Phase 3 Reopening
Stephanie Samsel '21 News Editor
Meghan Yunkun '23 Staff Writer
Since September 4th, when Maryland’s Stage Three of Reopening began allowing indoor theaters, outdoor venues, retail and religious facilities to operate at an increased capacity, customers and employees alike have approached this new step toward a semblance of normalcy with both excitement and trepidation. However, only the latter consistently witness firsthand the various attitudes towards these new allowances.
Younger workers make up 24% of employment in industries at higher risk of COVID infections. Since the announcement of a virtual fall semester and no school sponsored sports, young workers have taken advantage of their flexible schedules to take on more hours. Kevin Zimmerman, a senior at Oakland Mills High school, said, “Ever since COVID has hit us, working in the kitchen being a cook has been very time consuming. Now that I am more flexible with school, I have been working a lot more hours than I was. It's a struggle, but I get through it.” Ryan Holderman, a senior at Mount Saint Joseph High School, works as a waiter and feels that “ever since COVID and online schooling have been overlapped with each other, it can get very frustrating at times. Customers don't listen to our COVID guidelines. Just as a whole, it's very frustrating at times.” Cassidy Crawford, a sophomore at Howard High, said “I'm working 13 hours a week and it seems to be going okay. I haven't really stressed out that much about it yet, but I'm getting to the point where I can feel that school is becoming a major stress factor.” Zimmerman, Holderman, and Crawford agreed that their stress levels were at a 7 out of 10. Though the school schedule appears flexible with plenty of opportunities to add working hours, the stress incurred at work coupled with the adjustment to the demands of virtual learning leaves a lot to consider when deciding one’s hours. Matthew Casimir, a recent Howard graduate and barista at Starbucks since February, has experienced the transition from taking strictly drive-thru transactions to allowing orders inside. “Everyone is required to wear a mask, that’s not up for debate,” he said firmly. “We have turned away a couple of people because they didn’t have masks, and we were like, ‘We can try to give you one, and it’s up to you to accept it.’ After a little bit of conversation we can usually get through to [noncompliant customers],” he added. “That’s been one of the strong points that I’ve been able to use.” |
One of the places of worship that has reopened in-person seating is Mosaic Christian Church in Elkridge. Megan Eich, a Howard senior, Mosaic Kids Elementary volunteer and Coal Fire employee, found “the result of seeing people face to face to be well worth the schedule headaches. It’s so fun,” she said, “We are all so hyped, because you can just feel the energy.” After being asked how the children — all of whom must use hand sanitizer and keep their hands to themselves — are handling having to wear masks during their services, Eich responded, “It’s going well — better than I expected, because I know I have plenty of experience with my little siblings of just not wanting to wear a mask and wanting to pull it down all the time, but [the kids] are really receptive. I think everyone as a community has really ingrained in even the young ones that it’s important that we keep each other safe.” Despite the distanced seating and hand sanitizer stations, there is still a “wide spectrum” of willingness within the congregation to attend the weekly in-person service. For those who prefer virtual options, the church offers recorded videos of sermons and kids’ services on their website, as well as small group meetings over Zoom.
In addition to handling customer service, employees at food establishments have been trained to follow more maintenance procedures. Casimir, who has learned how to clean bodily fluids and check temperatures of products, noted the pastry case is frequently inspected: “It used to be [checked] about four times a day, now I think it’s around 6-8. [We] make sure everything’s there, make sure nothing is moldy, nothing’s too frozen, too warm... just keep everything at a basic, good temperature.” At Coal Fire, where dining in is open at 50% capacity, employees receive temperature checks and replace their gloves as often as needed. “It’s so fascinating how different it is now compared to what it was,” said Eich. “We used to use max two warmers for food that hasn’t been picked up yet, and now on a Friday night, it’s unfathomable if we use less than four… it’s just the volume has increased so much.”
As for what customers and visitors should know as they return to their favorite buildings, the student employees responded with the following virtues: Kindness and patience.
In addition to handling customer service, employees at food establishments have been trained to follow more maintenance procedures. Casimir, who has learned how to clean bodily fluids and check temperatures of products, noted the pastry case is frequently inspected: “It used to be [checked] about four times a day, now I think it’s around 6-8. [We] make sure everything’s there, make sure nothing is moldy, nothing’s too frozen, too warm... just keep everything at a basic, good temperature.” At Coal Fire, where dining in is open at 50% capacity, employees receive temperature checks and replace their gloves as often as needed. “It’s so fascinating how different it is now compared to what it was,” said Eich. “We used to use max two warmers for food that hasn’t been picked up yet, and now on a Friday night, it’s unfathomable if we use less than four… it’s just the volume has increased so much.”
As for what customers and visitors should know as they return to their favorite buildings, the student employees responded with the following virtues: Kindness and patience.