Went down to Chinatown today. The city's allowed most of the restaurants to have indoor seating with proper distancing and a check in the number of patrons. Unfortunately there's not that many people eating out. I hope for the sake of the economy, for the people eating out and the restaurants serving them the people working there and the whole goddamn thing, that something works out. It would be a real loss if restaurants in Chinatown go out of business because they're goddamn sure to be replaced by generic boring expensive white restaurants that don't have character or culture. Or maybe it won't be anything, it'll be an abyss of nothingness shuttered doorfronts and closed communities. Banks everywhere even in chinatown now, because that's one place I find banks haven't completely overtaken, might be time for them to get there too.
Some good news first. The hotpot place Q has openings for servers and staff, which means hopefully their patron load is greater than they expect, and they need to bring back some of their old employees. Peeked in a little bit and there were some people eating in there. So that's great. I'm happy for them...
On the other hand, the vietnamese banhmi place that sold the cheapest vietnamese sandwiches and entrees you could get in Boston was shuttered tight, the entire building or was it the block looked like it was done for good. There were no signs suggesting as such but there was nothing to point to the contrary either. I'm already heartbroken over the death of Rod-Dee in Porter Square, I don't want other of my favourite restaurants to go out.
What was a little encouraging was there were people out in the opening, taking photos talking to each other socializing and hanging out generally. The emerson kids were doing great. A total and complete shutdown of a particular state is not going to do anyone any good anymore since movement is allowed out-staters can come in and infect anyway. So I'm actually glad that the universities in Boston are partially opening up. The south is fucked, so to speak, in part to their universities and the careless ways they're managing the students. Northeastern expelled 11 students for going to a large party and unnecessarily endangering themselves and their communities, what a great way to discourage students from doing something stupid. Doubt the large southern schools have the guts to pull that off, they're either going to be online for another semester or the numbers will keep rising and they'll somehow live with it.
Back to Chinatown...there were tourists too, somehow, and kids and students and shoppers like me, so there's still some hope. Dear gods please don't let everything crash and burn it would be such a tragedy.
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