Eating Out During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Our First Three Experiences

Normally we rarely eat out, I’m home all day and love to cook. Plus eating out often would break our low-income budget. However, we’ve actually been trying to eat out more since restaurants began reopening after COVID-19 pandemic closures.

I’m on disability so I get paid every month, my husband is an essential worker and has been getting full time hours most weeks. Our income has remained unchanged, our stimulus checks were additional income — so we’re trying to spend more than usual to get money back into the economy.

We’ve done takeout, but I’m not a fan of all the wasteful packaging. This post is about three recent experiences where we sat at tables and had a server, in three different jurisdictions.

SPRINGFIELD IL SATURDAY MAY 31, 2020

It was a beautiful day, but long story why we went to Springfield. Anyway, at lunch time we decided to try one  location of 400 restaurant chain McAlister’s Deli. Rather than going through a drive-thru and eat in our car we decided to try their patio, the interior dining room wasn’t open. The temperature outside was perfect and they had tables in the shade.  First time trying this chain for both of us.

The tables were 6 feet apart…barely. A server took our orders, we were all wearing masks. Drinks came in usual fast food to go cups, but I’d asked for “no straws” so we didn’t have that waste. The server brought a bill, took my card, returned with a paid receipt. All orders were to go but we could sit and eat so there was no tip option.

Neither of us had enough cash to tip our server so we ordered two cookies for dessert and asked about leaving a tip on our card. The server wasn’t sure. She returned with our cookies and a dine-in credit card receipt. This allowed me to add a tip to cover our original and dessert orders — a total of $25.52. I added a $12 tip because she was doing a lot of running inside and out, may not have been getting any tips. The two women seated closest to use did give her a cash tip. I chatted briefly with them, which was nice to experience again.

All our trash went back into the big to go bag and into a trash barrel. My husband then went inside to use the open restrooms.

Better than going through their drive-thru and eating the food in our car. I noticed they had an accessible route from the public sidewalk to the building, something I look for even when driving.

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, MO (ST LOUIS COUNTY) WEDNESDAY JUNE 3, 2020

My husband had a long dinner break between his afternoon and evening clients, both in St. Louis County. We decided to meet for dinner since I could take transit to meet him at a location midway between his clients.  This saved him driving home for dinner or eating alone.

This Wednesday evening it was a hot day out, but I stayed cool while on Metrolink. We’d decided on the relatively new Red Robin at South Hanley & Dale.  I think it was a Red Robin I ate at about 15 years ago, in Kirkwood. My husband had never been to one before.

This time we got to sit in the dining room. All the tables were still in place but balloons & signs at many created spacing and reduced total capacity.  Nice dining room, an upgrade from the patio the previous Saturday. This time we had our drinks in real glass glasses, but still no straws! A folded paper menu created a pocket to hold plastic-wrapped utensils and napkin.  Our server wore latex gloves when bringing out our food — on real plates no less. But our utensils were plastic.

Total with tip: $31.03. Payment was via a wireless tabletop device from Ziosk.  It was older, would only accept a physical card swipe or Samsung Pay — no chip reader or Apple Pay. I have some cards that are contactless, I should’ve tried one of those.

This Red Robin location, like most, is company-owned, not a locally-owned franchise (yes, I asked).

SAINT LOUIS, MO SUNDAY JUNE 7, 2020

We went out for dinner again to celebrate the night before our 6th wedding anniversary. Not only did we want nice, we wanted local. We picked PW Pizza on Chouteau. I’d only been there a couple of times for meetings while working on participatory budgeting, my husband had never been before. We’d both been to Vin de Set, roof level, once.

We said booth when the host asked table or booth, he then tried to seat us at a booth immediately next to an occupied booth. He didn’t hesitate when I asked it we could sit one more booth over. They do have fixed plexiglass added between booths but why not be further apart when not busy?

Again we have real glasses for our beverages, but we also had metal utensils rolled up in cloth napkins. We went to a pizza place but we both ended up ordering calzones. Like the previous two the menus were single use paper. On the front I noticed EOB for Employee Owned Business. I knew the P & W of PW Pizza stood for Paul & Wendy, so I asked. Their company has a program where full-time employees can earn shares in the company — an ownership stake. I’m a huge fan of EOBs, that’s one reason I buy King Arthur Flour.

Nobody that came to our table with beverages or food wore gloves. Not sure that makes a difference, just noting it. Our total before tip was $28.26. No contactless payment was available, I had to surrender my card. After inquiring they offered to manually enter the card number rather than swiping it. They said they’d wipe off the card after touching it, ink pens used to add tip get wiped off after every use.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

A month or so ago I’d have told you it would be a year before I’d be comfortable eating out, but even rarely it feels real good to be pampered at mealtime. Especially as a househusbands who plans & prepares all our meals.

This does remind me of the time before smoking bans, when I’d have to research a restaurant to see if smoking was banned or allowed. Now I want to research ahead of time to find out their pandemic-era measures, contactless payment, etc. Like the old days, the websites & social media posts will likely fail to communicate the information I’m seeking. Big chains will have an advantage.

It does feel good to eat a meal I didn’t have to prepare or cleanup, but also on real plates with cloth napkins (like at home). If I’m paying to eat out I don’t want plastic utensils, plastic cups, or paper napkins.

It’ll be interesting to see how the food service industry changes/adapts as the months go by. Hopefully small restaurant owners can make changes while surviving on reduced capacity.

Hoping For A Better World Before I Stop Breathing

I can still breath, but far too many can’t anymore — due to police brutality.  Here’s how Cambridge Dictionary defines brutality:

/bru??tæl.?.ti/ behavior that is very cruel or violent and showing no feelings for others.

Cruel or violent. No feelings for others.

The Police aren’t cruel & violent toward everyone, their clear target is black women & men. Breonna Taylor & George Floyd were the most recent victims.

I was just over a year old when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. The killing of unarmed black men had been going on for decades at that point, though it didn’t make the news then. Now it seems we’re still grappling with one senseless killing when another occurs.

Since I was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer last fall I’ve cried a lot. But I’ve come to accept I have 1-10 years left to live. What’s harder to accept is my final years will likely be marked by a deadly virus and the continued killing of young unarmed black women & men.

I know as a white male I’ve been fortunate. My mom didn’t have to worry if I’d be killed just for being myself. Actually that’s not quite true, as a very out gay man my mom worried about AIDS or me being beaten to death.

Still I’ve lived my 53+ years unafraid of the police. I’ve been pulled over before and given the officers a hard time about not wearing their seat belts — a black person could never do such a thing. I grew up in Oklahoma City but never heard a word about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre when white mobs entered and destroyed a thriving segregated Black Wall Street. Not. A. Word.

Peaceful protests are the foundation of our democracy. Seeing the many protests all over our region is very encouraging. I have friends out protesting, I’d join them if it was physically possible.

Those who started riots & looting are not protestors, they’re agitators. They come out when the opportunity arises. The protestors are not rioters. Protestors are not looters.

White folks are often uncomfortable during times like this when there are mass protests. Good! Black folks are uncomfortable every day so it’s about damn time white folks feel uncomfortable.

When I’ve cried the last few weeks it’s not because I’m going to die in the coming decade, but because young black  women & men have died so violently at the hands (knees) of police, citizen vigilantes, etc. Recently I also cry every time I see the video of the old white man shoved to the pavement by police in Buffalo NY. They just kept walking past him. Cruel & violent indeed.

The defense is often just following orders, following the lead of higher rank police. The culture of the institution is the problem, in every city from coast to coast. It’s pervasive. Old institutions take forever to change, but my time is limited.

I thought after Rodney King things would change. I thought so again after Michael Brown. Small incremental changes around the edges isn’t enough. We must rethink what policing means in 21st century America, including discussions around dismantling & defunding.

We must stop treating our black citizens like escaped slaves.

My bucket list includes travel and such, but I’d forget it all just to not have any more unarmed blacks killed. I’d like to go out knowing the world will get better, not worse, after I’ve stopped breathing.

Black Lives Matter!

— Steve Patterson

NEW POLL: Will You Vote In Person or Absentee In The Next Election In Your State?

The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature passed a bill making it easier for some in the state to vote through the end of 2020:

State lawmakers earlier this month sent [Gov] Parson a bill that would allow people considered at-risk — those age 65 and older, living in a long-term care facility or with certain existing health problems — could vote absentee without needing to have their ballot notarized. Anyone else could cast a mail-in ballot but would need to get it notarized.

Parson hasn’t taken action on the bill yet. It would only apply to the August primary and November general election. (Post-Dispatch)

As a disabled voter I’m automatically sent an absentee ballot request form for every election, though it doesn’t have the thrill of voting on Election Day. But that doesn’t matter when the weather, or my health that day, would prevent me from getting to vote.

With the current pandemic the subject of mail-in voting is being strongly debated. Today’s poll is not about policy, but what you personally plan to do. Answers are shown in random order, I’ve included the option  for you to include your own answer if one of mine isn’t satisfactory. Note that if you type in an answer I’m the only one who’ll see what you’ve written — it’ll be shown as “other” on the public results.

This non-scientific poll will close at 8pm tonight.

If you want more information on absentee voting here are links for readers in the primary audience:

• St. Louis City
• St. Louis County

No matter how you vote, just be sure you vote — in all races on the ballot!

— Steve Patterson

Demolition of St. Louis Centre Bridge Over Washington Ave Began A Decade Ago

Ten years ago today work began on reversing a mistake that had been in place for 25 years prior — the pedestrian bridge over Washington Ave created a dark environment at the sidewalk level.

The “Bridge Bash” event started with comments from numerous white men, followed by Mayor Slay operating the wrecking ball, pyrotechnics made breaking glass a little more exciting.  Here’s the video I uploaded from the scene — the action starts at 8:45.

St. Louis Centre was part of the ‘bring the suburbs to the city’ movement. The inwardly focused mall was a killer to the sidewalks downtown — especially under the Washington & Locust wide bridges connecting to Dillard’s & Famous-Barr, respectively.

Removal of this oppressive bridge and facing the ground level retail of the MX (formerly St. Louis Centre) has done wonders for this part of downtown. If only we hadn’t wasted decades trying to be like the burbs.

— Steve Patterson

It’s Opening Day! No, Not Baseball

Every year opening day in the St. Louis region is a big deal, Cardinals baseball fans celebrate every year. But baseball isn’t starting today — some businesses in St. Louis City & County are being permitted to reopen, with restrictions. Not all businesses that can open, will open. Others that want to reopen aren’t yet permitted to do so, such as gyms.

Many will still be celebrating today. In contrast, others think reopening businesses now is a huge mistake. As businesses reopen today it’ll be impossible to enforce new reduced occupancy and other rules.

As someone that hasn’t been able to work for over a decade I understand getting bored at home, money running out, etc. I wanted to get back to normal, but I had to accept that my stroke meant I had to adjust to a new normal. This took me over two years.

The normal that everyone had at the start of 2020 will not be returning. Ever. Anyone who thinks otherwise will struggle to adapt.

This is not a democratic hoax, Coronavirus won’t just “disappear”. In fact, it may “never go away”.  A mass-produced vaccine won’t be ready to distribute this year, that won’t happen until at least the 2nd quarter of 2021. It could well take more than a year from now.  When it does arrive we don’t know if it’ll be free.

In the meantime we’re going to see repeated waves of infections, deaths will continue to escalate. Our economy will be stopped again with each wave. Until at least 70% of the population is vaccinated social  distancing, face masks, etc need to continue — 2021 or after.

Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong, but I don’t think I need to worry about that happening.

— Steve Patterson