It’s a lot like déjà vu.
“I don’t know if they’re going to shut us down for three to four weeks again,” said Nena Ancheta. “How are we going to survive? How are we going to pay the rent? How are we going to buy food?”
Her Zion Salon & Barber in National City already closed once in 2020. She said a second time will hurt.
“It’s really a hard year for all of us,” she said while standing outside her doors.
Her salon was bustling after being closed in March and reopening during the summer. Ancheta said she can’t imagine what it would be like if the state of California closed salons and other businesses again.
“I’m scared, sad, and mad, of course,” she said.
“It’s been difficult,” said Sean Hale outside the new El Cruce +241 in Chula Vista.
The general manager helped open the new Mexican restaurant less than two months ago.
“It’s meant to be a place where people gather, and we just can’t have that,” he said.
El Cruce +241 is looking at an uncertain December alongside several other restaurants that moved tables outside on Chula Vista’s Third Avenue. The state’s plan would end all on-site dining. They’d have to focus on carry out.
“We knew that this was possible. So, our attitude is just do everything we can,” said Hale.
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“I don’t know where we’re going to go,” said Ancheta, who doesn’t have a carry-out option for her salon.
“We can’t afford to pay the rent. There’s no money from the government. I don’t know how I’m going to survive,” she said. “This is our life.”
If the state’s plan is enacted, all salons and barbers will close. So will wineries and breweries, museums and theaters, and indoor recreational facilities.
