And Nashville is built on

28:32

UM hospitality and entertainment

28:34

and tourism and none of that is coming

28:36

back anytime soon. And so Trump

28:39

came out today and said, hey, if you if

28:41

you don't like where you're at, just go find another job.

28:43

Well, be supposed to find another job

28:46

when we have hundreds of thousands and of

28:49

people in Davidson County out of work with

28:51

with what to replace it? Right?

28:54

Yeah, Cody and I were just chatting about that before

28:56

this started, about maybe

28:59

something we talked about this week in another episode. But yeah,

29:01

that whole go out, find another job,

29:04

do something new. Yeah,

29:07

now is the time used this as a time

29:09

time And I'm extraordinarily

29:12

tired of hearing that because something that motivated

29:14

me to do this is like this is my passion, you know, like

29:16

I'm a career bartender, Like this

29:19

is what I do. And I was fairly

29:21

satisfied with where I was at, um

29:24

until there was a major pandemic

29:26

that all of our leaders handled horribly.

29:28

So like I don't I don't want to go change

29:31

industries and go like get an office

29:33

job like I would. I would not like that.

29:35

Also, where are these office jobs

29:37

you're talking about? Um?

29:40

So I'm curious, So, hey, didn't have you

29:42

also been out of work this whole time? Or

29:44

is your restaurant? Howd you come

29:46

back to work at some point? Um?

29:49

I'm very curious to know what the safety

29:52

standards are like and how comfortable people

29:54

are feeling. I know people want to work, um,

29:57

but our restaurants taking care of

30:00

their employees, you know. Um,

30:03

so I am still haven't

30:05

been called back yet. The restaurant

30:07

is open, but they're calling people back in order of

30:09

seniority, and I was fairly new

30:12

at the time of the shutdown, so I'm gonna be like

30:14

very last on that list. But

30:17

um a lot of our steering

30:19

committee members have been called back. And

30:22

as far as how safe the restaurants

30:25

are being or how seriously they're taking it,

30:27

it seems to vary wildly. Like

30:29

some places, you know, we'll close

30:31

down all the time and deep clean if there's anything

30:34

like close to um an exposure.

30:36

And then some places just I

30:38

mean, we keep having to fight these bosses. They're

30:41

like won't even disclose that there was

30:43

a case to their full staff, like much

30:45

less the public. So um

30:47

it it just it it

30:49

varies well because they're just trying to stay

30:51

open. Yeah,

30:54

when did restaurants actually open

30:57

where you guys are like, did

30:59

you do way a thing where it was only

31:02

outdoor or was

31:04

it always just open for

31:07

dining or right now, are really

31:09

stupid Mayor mar Garcetti

31:12

is doing this like al Fresco

31:14

initiative, and I just want to punch

31:17

him in the face. Where it's just like, our

31:19

governor made this baffling announcement

31:21

that they

31:23

want restaurants and bars to stay

31:25

open as long as people wear masks and

31:27

social distance inside, and she made

31:30

a statement that they don't think that they don't

31:32

think that situations like that contribute to the

31:34

pandemic at all, which seems like

31:36

like madness, like

31:38

like howling madness to me. But I'm

31:41

not a medical professional. I

31:43

don't think you need to be.

31:47

That sounds like a professional diagnosis to me.

31:51

UM. But yeah, yeah, I would love to know

31:54

what that was like for you guys. Yeah, what the what the shutdown

31:57

reopening phases? I

31:59

hate that UM have been in where

32:01

you are. We opened UM

32:04

towards the end of May, I want to say, like around

32:06

May twenty something or other. UM,

32:09

and our phase one was supposed to

32:11

be like a twenty five percent capacity

32:13

in restaurants and retail and

32:16

um, you know, no

32:19

gyms and bars and all of that

32:21

stuff. And then that went awfully because

32:23

nobody really cared about it. And then two weeks

32:25

we went to Phase two and we were

32:27

there for a while, which is fifty percent capacity

32:30

and restaurants and retail UM.

32:32

And I think Jim's maybe could open

32:34

partly or maybe they kept those twill phase

32:37

three. UM. But but all

32:39

throughout that we saw several bars

32:41

on Lower Broadway that we're just open and partying

32:43

all night long every night, and and people

32:46

coming in from out of town. UM. And

32:50

you know, we have some some employees

32:52

that we hear that are just like, oh, this is a

32:54

hoax and it doesn't matter. And we have some people

32:56

that are literally scared for their life

32:58

that are in the compromised that

33:00

that are just taking

33:03

all of the right steps and trying to protect

33:05

themselves. And because because

33:08

we were given guidelines and I

33:10

put air quotes around that for all of you

33:12

who are on a podcast, UM, because

33:14

we were giving guidelines and not mandates.

33:17

UM, It's it's easy for restaurants

33:19

to say we don't have to comply with

33:22

this UM and just risk our staff

33:24

to make a couple of bucks. UM.

33:27

And it's just so frustrating that absolutely

33:31

that we are considered a human being.

33:34

Yeah, and that that compliance issue

33:36

has been ridiculous because like nobody

33:38

wants to take responsibility for making it

33:40

happen, Like Totsha was

33:42

like, all we can do is guidelines, and the health

33:44

department was like, well, we've never had to deal

33:47

with the pandemic before. The Mayor's

33:49

like, it's definitely one of their jobs, definitely

33:51

not mine, and so they just

33:53

keep passing around the responsibility

33:56

and being a very functional

33:59

society that you have that we're nailing

34:01

it everywhere. Love it. So

34:07

according to with my interactions with you guys

34:09

and also UM looking over your

34:11

website and everything. UM,

34:14

I understand that, uh,

34:17

your focus is employee

34:19

safety at work, but that is a

34:21

larger umbrella than just COVID

34:24

nineteen, which is the obviously the immediate

34:26

emergency. UM. But I'd

34:29

love to hear you guys talk about some of the

34:31

other other things that you have been

34:33

working on, um, you know, rachel

34:35

discrimination, sexual harassment, because

34:37

these are both huge problems

34:39

within the restaurant industry

34:41

that I think a lot of people

34:45

don't notice or you know, at least aren't

34:47

aware of. You know, yeah

34:50

for sure, And I can't wait for COVID to be over

34:52

so we can start organizing around all of

34:55

the other parts that are broken again. Because

34:57

so much of it is broken. But

34:59

yeah, the racial equity campaign

35:02

is something that we're, um, we're

35:04

kicking off right now. And I was

35:06

doing like a mental inventory

35:09

the other day of all of the managers I've ever had,

35:11

and I think I've had one non white

35:14

front of house manager in my entire

35:16

ten years in restaurants. Um

35:19

and uh, yet just the

35:22

the hiring discrimination and the

35:26

the disparity there is is really

35:28

really remarkable. We were having a conversation

35:31

in one of our meetings about how many

35:34

non white bartenders we have on a

35:36

regular basis, Like, and if

35:38

you think about all the restaurants you go to, how many

35:40

non white, especially male,

35:42

non white male bartenders have you seen?

35:45

Like that's not something that

35:47

that you see very often. And we hear

35:49

that on the bars on Broadway a lot, like if

35:51

you're not a female, you don't get a bartending job. Um.

35:55

And and it's just

35:57

in and of itself is grotesque, you know. Yeah,

36:02

the fact that people will try to frame

36:04

that though like it's I

36:06

don't know if they're I

36:08

will take not being harassed every single

36:11

day at work for like not having one

36:13

of those bartending jobs, and my heart really

36:15

goes out to all of those girls, which is

36:17

why we have to also pick up that sexual

36:20

harassment camp campaign because it

36:22

is the working conditions down They're ridiculous.

36:26

So when you guys talk about these campaigns,

36:28

can you give me a bit more some

36:30

more specifics, UM, what do

36:33

you have like specific goals

36:35

that you've outlined that you're working towards.

36:37

Are you uh going

36:40

out and reaching out to other restaurants

36:42

and employees. I'm just curious about your process

36:44

and and what this looks like. Yeah,

36:47

So, I mean the first step on these is always

36:50

just like gather enough information

36:52

UM about the problem and

36:55

generally share workers stories. Like

36:57

we UM, we try to always put

36:59

the workers stories front and center on all of

37:01

these things. So we go around and

37:03

just gather stories from people who

37:05

have been like UM, discriminated

37:08

against in hiring or fired unjustly

37:10

and things like that. And so we're

37:13

gathering those to do a series on social

37:15

media, UM, and then through that

37:18

we can really outline some of the more like

37:20

bad actors of the of

37:22

the bosses in the in the industry,

37:25

and then we generally tackle it on

37:27

like a restaurant by restaurant

37:30

or like hospitality group by hospitality group.

37:32

Basis. Um, there's one

37:34

owner in Nashville right now that, after

37:37

the first round of

37:40

Black Lives Matter protest, tweeted

37:42

something like they had guards

37:44

at their restaurant right to shoe rioters

37:47

and looters. Um. And

37:49

so he put himself out there pretty

37:52

concretely, pretty solidly. Yea,

37:54

he made a stance known. Yeah,

37:58

well, yeah,

38:06

everything you

38:11

mentioned a case that

38:13

you just won a

38:15

little little I don't

38:18

know how long ago recently with the beer

38:20

place, what reminds me of what the name

38:23

of their name is. I don't know why beer

38:25

Brothers is coming to mind, but I bet that's not the

38:27

name of it. Oh yeah.

38:29

The beer boards. The beer boards

38:32

in Nashville. In order to sell beer,

38:34

you have to have a license from the Beer Board,

38:37

but you also have to have a license from

38:39

the Liquor Board to sell liquor. Um.

38:43

So, because we live in the South and we're good

38:45

old boys. Um

38:48

and so, the Beer Board had a meeting

38:51

and was trying to decide what

38:53

to do with these bars

38:55

that were just ignoring the

38:57

rules. And um I went to that meeting in list

39:00

and in on it. They they're

39:02

previous fine that they would offer was

39:04

a max of a thousand dollars and that was selling

39:06

to a minor, and so they were really like

39:09

figuring out, what do you

39:11

do? What do you find these

39:13

bars for flouting a public health

39:15

like a public safety law that's meant to keep

39:18

people alive. UM, And so

39:20

they decided to do a five

39:22

day renouncement of

39:24

their beer permit UM, which

39:26

doesn't necessarily shut them down. It just provides

39:29

prevents them from serving Budweiser

39:32

bud Life, but they can still serve shots,

39:34

okay, okay, yeah, so underage

39:37

shots are still okay

39:40

for a thousand dollars. So

39:43

you do work with like like city council and

39:45

UH and things like that to sort

39:47

of like integrate these like the

39:49

public UH facing campaigns

39:52

with UH more like policy

39:54

based stuff. Yeah.

39:56

So our model of organizing is

39:59

UM a workers center and not a union

40:02

UM, which is something we probably should have mentioned earlier.

40:04

UM. But so UM in

40:06

doing that, we try to tackle like industry

40:09

wide issues, and so that

40:11

ranges from you know, UH

40:14

talking to the mayor and the beer board to try

40:16

to work out what these UM finds and

40:18

punishments should be, to UM

40:20

you know, doing marches on the boss or

40:23

you know, anything like that. But

40:25

that was one word where we did work with UM

40:27

state. How do you how does that is

40:30

that going well? I mean, what's it like working with

40:32

them? Do you find them to be responsive? UM?

40:35

We have a couple of city council members

40:37

that have been just absolutely wonderful.

40:39

UM Councilwoman Sharon Harry

40:42

gives the coronavirus

40:45

update at the top of every meeting and

40:47

UH spent four whole minutes of that

40:49

one time. It's like a five minute update, spent like

40:51

the majority of it just voicing

40:54

our concerns about like workers

40:56

safety and everything. UM.

40:58

There's another one, Sean Parker. It's been

41:00

the liaison between us

41:02

and the health department. He's been really awesome.

41:05

UM. That just highlights

41:09

something that we talk about a lot here.

41:11

You know, the importance of focusing

41:13

on local elections as well. UM.

41:16

It's really easy to overlook them, or in the

41:18

past it has been. I think for a lot of people. You're

41:20

like focusing on making

41:23

sure those people are there. Yeah.

41:25

I usually respond because it very

41:27

easily could have been another person who does

41:30

not take this seriously. Our

41:33

local Central Labor Council UM

41:35

does election initiatives every year and focuses

41:37

on labored centered candidates.

41:40

There's the word that I'm looking for, UM.

41:42

And so we're working with their coalition

41:44

this year to help change

41:47

some of the people that are in office. Great,

41:50

that's awesome. UM.

41:54

I see a note here UM

41:56

about your your pressure campaigns.

41:58

Can you guys tell us a little bit of that, UM,

42:01

that's just one of the tactics

42:03

that were pretty often

42:06

used. Yeah we UM.

42:08

We had this campaign against

42:10

a restaurant called Tin Roof two

42:13

who, like, during phase

42:15

one when they were supposed to be like basically

42:17

shut down. UM had

42:20

had people posting to social

42:22

media like pictures of their

42:25

bar just packed out, like the bar

42:27

top. Part of our phase one was that bar

42:29

tops, like bar seating wasn't supposed to be open.

42:31

You had to like get a table in all of this,

42:34

and they people it was like standing room

42:36

only around the bar. UM. And

42:38

so we just mounted a social

42:41

media campaign against them, and like it

42:44

was the fastest campaign of honestly ever seen,

42:46

Like two days later they posted to Instagram

42:48

like our bar shut down and yeah,

42:53

UM. It's got to be somewhat satisfying

42:56

to see how the power

42:58

of of yeah like actually be effective. There,

43:01

Yeah, of furious citizens

43:03

who are finally paying attention as

43:06

like workers in service industry and you're dealing

43:08

with all the safety stuff. Um, anything

43:11

to people who really

43:13

like I have to go get

43:15

the hall openia poppers at their fe Like,

43:19

how can they make that experience

43:21

not the worst for people who were working,

43:23

Like obviously the advice is to stay

43:25

home and don't do that. Um,

43:28

but is there anything for people who just

43:31

can't get enough of the fucking Yeah,

43:36

got out your pops. I

43:39

totally love hallopenio poppers so much,

43:41

and I guess my advice from that would be get

43:43

it to go or to carry out, like

43:45

go to a park, sit outside with your friends where

43:48

you don't have to worry about infecting. God

43:50

knows how many people who might happen to be in that restaurant

43:53

or how many of their friends or family

43:55

members that might be, you know, uncompromised. Like

43:57

we have fought against restaurants

44:00

being open for dine in since phase

44:02

one because you cannot wear a mask when

44:04

you're eating, and it is proven that a mask

44:07

saves lives and keeps people from

44:09

getting this virus. And so you

44:11

might be eating or drinking or sneezing

44:14

or coughing, and and asymptomatic

44:16

carriers can pass this virus along, and

44:18

then your server touches your plate and

44:20

your cup and your dish to take

44:23

it back, or your buss or your bartender or whatever,

44:25

and then dishwashers wash that and it

44:27

gets sprayed up in that um water

44:30

droplets in the air in the whole dishroom.

44:32

It is an inherently unsafe

44:34

thing to do. And if you can do things like as

44:37

awful as it would be right now because it's so hot,

44:40

but figure out how did you um sitting

44:42

outside on a patio or like, if you can

44:44

do it safely by all means,

44:46

please do it. But if if there's any question

44:49

that you could potentially harm somebody else, especially

44:51

if your management team

44:53

isn't taking these guidelines and these cleaning

44:56

like cleaning the restaurant and making sure that everybody

44:58

has proper ppe and hand

45:00

sanitizer and gloves. We've heard of restaurants

45:02

just not providing gloves and whites to people because they

45:04

can't get it. Um Like, just

45:07

be safe and and be kind to

45:09

people and be considering and understand

45:12

that people are human beings first

45:14

that are doing a job to pay their bills,

45:16

and we are all going to struggle with that real

45:19

soon. So like a little kindness goes a

45:21

long way. Yeah yeah,

45:26

yeah, yeah yeah. Well

45:28

just get the food to go filled

45:31

some fill the water bottle up with vodka, drink

45:33

in a park that with a bird, you know, have

45:35

a nice ethical night screaming

45:37

at live stock. Yeah

45:41

exactly, that's like that's a perfect

45:43

way. It puts no workers at risk. It

45:45

doesn't put you at risk either. If you go eat

45:47

inside like you are also putting yourself

45:50

at risk of getting the coronavirus.

45:53

There's just I mean, we've touched on

45:56

this here

45:58

in other times. There's just no

46:00

central guidelines or

46:02

consensus of truth.

46:05

But like reality, basic

46:08

safety you know, in

46:10

other countries, in some businesses.

46:13

I just don't know which businesses are paying

46:15

attention to it before reopening,

46:17

doing some like really deep

46:20

rethinking of their safety protocols.

46:22

It comes down to even air filtration

46:24

systems, you know, not every

46:26

restaurant has the

46:28

same air filtration system set

46:31

up. There are stories in China

46:33

of people spreading it from being at

46:35

their table and the air conditioner brought

46:37

particles to other tables, and they can

46:40

map it out, they see that it was they were

46:42

sitting in the vent flow, and these are

46:44

the people that were infected on that day,

46:47

And and some restaurants might

46:49

have taken this time to you

46:52

know, make changes like

46:54

that, updating their filtration systems.

46:57

But you cannot trust that

46:59

everyone has I I mean, at the very least, we need some

47:01

sort of like sign

47:04

in windows saying that they've passed

47:06

a checklist of agree public

47:09

safety. Here's we don't believe

47:11

in the virus. So it's fine, Like a sign

47:13

that says that would be fine with me too, Like let

47:16

me know, like you think it's a hoax?

47:18

Great now, I know, Yeah, Oh

47:20

it's wild. There are any other things

47:22

that you guys have been working on that we should be aware

47:25

of or ways that we can support you. Um

47:28

well, if if you're in Nashville,

47:31

don't go to kid Rocks, Honckey Talk

47:34

or UM or what else?

47:37

What else? Rippies? Is it COVID

47:39

related or in general, don't go

47:41

to Well it's it's one just

47:43

just good advice. But too, that's

47:48

the same owner the tweeted

47:51

the stuff about writers and looters,

47:53

which and then UM

47:55

also has just been like ignoring

47:58

all capacity limits. Um

48:00

so, do not support kid

48:03

Rocks, Big dumb bar. And the owner

48:06

is not kid Rock No.

48:08

UM, Now it's just

48:10

a dude named Steve Smith UM, which

48:13

like as a super villain, I wish you

48:15

had a more exciting name, but very

48:20

weird to steal someone else's brand for

48:22

your restaurant branding though. UM,

48:25

all right, I don't live in Nashville,

48:27

but I will avoid that place. Yeah,

48:31

And UM check us out online

48:34

on our website and I'm sure y'all will link

48:36

it. And then we've got um Rock

48:38

Underscore Music City on Instagram

48:41

and at Rock Music City on Twitter. UM,

48:43

and then we're on Facebook as well. Also

48:45

you can donate, um always accepting

48:48

donations through the website. That's

48:50

super helpful to keep the operation

48:53

running and you know, provide

48:55

materials. So one more

48:57

cause that's really close to yes,

49:00

UM that we didn't really touch

49:02

on is the trans community, especially

49:04

black trans women, who are murdered

49:07

at just hugely disproportionate rates.

49:10

And um our black

49:12

trans Comrade Steel wanted to make sure

49:14

that we plugged the

49:16

concept of paying trans women because

49:19

like they face

49:22

so much more hiring discrimination

49:24

and all of these things that we've talked about today.

49:27

Uh. And even though they've ruled

49:29

it illegal to fire people based

49:31

on these things like in an at will

49:33

state, those rules don't

49:35

even really apply. So

49:38

UM, there's a Twitter account

49:40

set up with a

49:43

number of places to

49:45

donate for these causes. That

49:48

handle is at pay,

49:51

b l K, t r N

49:53

S Women at pay,

49:55

Black trans Women, and UM

49:57

that is that's just a

50:00

great group and

50:02

really really excited somebody's out there taking

50:04

up that cause. And I just for our listeners,

50:07

this will be linked in the tweets and everything,

50:09

of course, but when you're looking for

50:12

rock music City, it's r o

50:14

C not r o C. K uh

50:18

yeah, might be helpful, Yeah,

50:23

yeah, yeah, very different. Alright,

50:26

guys, well, thank you so much for taking the time to

50:28

chat with us, and uh,

50:30

good luck with everything that you're doing.

50:33

Thank you for everything that you're doing. It's

50:35

very it's very important. Thank

50:38

you all for having us and and

50:40

UM using your platform to elevate

50:42

the issues that workers are facing

50:45

right now that are being

50:47

under reported and not talked about.

50:50

UM and then shining some white on

50:53

some of the systemic issues that that coronavirus

50:55

is bringing up for us, and like

50:58

health insurance being tied to you place.

51:00

Yeah, um, and

51:03

and the fact that you know who

51:05

can survive onto seventy a week pre tax nobody,

51:08

nobody, So we really need some heroes

51:10

Act passed. Yeah, that

51:12

to seventy five might as well be zero, because

51:15

it will have you just as houseless in Nashville

51:17

like there and everywhere.

51:21

Yeah, you can't live on that in any part of this country.

51:24

Are you guys getting the additional six

51:27

dollars right now from Congress

51:29

on top of that? Yeah, which

51:31

is why that's so vital for it to be continued,

51:34

and so far we don't know

51:36

what's going to happen. Yeah,

51:38

this is why we have to burn the country

51:40

to the ground if something else

51:42

isn't past, because like that's the only

51:44

option. It's annihilation from tens of millions

51:47

of people otherwise. Yeah, I mean you're

51:49

not wrong. Yeah,

51:52

we we we are going to need federal

51:54

assistance so bad because like part

51:56

part of what has these restaurants

51:59

open and violate in these guidelines in

52:01

the first place is that our

52:03

industry didn't get a bailout, like we

52:05

bail out banks every chance we freaking

52:08

get. We bail out United Airlines every chance

52:10

we get. But because like I

52:12

think seven and ten restaurants are

52:14

like a one off, like independently owned

52:16

thing. Um, they don't have

52:19

the like collective power to

52:21

demand these sorts of bailouts, and

52:24

so they're forced to operate to keep

52:26

their doors open. So if we don't get federal

52:28

relief on several levels, we're

52:31

all gonna like we're never going to get through this virus

52:33

and we're all gonna die broke in the streets.

52:35

It's really to um.

52:38

Restaurant profit margins are three to five percent,

52:40

like they are low. They are not making

52:42

a lot of money on restaurants. So like they

52:45

might have a couple of like especially small mom

52:47

and popera restaurants, like big chain restaurants or

52:49

something different on that aspect um.

52:51

But with unemployment right, like it took

52:53

them two months to process mine

52:56

UM and I know some people that it's

52:58

it's July who applied to March. You still

53:00

haven't gotten unemployment UM.

53:03

And and now, like what happens

53:05

when they go back to work and they're

53:07

kicked off their unemployment because our governor put

53:09

up a form on the website specifically saying

53:12

if you got called back to work and you didn't

53:14

go, we can refuse you unemployment and

53:17

and made a form for their employers

53:20

to report people who refused to come

53:22

back to work so they could kick them off their two hundred

53:24

and seventy five dollars a week um.

53:26

And you know what happens for those

53:28

people who have gone back to work and now have to close

53:31

down because of COVID again and because

53:33

our spreads are worse or because their

53:35

employer didn't care to clean their restaurant. Are

53:37

they going to have to sit through that backlog of

53:39

unemployment again to get approved

53:42

again? And how how

53:44

much like if you're already behind

53:46

for a couple of months, how much can

53:48

you really hope to

53:50

like live without

53:52

that cushion? You know? Like how far can you

53:54

stretch what you don't have? Like

53:58

what is that stress and general world is doing

54:00

to your health? To right? I

54:02

mean, there's so much to unpack, but I

54:04

mean speak to your earlier

54:07

point, like the

54:09

majority of restaurants have a small profit

54:12

margin and the

54:14

big chain restaurants, which I

54:16

believe quite a few of them did get a

54:19

bunch of the

54:22

big restaurants that don't need it, And so we're

54:24

looking at a landscape potentially

54:26

post COVID where no,

54:29

none of the small businesses with the vast majority

54:31

of the small businesses have survived. Um,

54:35

and that's devastating to think about. No

54:38

one likes David Busters for their food.

54:42

No one likes David Busters. One likes I've

54:44

never been to David Busters. But I assume somebody

54:50

chuck e cheese. Yeah,

54:54

like I just do hand sanitizer,

54:56

own principle. Right now, how

54:59

does key cheese? Whether this No one wants

55:01

to well, I'm sure some people do want to put

55:03

their kids in those ball pits again. Um,

55:08

all right, well, thank you again, guys. This has

55:11

been really interesting. Yeah,

55:13

thank you as well. It was. It was a pleasure.

55:16

Thank you again Brenda and Hayden

55:18

for speaking with us today. UM.

55:21

Make sure you follow them on all those wonderful social

55:23

media accounts

55:25

that they just plugged, and check out their website.

55:28

And you can find us at Worst your

55:30

Pod on Instagram and Twitter. You can find Katie Still

55:32

at Katie Still. You can find Cody at

55:34

dr Mr Cody um,

55:37

and you can find Robert only

55:39

on Twitter at I right, okay, it's

55:42

the only place. Yeah,

55:44

I was going to go to sleep now, and I hope everybody

55:47

is wearing a face mask, washing their

55:49

hands and having a great day. Face

55:52

mask to wear your hands, That's

55:54

what I said. Wipe your eyes

55:57

with Cody Cody

56:00

fingers in your tear ducks, people, get

56:02

them real deep in there. All right. That's the

56:04

episode. Everything

56:07

So Dumb, Everything

56:10

so dump, and it's again I

56:14

tried. Worst

56:17

Year Ever is a production of I Heart Radio. For

56:19

more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the

56:21

i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

56:23

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.