How Covid 19 has hit Portland Oregon

I am curious what is going on in other cities around the world with respect to the Corona Virus. Basically, I am going to tell you what’s going on here and I welcome you to share what’s going on in your city in the comments or you can share your experiences with izaakdaviddiggs@gmail.com and I will include them in a later blog.

We are in the early stages of a pandemic. In Portland, all the bars have closed and the restaurants are take away only. The city does not feel any different, not yet. There are still a lot of cars on the street. The rental car company I work for is still busy. Part of that is due to the airport dumping hundreds of cars on the other branches in our city. Business is way down at PDX. My boss told me that the company is expecting things to be bad for a year. At my branch we laid off two part time people and have ended Saturday hours. In our area--maybe seven branches--only my branch and one other will remain open.

The big development here is McMenamins--the owner of many bars/restaurants/entertainment venues--has laid off 3000 people. 3000--let that sink in. And Powells has closed. Powells, our iconic bookstore. This is like nothing I have ever experienced, not the Crash of 2008, not 2001...nothing.

My plan was to leave Portland in May. I was going to line up a summer job, buy a van, and dive into a nomadic life. Now I do not see the wisdom in quitting my job. I have no idea what I will be doing, to be honest. It will be okay, I just am not sure what the best direction is to go in with regards to the next step of my life here.

Everything will be okay; for all of us. Things are going to be real shitty for awhile, but eventually things will level out.

We’ll get through this.

Like I said, if you care to share what is going on in your city feel free to comment or send me an email at the address above.

Be safe, be happy, and for the love of God wash your fucking hands.

Izk