A lot of the people around this hobby are in the hospitality and entertainment industries. As just an example, the biggest Mexican spintop company has stopped assigning work to all its demonstrators and doesn't even answer their telephone calls. Below is a post by Mark Hayward on Facebook that summarizes well the situation. Those of us who are not affected as hard by the pandemic, let's try to support them if we can.
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By Mark Hayward 7/10/20
(Copied from a friend & edited to fit my life)
I have worked in the hospitality, attractions, and entertainment industry for over 30 years and have never been through anything like this.
Not 9/11 nor Hurricane Katrina nor the 2008 financial debacle had this multi billion dollar effect for so long with no end in sight.
Our industry was/is hit hard by COVID-19.
Broadway is closed until 2021.
Cirque du Soleil has filed for bankruptcy (debt restructuring) and cut 3500+ jobs..
Disney and Universal have massive furloughs and layoffs, as most future capital improvement projects have been put on hold, or scaled back drastically.
Cruise ship entertainers and production teams are out of work.
This country’s hotels are at the lowest occupancy and most of the sales teams and employees have been furloughed or laid-off.
Bartenders and Servers don’t have enough customers and tips to pay their bills. Valets and Bellmen too.
Our travel agent and tour operator friends cannot book trips.
Theme park productions have no idea when they will be recalled.
There are no concerts or touring productions. The worldwide convention business has shriveled up. Movie theaters are dark.
The film and television industry are completely stalled right now. (Enjoying the re-runs yet?)
Museums, who already run on low resources and funding, have no clear future in sight.
Performing arts organizations of all kinds — choirs, theatres, orchestras, dance companies — are all trying to figure out on a daily basis how to keep going and employ anyone they can in the field.
12,000,000 people in the US and $38 Billion per year industry cannot reopen until mass gatherings can happen again.
So when you see your hospitality and entertainment friends begging you to wear masks, understand that we are helplessly watching our industry crumble before our eyes because the country is doing so poorly at reducing the spread.
This *IS* personal for us. My closest friends and members of my extended family have LOST their jobs. Not just furloughed, terminated!
PLEASE wear your mask (over your mouth AND your nose). Practice social distancing (6ft or more, 15 while training & exercising). And wash your hands....
