Inside the newsroom: How to get a haircut, and other fallout from the coronavirus

Gov. Gary Herbert speaks alongside Dr. Angela Dunn, Utah state epidemiologist, in front of a screen displaying statistics about COVID-19 during a press conference in the Emergency Operations Center at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 6, 2020. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY —

The first sign that something was different came immediately when I entered the hair salon for my appointment for a haircut. My stylist greeted me and in the same breath asked me to use hand sanitizer from the counter, then grabbed a sanitized cloth and wiped down the door handle I just used to enter the building.

It was noon on a Tuesday, another difference for me; it was the only time I could break away from work during a relentless news cycle that has our journalists working round-the-clock from remote locations to keep up with the press of news during the pandemic. Typically my haircuts are in the evening after work hours.

There was no one at the front counter of this downtown Salt Lake City salon. The receptionist had been laid off, a victim of staff reductions due to economic fallout from COVID-19, the virus that has altered the world in both large ways — limited global travel, economic upheaval — and small ways — the search for toilet paper, no visits to friends and family.

For me the question was this: Is it safe to go get a haircut during the pandemic and if so, how do I do it?

The salon is well-appointed and usually packed with customers. I became introduced to it and the stylist, a wonderful woman who now cuts my hair, by my wife, who is her friend and customer. That happened a few years ago after I returned from a barber with a cut that apparently didn’t pass inspection. I’m the better for it as the monthly haircut now is only matched by the great conversation and insights offered from the stylist while I’m in the chair.

It’s a sign of the times that my stylist didn’t want her name used nor the name of the salon mentioned when I asked if I could relate the impact of the virus on her work and personal life. Irrational social shaming is occurring online and she (rightly) did not want to be a target of anyone criticizing her decision to work.

I’ll save addressing the topic of social shaming for another day, but it has no place in a pandemic, used on people trying to figure out how to keep jobs, support families and provide services to the public. As Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday, Utah is open for business, even as it adheres to a “stay safe, stay home” basic statewide policy.

There were four stylists there on this day, spread out to the four corners of the salon. Chairs are now disinfected after every customer. The hair-washing stations are also sanitized after every use. It’s a tiresome but necessary process. Some stylists choose not to work. Some are comfortable working with certain precautions in place.

Customers are asked about their health before they are seen. There is no walk-in traffic allowed. Hot towels, a luxury at this salon, are no longer offered because of the viral threat. Granted, that’s not a big cost of a deadly virus. But before you roll your eyes consider it a small sign of practically invisible changes that are going on in each facet of our lives. Forget the luxuries, we’re dealing with necessity. Someone deals with hot towels. If hot towels are gone, someone’s out of a job.

This stylist has larger concerns. She leases her chair for $1,000 a month. The owner of the building that houses the salon has to make a decision of whether to temporarily reduce the rent for stylists or keep it the same, even when they’ve stopped working. Both federal and state officials have worked out economic plans that will allow for money and bridge loans to keep businesses open. But that’s for the business owners.

Contractors like stylists and nail salon workers don’t necessarily have the same access to those business benefits. That becomes a worry. So does child care. My stylist has a daughter that is now doing school at home, like every student in Utah. That requires creative planning and scheduling to balance her care with client care.

Inside the newsroom this week, our meetings have primarily been by phone conversation and teleconferencing using Zoom or Google hangouts. Interspersed with our discussions about news stories are conversations about the personal challenges reporters, photographers and other staff members are facing.

One reporter has roommates who like having guests over. But that increases her exposure and chance of picking up the virus. So new rules are in now place in that household to navigate work.

One content editor has children whose age range has them going to three different schools. There are a total of 22 teachers involved with the instruction for that one family’s home-schooling needs. Consider the emails, homework, video calls and scheduling that that requires. That brings heavy pressure at home to match the heavy pressure at work to provide quality news to help readers make decisions.

Managers have stopped into the office in search of equipment (have you seen my power cord?) now toting children or dogs. Some are concerned with trying to get to a grocery store early in the morning because by nightfall the goods they are seeking are gone, all while staying alert to breaking news.

Life has changed. One person called it the new normal. Another editor called it the temporary new normal. I think that’s probably correct. We won’t be spending as much unbroken time in our homes in the future. For now, however, Deseret News reporters have decisions to make as they balance work life at home, and home life at work.

I text-messaged my much-valued hairstylist Saturday and asked what she would do next week.

“I am going to take the weekend to think about it. As of right now I’m unsure,” she said of whether or not she will be at her station, seeing to her clients’ needs.

If not, some of us may have to return to a 1980s hairstyle. I’ll let you know if a mullet will pass inspection.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2WOzO0e