As tens of thousands of Tennesseans file for unemployment, many are stuck in limbo — unable to find new work during a time when few places are hiring, and residents are told to shelter in place.
Andrea Howat works as a tour manager in Nashville. As part of our new series “Dispatches from Quarantine,” Howat sent WPLN News a voice message about losing work and trying to find some sanity amidst the stress of coronavirus.
Hi, my name’s Andrea. I’m 35 and I work in the music industry. Right now, all tours are indefinitely canceled at least for the next eight weeks, probably longer. So all of these people that I’ve worked with, all these crew people are now immediately out of jobs. So it’s very, very stressful for a lot of people in that industry — as well as several other industries that we know of. One bright spot from my week is that my friends and I took a social distancing walk in the park, in Centennial Park. We made sure to stay at least 6 feet away from each other and I made a playlist. And we kind of walked and galloped and danced around the park and looked like idiots. But I think it made us feel better to be outside and to be moving and to feel together, even though we weren’t touching in any way. And we probably looked like a bunch of idiots and hopefully made people feel better along the way.
And just a note that public parks and green spaces in Nashville are still open, although playgrounds, dog parks and picnic shelters are temporarily closed.
This story is from the WPLN News series “Dispatches From Quarantine.” We want to hear from you about your experiences during the coronavirus, especially anything that’s been unique or profound. Please record a voice memo and email it to [email protected], or call and leave a message at 615-669-8716.
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