A writer and bartender in New York City, Keri Smith felt like she was hitting her stride in 2020. Then COVID-19 happened
I’m good at bartending. At 34, I didn’t totally expect to find myself working in bars full-time. I have an MFA in poetry from the New School, so I always expected to be a writer, but I worked in bars before I went to graduate school, and worked in bars during it to pay my rent, so when I graduated I just kept bartending. I think a lot of people in the service industry are always waiting for “what’s next,” but aside from daydreaming, I’m not sure what would be next for me.
The Monday morning following the bar’s closure, I started the process. I’ve always thought well of New York City’s social support systems, so I didn’t feel daunted, but I couldn’t get through it all in one day. The website would let me get through most of the application, then time out. As most people are finding out now, once the website times out, you have to completely start over.
Finally, Tuesday morning I got through on the website at 8 a.m. I got through all the questions, and they said my application was complete, but that I still needed to call and make a weekly claim. I wasn’t totally clear on this, but when I was able to get through to the claims number on Sunday, it explained that even though I wasn’t receiving money yet, I had to make a claim for each week I was unemployed.
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