“It's closed. Let's get out of here.”
My Israeli friend came to pick me up from Woodland Hills and parked in the dim lights of a shady hookah lounge in Canoga Park, a nearby Los Angeles neighborhood who I didn't want to catch on the wrong street at the wrong time.
These moments of frustration shattered trust in government and rekindled American beliefs. Those in power should not live by a different set of rules than those they control.
It was June 2020. “Two Weeks to Flat the Curve” was past the welcome until three months. My friend was one of many Angelenos who refused to accept empty streets, business that boarded, and “car park hangouts”. We both needed a hit of normalcy and he said he knows where.
“Wait,” he assured me.
I was skeptical. The restaurant didn't have the luxury of trying to meet California's strict social distancing standards, such as Target, Walmart and other well-known “essential” businesses. It was illegal to open their doors – and it took months.
After knocking on the side door, a giant Lebanese guard thrusts his groove eyebrows into the threshold.
“Welcome,” he said immediately and guided us.
Lockdown Speak AG
The Lebanese, Israelis and Jordanians packed the place back and forth as smoke of menthol and mango scented, curled towards the dimly lit ceiling. Who knew that sharing his complaints about California Governor Gavin Newsom's lockdown could lead to such a peaceful relationship?
“Oh my goodness,” I thought. “This is a legal story” – that wasn't all.
Newsom's Draconian Lockdown Orders welcome customers through word of mouth, via signal groups created by other Angelenos who are usually eager to return to everyday life.
The evening, despite the Middle Eastern twist, was interrupted by a visit from the police. All their visits lasted 30 seconds. “Hey guys. Someone reported it to you, so we had to show up. You guys have a great night.”
The extent to which law enforcement agencies enforced Newsom's community restrictions differed from county to county, even within the same sector. Thankfully, Canoga Park police refused to force small business owners to place food on their family tables and choose to follow Newsom's instructions.
The price of rebellion
Other areas weren't that lucky. novoan Italian restaurant, just 10 minutes north of Westlake Village, had to choose to remain closed under Newsom's indefinite restrictions or permanently shut down due to lack of revenue. The owner risked rebelling against the former in order to avoid the latter. They remained open every day, and Los Angeles County slapped them with heavy fines, but the community gathered around them. Every night, the restaurant is fined and fined locals, bringing business to light.
A road five miles up from the Italian restaurant where the local pastor is Rob McCoywas lightly empty and fined for illegally holding fewer congregations and church services than people who frequently visit targets across the highway.
Within this context, I got my first gig as a writer – five years ago this week, “I interviewed small businesses in the service industry for a local newspaper after a few months of serving as a government's broken promise that the doors would only need to be closed for two weeks to flatten the curve.
Like the owner of Dos Vientos' little Deli, he tried to turn the line toe by offering burritos to parking customers. Like the Thousand Oaks cigar lounge, others have become hubs of police officers who refused to enforce Newsom's restrictions.
Regardless of the position during the lockdown, A third of all restaurants In Los Angeles County, they met the same fate. The door was closed permanently.
Double standard
Business owners from both sides of the political aisle already feel fooled by the government. But the partisan double standards of government officials rubbed salt on the wounds.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti He joined thousands of protesters over the death of George Floyd and marched downtown towns during the height of the lockdown. Meanwhile, his administration fined small businesses serving their customers.
During the infamous “Summer of Love” the protest became violent. National Guard forces patrolled the streets at night, but the rest of Los Angeles County was under strict curfews. The family-run Indian restaurant in Thousand Oaks has made its way into business with plywood ahead of the protests over impending black life issues. Agoura Hills gyms reopened after a mob raided by blm Santa Monica loot Mars.
“Will the virus fly the rioters?” the gym owner asked the tongue on his cheek.
Despite the chaos erupting from the hearts of California's major urban centers, the most poignant image that appears during the lockdown is Gavin Newsom and the democratic elite dining in California – Maskless – with laundry in France, one of America's most highly regarded restaurants.
“Red Their Cake” didn't work for the French. And that certainly didn't work for the owners of small business in California, even the longtime Democratic loyalists.
Turning Points in American Politics
“Two Weeks to Flat the Curve” has undoubtedly become the most transformative cultural moment in modern American history. The partisan line was blurry – even deep blue Los Angeles county unites people around American sentiment: What tells me what to do?
These moments of frustration didn't just pass through the stimulus. They fundamentally shattered their trust in the government and rekindled American beliefs. Those in power should not live by a different set of rules than those they control.
And now, five years from now, Newsom wants the country to forget that he is the man behind the lockdown. Embing on a desperate campaign to portray yourself in a medium-than-probably looking to the White House has never invaded Newsom's failed leadership during the pandemic.
But small business owners haven't forgotten. My family, who lost everything, never forgot. Nor should voters.
If history tells you something, it means that someone who tramples on freedom once does it again – especially if you think no one pays attention.
