We Will Survive! — But How Will We Look?
By Christie Seeley
vallartasounds.com
When in our lifetime, do we have the opportunity to withdraw from society, change our living habits, and evaluate what is essential or necessary.
I recently read an article written by the owner of a small restaurant in the Bronx, New York. She opened her little cafe upon graduation from college, and from the get-go had a very successful neighborhood meeting and eating place. Over the years, the neighborhood morphed from the tenement buildings of the past to a more gentrified area, and the tiny restaurant grew in popularity, increasing hours and offerings. Soon it was an upscale must-visit brunch destination. Even a successful restaurant business is a difficult one, and recently economic events have made them even more susceptible to increasingly small profits left over for the owners. But despite the recent challenges to the industry with rising prices of supplies, labor, and rents, our owner had formed a family, including a child, and she and her wife worked ever harder to keep the place an inviting spot for the neighborhood. The restaurant became very popular even if profits declined. She was well-loved by her vendors, her public, and her staff. When the Coronavirus hit and shuttered businesses, she applied for any available help. Unfortunately, the government programs were not well designed, nor were they well handled. The job of allocating who would receive funds from the Small Business Payroll Protection Program fell to select banks, many of which just called their big customers, offering the almost free money to companies for which they were unintended. This practice left the small businesses the program should help without assistance. With a heavy heart, our owner paid her staff for the week and supplied them with food from the larders. She encouraged them all to apply for unemployment (another relief benefit which has been overloaded and is unprepared to deal with the considerable demand, leaving applicants with nowhere to turn).
Twenty years of this courageous woman's efforts went down the drain within a week. Her story is, unfortunately not unusual. So many of our creative business people are facing similar situations with the pandemic we are facing. Our restaurant owner is unsure she will ever emerge from this devastation. She says if she does, her interest would be less about having the restaurant she is leaving behind, preferring to go back to the straightforward, friendly establishment of her youth where a fancy brunch is not on the menu. While not as hard hit as New York, I am confident the businesses of Puerto Vallarta are going through similar hardships. Some will make it through, and, unfortunately, some will not. That is a sad truth.
As most of you know, I am close to members of the music community in Puerto Vallarta. They and their supporters have been struggling to create ways to weather this storm without venues to play. Many are doing virtual live presentations produced in their own homes or local studios. Dani Marquez of Groove House Studio in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is producing live performances for various groups. Included are the ever-popular Media Luna, guitar duo Zoe and Leon, the voice and guitars of Mezcalito Pop (Perla Alarcon and Alberto Ramirez), as well as others who may be interested. These performances offer tip jars via PayPal for viewers to use if so inspired. Percussionist Gary Flores has been doing some innovative productions from his home studio and presents them on Facebook and Youtube. Trem de Minas is working with Neptune TV on beautiful presentations of their Brazilian jazz fusion. Violinist Eugenia Prieto and Bassist Roberto Falcon have each shared live program on Facebook. Flamenco Guitarist Esaú Galvan is posting many new videos on Facebook as well. So far, I believe the monetary returns are modest but looking up. Arancha Asensio of Babel Bar is working on organizing musicians who are interested in making live programming more productive for them by joining forces and working as a group. Interested artists should reach out to her on Facebook to join this effort.
We all expect a post-pandemic reentry to the regular business activity will be slow and tedious. Our hope must be that we all learn new skills for the future as scientists do forecast more unexpected events to occur during our lifetime. Evaluating what is essential and how to proceed with our lives and, at the same time, help our neighbors move into more stable and satisfying lives is a worthwhile goal for us now.
Courage!
We Will Survive! — But How Will We Look?
By Christie Seeley
vallartasounds.com
When in our lifetime, do we have the opportunity to withdraw from society, change our living habits, and evaluate what is essential or necessary.
I recently read an article written by the owner of a small restaurant in the Bronx, New York. She opened her little cafe upon graduation from college, and from the get-go had a very successful neighborhood meeting and eating place. Over the years, the neighborhood morphed from the tenement buildings of the past to a more gentrified area, and the tiny restaurant grew in popularity, increasing hours and offerings. Soon it was an upscale must-visit brunch destination. Even a successful restaurant business is a difficult one, and recently economic events have made them even more susceptible to increasingly small profits left over for the owners. But despite the recent challenges to the industry with rising prices of supplies, labor, and rents, our owner had formed a family, including a child, and she and her wife worked ever harder to keep the place an inviting spot for the neighborhood. The restaurant became very popular even if profits declined. She was well-loved by her vendors, her public, and her staff. When the Coronavirus hit and shuttered businesses, she applied for any available help. Unfortunately, the government programs were not well designed, nor were they well handled. The job of allocating who would receive funds from the Small Business Payroll Protection Program fell to select banks, many of which just called their big customers, offering the almost free money to companies for which they were unintended. This practice left the small businesses the program should help without assistance. With a heavy heart, our owner paid her staff for the week and supplied them with food from the larders. She encouraged them all to apply for unemployment (another relief benefit which has been overloaded and is unprepared to deal with the considerable demand, leaving applicants with nowhere to turn).
Twenty years of this courageous woman's efforts went down the drain within a week. Her story is, unfortunately not unusual. So many of our creative business people are facing similar situations with the pandemic we are facing. Our restaurant owner is unsure she will ever emerge from this devastation. She says if she does, her interest would be less about having the restaurant she is leaving behind, preferring to go back to the straightforward, friendly establishment of her youth where a fancy brunch is not on the menu. While not as hard hit as New York, I am confident the businesses of Puerto Vallarta are going through similar hardships. Some will make it through, and, unfortunately, some will not. That is a sad truth.
As most of you know, I am close to members of the music community in Puerto Vallarta. They and their supporters have been struggling to create ways to weather this storm without venues to play. Many are doing virtual live presentations produced in their own homes or local studios. Dani Marquez of Groove House Studio in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is producing live performances for various groups. Included are the ever-popular Media Luna, guitar duo Zoe and Leon, the voice and guitars of Mezcalito Pop (Perla Alarcon and Alberto Ramirez), as well as others who may be interested. These performances offer tip jars via PayPal for viewers to use if so inspired. Percussionist Gary Flores has been doing some innovative productions from his home studio and presents them on Facebook and Youtube. Trem de Minas is working with Neptune TV on beautiful presentations of their Brazilian jazz fusion. Violinist Eugenia Prieto and Bassist Roberto Falcon have each shared live program on Facebook. Flamenco Guitarist Esaú Galvan is posting many new videos on Facebook as well. So far, I believe the monetary returns are modest but looking up. Arancha Asensio of Babel Bar is working on organizing musicians who are interested in making live programming more productive for them by joining forces and working as a group. Interested artists should reach out to her on Facebook to join this effort.
We all expect a post-pandemic reentry to the regular business activity will be slow and tedious. Our hope must be that we all learn new skills for the future as scientists do forecast more unexpected events to occur during our lifetime. Evaluating what is essential and how to proceed with our lives and, at the same time, help our neighbors move into more stable and satisfying lives is a worthwhile goal for us now.
Courage!
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