service industry Archives

Life during COVID-19 (4/13/20): Poetry for $ and more poems

April 13, 2020July 9, 2020 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

It’s almost been a month since the last day I worked (March 17th). It’s bizarre to think that time has passed so quickly and somehow so slowly at the same time. I feel like I’m utilizing my time well but I’m so frustrated I haven’t landed a job yet.

UNEMPLOYED AND JOB SEARCHING

I’ve done interviews and skills tests, I’ve written cover letter after cover letter and still nothing. Right after graduation I spent six months applying to jobs requiring a BA, specifically in English or related fields, nothing. I gave up. I needed a break, now I’m doing the same thing again. What does it mean to keep pushing, keep trying for a job that requires a BA? I don’t know. I hope it’s worth it. I don’t want to cave in and get a Customer Service Rep job for a call center. I don’t want to get another job that is the complete opposite of what I want to do with my life, my career, my writing. But it is so hard.

I am grateful for my unemployment checks. They are small but something and I’m hoping the extra $600/week from the Cares Act Stimulus bill that was passed last month kicks in soon.

RECEIVING $500 FROM THE TIP YOUR SERVER DONATION

By some weird stroke of luck, I ended up winning the lotto for the $500 from the Downtown Alliance’s Tip Your Server donation. I’ve decided I want to help my co-workers so I am building a list of all my friends that need the money right now that are unemployed and looking for jobs and really strapped for cash. I hope to shell out at least $100 each and spread the money out. Thanks to a $100 contribution from one of my friends, this will now be $600 that I can spread out among my friends.

MAKING $ FROM MY POETRY FOR $

I’ve also had quite a bit of luck with my POETRY for $, to date I’ve completed 14 poems for supporters. I accept any $ via Venmo then write a personalized handwritten poem with a little bit of my own stylized art. I send a digital copy (pdf) via email then the original through the mail.

I’ve done two poems barter/trade style. One poem I wrote for a friend who bought me Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (including her collection of poems). And another friend I wrote a poem for is brewing me my very own small batch of beer (he brews beer for Wasatch Brew Pub in Salt Lake City, Utah) I am so stoked for this!

20200322_175024 — Original poem I wrote/made for a $upporter

MAKING A ZINE

I also drafted up an outline of my upcoming digital zine in InDesign. It will have all the poetry I’ve written during the Pandemic/Stay at Home order. Pretty much since I was laid off. I am including copies of all the poems I’ve done for $upport as well as some art and photography. This is such a fun project and it will be free to the public when it is finished.

I feel so fortunate to have such caring friends and because of their generosity right now I’ve been able to pay a few bills and have extra money for groceries, saving anything extra for the future.

END OF NATASHA SAJE’S POETRY WORKSHOP

My Poetry Workshop at Westminster (online now) is coming to a close. There’s only a couple more assignments left and then it will be over. I am not looking forward to this since I’ve really enjoyed this workshop; reading other students poems, the poetry books, assigned reading, and pushing myself with the poetry assignments. I’m really going to miss it.

CANCELLING MY SUMMER CLASSES

I’m bummed out because this summer I was going to start pursuing an AAS in Music Recording Technology at Salt Lake Community College but since I was laid off, I can’t afford it so I had to drop the classes I already registered for. I just plan on taking free courses online, finding tutorial videos, and continue to make music and publish my songs on soundcloud.

OVERALL

It’s been a good experience thus far, I’ve kept to my daily routine, and I’ve made my daily quota for the number of jobs I apply to, and I write and read and write and read and write and read…

I just have to keep going.

TALK TO ME

How are you getting through the Pandemic? Have you been ordered to Stay at Home? How are you coping?

I would love to hear about your experiences during this time.

Please feel free to comment or message me.

Thank you for reading!

Stay safe and stay well out there!

-Alina
XOXO

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Life during COVID-19 Personal Update: March 25th, 2020

March 25, 2020July 15, 2020 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I feel like I’ve been pretty productive for the last couple of days. I’ve applied to multiple technical writer jobs, sent story pitches to a freelance writing opportunity, and for the first time in a long time I’ve been making art.

Tree by Alina Happy Hansen 3/25/2020 — Artwork in Progress by Alina Happy Hansen (March 25, 2020)

Me and my boyfriend have fallen into a pretty good routine which I think is helping us a lot right now. Our routine for quarantine doesn’t really differ from our usual routine that much.

My Quarantine Routine:

Wake-up around 9 a.m. Turn the electric kettle on and take our Boston Terrier out for a morning walk. When we get back I make my breakfast (french press coffee and oatmeal), check the news on my phone for a few minutes then either read or write.

After I’m done with breakfast I get dressed and start working. Right now that means checking my unemployment, searching for online jobs, and then applying to ones I find that I qualify for. After this, I log on to my online Poetry Workshop and get started on any reading/writing homework I have.

(I’m pretty bummed right now because I registered for Salt Lake Community College starting this Summer with the hopes of pursuing an Associate’s in Music Recording Technology. But now that I’m unemployed, I’ll have to drop the classes I already picked.)

Around noon I’ll take a break for about fifteen minutes, have a quick snack, and then get back at it. I search for more jobs on the DWS (unemployment site) then try to take a break at about five for dinner, make some food and relax for an hour.

After that, I try to do some art or read poetry but what I need to be doing is writing.

Today, it is chilly outside, and I took our dog for about an hour-long walk, keeping my distance from everyone and just trying to enjoy being outside our apartment for as long as possible. Our walk probably would’ve been longer but it was so cold we ended up heading home early. I took some great reference photos of trees on our walk that I hope I’ll be able to use for drawings this week.

For the rest of the day, I plan on writing some poetry, working on homework, and researching for about another hour or two for online jobs.

Last Monday, I applied online to a tutoring website, the next step I have to complete and finish is passing a mandatory test for English specific topics. These tests are so hard. The first two I took, one for College Essay Writing and the next for English Literature, I only got a 64%, when I need an 84% or higher to pass. Today, for the first time in days, I took another one of their tests, this time it was English Reading. I got a 74% on this test! The highest so far. I can retake the test two more times, each time with a 24 hour waiting period in between. If I don’t pass the next two tests for the English Reading section I cannot try again.

Until I find a job, I am offering POETRY FOR $. I write/create personalized handwritten poems for supporters. I send scanned pdfs of the poems via email to supporters and when this COVID-19 thing settles down a bit and people are comfortable, I will be mailing the originals to my supporters. So far I have completed 6 poem orders to date and cannot express my gratitude to these people for helping me out right now.

Also, I posted “LAID OFF: SUPPORT MY RESTAURANT FAMILY” a couple days ago, it is a featured page on my blog. This post has Venmo links for some of my co-workers that desperately need funds right now. This post also has key information about resources for other service industry employees that have been laid off or can’t go to work in Salt Lake City, and the rest of the U.S. Please check it out.

Thank you for reading!

–Alina

Follow me on Instagram! (I am posting regularly to my story feed)

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My Stories on Medium: Poetry, Writing and Freelancing

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LAID OFF: Support My Restaurant Family during COVID-19

March 22, 2020July 25, 2020 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

UPDATE 4/21/2020:

On April 19th, I equally divided the Tip Your Server Donation fund plus a $100 contribution from a friend, a total of $600 among me and four other co-workers. I contacted all of the co-workers listed in this post below as well as fellow co-workers from Wasatch that I used to work with. Four co-workers came forward and said they were in need of some help $. On Sunday, I disbursed the funds equally among us, $120 each. I am glad that I could help my co-workers and I am so grateful to the Tip Your Server Donation and my friend that contributed $100, Thank you.

UPDATE:

On 4/7/2020 I was notified by Squatters that our company was picked out of the Tip Your Server Lotto. I was one of the five tipped employees randomly chosen to receive $500 from this donation.

I have decided that after I receive this money, I will be dividing it up equally among me and my co-workers that need it the most. I want to say thank you to the Tip Your Server Donation, the Downtown Alliance Salt Lake City, Thank you to Ty Burrell and the Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Thank you for your help, I deeply appreciate it, we deeply appreciate it!

The goal of this post is to provide VENMO links to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch Pubs in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have been LAID OFF INDEFINITELY with no financial compensation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. For most of us, our only job(s) were as restaurant employees. Any amount you can spare to help us get through this hard time would be deeply appreciated as we file for unemployment and look for new jobs.

On Monday, March 16th, 2020 Salt Lake City was ordered to stop all dine-in service at Restaurants and Bars by 11 p.m. Only to-go and curbside service are allowed right now.

I am a full-time employee at Squatters Pub Brewery in Downtown Salt Lake. This job was the only source of income for me and countless fellow employees. After the restaurant ‘closure’ for dine-in service our corporate office communicated with us that we could come in and clean the restaurant for hourly pay. They were never clear as to how much that hourly was going to be and I have yet to hear what that hourly was for those that went in and worked when they could.

Squatters Brewpub — Squatters Pub Brewery

In the state of Utah, employers are not required to pay servers more than $2.15/hour. We do not get paid/sick leave and for many of us (before COVID-19) we couldn’t even request time off for vacations/emergencies.

On Wednesday, March 18th, 2020 at 7:09 a.m. MST a 5.7 Magnitude Earthquake hit Magna, Utah less than 20 miles from Salt Lake City. The Earthquake was felt throughout Salt Lake County and many other parts of Utah. Aftershocks have continued since the initial quake.

On Friday, March 20th 2020, all employees (including management) for Squatters Pub Brewery and our sister company Wasatch Brew Pub were LAID OFF INDEFINITELY, approximately 98% of all labor until the COVID-19 pandemic blows over and restaurants can open again. They decided to do this so we could file for unemployment. I was just notified by a fellow employee of Squatters (Server Chelsea: her info below) that her first unemployment check is not due to arrive for another 3 weeks.

HELP

We have rent/mortgages & bills to pay, we need groceries and supplies. More importantly, we need help and jobs asap.

Below are VENMO links to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch. Any amount you can spare to help us get through this hard time would be deeply appreciated as we file for unemployment and look for new jobs.

LINKS, NAMES, and VENMO’s have been deleted as of 7/25/2020 for the safety of persons involved.

Other Resources to help Service Industry Employees in Utah right now:

TIP YOUR SERVER Downtown Alliance Salt Lake City, Utah

This donation program is amazing, all thanks to a local business owner and Actor Ty Burrell and our Mayor Erin Mendenhall.

ty burrell and mayor erin — photo source: tipyourserver

All local SLC restaurants and bars must register their businesses with this donation then employees can be verified and money distributed after March 25th. So far this donation has raised approximately $141,000 for the estimated 15,000 restaurant employees in Salt Lake City.

Our company has registered with this donation.

If you want to help us and donate to other restaurant employees in SLC please donate to tipyourserver .

More resources to help Service Industry Employees in the U.S.

(I will be adding to this list)

Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation

https://www.restaurantworkerscf.org/

United States Bartender Guild

https://www.usbg.org/home

More info about where I used to work:

Squatters Pub Brewery

Wasatch Brew Pub

About the Author,

My name is Alina and I am a writer, artist, poet, and musician. I have been blogging and posting original content on alinahappyhansenwriter.com since March 2017. I am a graduate from The University of Utah with a Bachelor’s of Arts in English with a Minor in Writing and Rhetoric Studies. I have had half a dozen poems published in the last five years and have actively been reading my Poetry locally in Salt Lake City since my Utah Arts Festival Reading in June 2018.

I have been working in the Service Industry/Restaurants since 2016. From 2016 to 2018, I worked at Wasatch Brew Pub sister company to Squatters Pub Brewery. At Wasatch, I worked full-time as a Hostess, in charge of training new hires to host, restaurant policies and procedures, and most importantly providing the best customer service possible. In June 2018, I moved to Downtown Salt Lake City and started working as a full-time Hostess at Squatters Pub Brewery. I worked full-time at Squatters until March 20th, 2020 when I was LAID OFF INDEFINITELY with NO PAY due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic. As an employee of Squatters, I excelled at my job as a Hostess and later trained and worked other job duties including Expediter and Busser.

I miss my job and my friends at work and I just want to help in any way I can during these uncertain times.

If you would like to support me, I am handwriting Poems for $. For more info on this please go to SUPPORT ALINA: POEMS FOR $. So far I have already completed FOUR POETRY ORDERS FOR $ as of 3/22. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support both financially and emotionally during this time.

When I get a job I will continue to write POEMS FOR $ and I will be sending all the money I earn directly to my fellow employees of Squatters and Wasatch who need it the most.

Thank you for your time, your consideration, and your love.

Best of luck to you all, stay safe and stay well out there!

–ALINA

Want to become one of my Patrons? Go to my page here and join a tier. All patrons regardless of Tier have access to all of my patron-only content right now! Tiers start at $3/month! I will also send you via snailmail a handwritten personalized Poem + Thank you card for becoming a patron.

Become a Subscriber! Get notified when new posts are published plus once a week I will send content just for you: poem, personal update, reading list, writing tips and more!

Liked this blog post? Check out these:

SUPPORT ALINA: POETRY FOR $(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (4/21/2020): Poetry, Sylvia Plath and My Novel(Opens in a new browser tab)

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Life during COVID-19 Update: March 20th, 2020

March 20, 2020July 25, 2020 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Today it is cloudy and rainy in Salt Lake City, kind of beautiful and kind of doomy. But there have been very few and very small aftershocks from the earthquake on Wednesday. As of this morning, I don’t think I’ve felt any aftershocks or noticed any so I am relieved.

I found out through the Department of Workforce Services that I am eligible for unemployment, it will not be a lot but it is something. It does not give me any information on my Unemployment page about when to expect my first check or anything related to that but I did apply for one Technical Writer position (remote of course) already this morning using the DWS Job Search.

Starting yesterday I am compiling a list of venmo links of my fellow employees at Squatters. On Sunday I will be posting a list of individual venmo links. My restaurant family is large and so many of us are full-time restaurant employees. For most of us our primary income source is working at Squatters. I believe that giving $ directly via venmo to those in need right now helps faster than unemployment/grants/aid funds. For a lot of us our rent is due April 1st with no exceptions to the current events.

(As for me, I luckily paid an extra month of rent only a week before all of this went down just because I could at the time. I am more worried about my friends.)

What else do I have planned today?

Completing required reading/assignments for my (now online) Westminster Poetry Workshop

Setting up my mic/camera so I can start recording videos of myself reading/talking about poetry (I plan on posting those regularly)

Making Art/Making Music

and HAVING FUN!

This has been a crazy week and I feel like I’m still trying to catch up with everything. Keeping tabs on the spread of COVID-19, looking for jobs, and checking the Utah earthquake maps. It is a lot but I don’t feel doomed or sad during this time. I am focused on working hard and staying in touch with everyone in my life.

If you’re interested in helping me out, I am offering POETRY for $ at this time.

Thank you to everyone who is reading, following, taking time out of your day to read about mine. Stay safe and stay well out there and good luck!

–Alina

For continuous updates on what I’m doing follow me on instagram.com/@ahappyhansen

Become a Subscriber! Get notified when new posts are published plus once a week I will send content just for you: poem, personal update, reading list, writing tips and more!

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Life During COVID-19 (5/30/2020): Reflection on George Floyd, Protests Turned Riots and Growing Tensions in the U.S.(Opens in a new browser tab)

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SUPPORT ALINA: POETRY FOR $

March 19, 2020July 25, 2020 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

UPDATE: As of 4/17/2020, I have completed 15 POEMS for $! THANK YOU!

poem 1 — Original personalized handwritten poem “Summer Days” by Alina Happy Hansen for an Anonymous Supporter

AS OF MARCH 16th, 2020 DUE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 AND THE CLOSURE OF ALL RESTAURANTS AND BARS IN SALT LAKE CITY UTAH FOR 30 DAYS, I HAVE NO INCOME SOURCE (I WORK FULL-TIME IN A LOCAL PUB BREWERY).

UPDATE: On Friday, March 20th, I was officially LAID OFF INDEFINITELY from my job at Squatters Pub Brewery in Downtown Salt Lake City. They gave us no financial compensation and LAID OFF approximately 98% of staff including management.

poem 2 support march 20 2020 — Original personalized handwritten poem “Hey Man” by Alina Happy Hansen for an Anonymous Supporter

UPDATE: I received my first unemployment check on March 31st! This has helped so much. My unemployment check is not a lot a mere $270 (after taxes) but it helps pay the bills and buy food right now while I apply for online jobs.

I am currently looking for Remote work only in the following fields: copywriter, content writing, web content writer, freelance writer, technical writing, SEO marketing writer, journalist etc.

Until I get back on my feet, I am offering personalized handwritten poems to anyone who sends me any $ during this time. Any amount I would be deeply grateful for and would help me survive this next month.

When donating via Venmo, please put your email address and “poem/poetry” in the comment/’paid for’ section so I can contact you and send you your personalized poem. I send a scanned copy of your poem to you via email (pdf/jpeg), then (if you’re comfortable with it) I mail out your poem with a thank you card within 24-48 hours after I email your scanned copy.

venmo.com/alinahappyhansen93

If you are interested in helping out other service industry/restaurant employees during this time of hardship, I have posted Venmo links of all my fellow employees (who want to participate) that desperately need any $ help right now. My main concern is for my fellow employees: servers, bartenders, expos, bussers, etc who worked at Squatters Pub Brewery and Wasatch Brew Pub.

Any help $ I deeply appreciate, Thank you so much.

Cheers!

–Alina Happy Hansen

Become a Subscriber! Get notified when new posts are published plus once a week I will send content just for you: poem, personal update, reading list, writing tips and more!

Liked this blog post? Check out these:

Life during COVID-19 (4/13/20): Poetry for $ and more poems(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (4/21/2020): Poetry, Sylvia Plath and My Novel(Opens in a new browser tab)

Life During COVID-19 (4/7/2020): Unemployment, Poetry for $ and Staying Positive(Opens in a new browser tab)