Pandemic Interview #1
Interview: Waiter Matthew Trujillo
Beginning my interviews, I decided to start with one of my coworkers Matthew (Matt). I chose to interview him first because of shared experiences. We both started working as servers after the pandemic started but still felt similar affects of the pandemic from different perspectives.
Liz: The first question I have for you is “what were some fears you had about your job at the beginning of the pandemic before restaurants were shut down?””
Matt: “Well, I mean of course there was the covid scar, like that I was going to get it, that I was going to get sick, that I was going to bring it home to my family. Um, that i was going to cause other people to get sick that were in my community. Mostly, that yeah.”
Liz: “How do you think the pandemic has affected your job?”
Matt: “So the pandemic has actually kind of helped me in the job market because food service and hospitality, it started to really need people to fill spaces and places that other people were too worried about the pandemic or some other reason not to take these jobs.”
Liz: “Are there any examples of where you felt like you tip or wage would be affected by you enforcing covid guidelines?”
Matt: “Yes, um, some positive, some negative. People are less likely to come out because of the food prices, added gratuities, stuff like that. It definitely deters my friends and I from going out and eating. But, in terms of my tips, it probably, i would say in bigger groups it definitely made it more worth while to take on bigger groups, that two tops and single people.”
Liz: “Do you think like enforcing covid guidelines on people that were like resiting them had anything to do with your tips?”
Matt: “Yes, most definitely, and definitely in a negative way.Yeah doing all that, you just have to correct people more, theres more room for people taking things the wrong way, taking things personally”
Liz: “How do you think the pandemic will affect you job as a restaurant worker in the future, once we’re past this?”
Matt: “Um, overall it allowed me to practice serving I guess, you know like, getting it while I was younger because the market was pretty saturated during the summer, and most places for serving but because of the pandemic now it’s not.”
