Mary, Bay City

Storyteller Jillian Pike

Mary is a 60 year old business woman from Bay City Michigan. Mary owns and manages a popular bar in Reese Michigan and was named a top 10 beer distributor for Fabiano brothers. Mary says that she found out about the virus over an alert on her phone in mid February. Her day to day life was altered because she had to change schedules to work around people who didn’t feel safe working during the virus, she had to review and enforce safety protocols, downsize staff to ensure she could pay those who needed a job the most and be sure to not over stock and lose profit. Mary says the only thing she has gained from the virus is frustration from all the changes and uncertainty and that she lost a lot of money during the lockdown. It was hard for her having to be in one place the whole time as she is a “get up and go” person. Mary says that despite all the bad she has learned to react quickly in tough situations and adjust to changes in the matter of hours.