“You can definitely see the split and divide in Fond du Lac County.”

Lisa Blackstad, 48, has been a server her whole life, both in California and Wisconsin, working with her mom at Marie Calanders in California, to working at Fish Company. Once she moved to Wisconsin, she started working at a supper club and eventually landed a job at a small diner, the Eden Grill in Fond du Lac. Lisa had been working at this small diner for the past eleven years, up until its closure due to the pandemic.

Samantha Blackstad, interviewer: I am here with Lisa Blackstad. She is also my mother. Today I am going to be asking some questions and having a formal conversation about Covid, her experiences and what her perspectives are in general.

Lisa Blackstad, interviewee: My name is Lisa Blackstad, I am Samantha Blackstad’s mom. Formally unemployed right now thanks to Covid, had a lot to do with Covid because we were in a small business and as you know small businesses have really been hurt by this. It did take a couple years, but I am finally now out of a job.

SB: Pre-pandemic you were saying you worked with a small business, what were you doing before the pandemic?

LB: Waitressing. We were a very busy restaurant, a small-town café, but we went through over 100 to 200 people a day and wonderful clientele. Just got along with everyone, knew everyone’s name and once Covid hit it took a turn for the worst. No one knew a lot what was going on in the beginning so everyone kind of like went inside and just basically hid. But a lot happened in those couple years.

SB: It definitely seems like you were impacted by the pandemic in general. Especially with a small business and a restaurant, especially since they don’t consider that essential. So just in general, what were your thoughts on the pandemic when it first started?

LB: At first it was very scary for everyone, I’m sure. Just because you didn’t know what to believe, what was going on. The news said one thing, but you just didn’t know. And that’s when everyone was sheltered.

SB: What information do you believe to be true related to the pandemic? Like you said you were scared, so I am assuming you went and followed the rules?

LB: We did but our little town that we live in there was a lot of people that didn’t. Like apparently, we just seemed to be indestructible or something it felt like because our restaurant never went fully masked. We were supposed to be, but no one ever did. There was a lot of people that didn’t take it too seriously. Not saying that it was a joke, but it could be the flu or it’s just another virus. Of course, in the beginning yes, we followed precautions, but then after a while enough was enough and people just decided to do their own thing. And the police didn’t even care. Everyone was okay with it.

SB: So, was your clientele just the general public or was there a certain demographic that you kind of noticed that would hide and not come out?

LB: At first it was everyone of course just because people were scared, people didn’t know what was going on. Afterwards of course it was definitely the elderly. We did see more of the younger clientele coming out but mostly our clientele was elderly, so it did take a good hit for us.

SB: Do you think, because I know you said earlier that the clientele was kind of more elderly. Do you think that this has anything to do with like political views or anything in general?

LB: See I don’t follow much of the news, good or bad. I just stay neutral, I guess. But our county, of course, tried to set rules and the weird thing is society, our customers, people in Fond du Lac didn’t care. They would set rules, but they were broken very easily. And it didn’t seem like anyone really tried to follow the rules. They were more anti-rules. It was pretty weird to see. I was kind of shocked with the clientele we do get, I thought for sure, gosh yea, we’re going to follow the rules. Oh no! These elderly people would come out, you know. Of course, I don’t think the vaccines were mandated yet or even around yet, but they would still come out. They are 80 years old, and they didn’t seem to care. They lived their life. And that’s how they were. Which I thanked. I was happy to see that.

SB: So, like you said your restaurant didn’t really follow mask mandates. Did you have other mandates in place or was it just the masks?

LB: Well, I think those mandates lasted three days. We were supposed to stay like what the six feet apart thing. We separated our tables. But the customers seriously would come in and meet socially. They didn’t live together in a household, but they would come in and seriously sit together. Like they didn’t care. So, we tried to like separate the six feet and everything. It just though the customers were like whatever.

SB: That would be difficult. Especially when you are trying to work on something and trying to follow the rules, but yet you can’t. Were you ever shut down at any point?

LB: We did have to shut down. I think everyone had to shut down for a while. We went to carry-out orders, take-out orders. That definitely slowed our business. Basically, we stood and cleaned all day because people were at home. They liked coming in, like the social aspect of our restaurant. Not so much the carry-out. So, we did have a few carry-outs but that’s when it started. We noticed the decline. We had to shut down. Once we did try to reopen of course, it was slow. We finally after, I would say two and a half, three years, finally got back to ¾ or 75% of our clientele. And now we shut down.

SB: The people of Fond du Lac are also tended to lean more towards the right. They are more of a conservative county. So, it is likely to see these people, also the elderly people, not follow these guidelines. Because again Fox News has had a big helping in pushing Covid being fake and not as severe as it is. It is definitely interesting to see how a county that does lean more right and is more conservative tend to break the rules of the mask mandates and in general as a whole you can definitely see the split and divide in Fond du Lac County.

Did you have to deal with misinformation or just trying to battle misinformation or disinformation like for the restaurant?

LB: Well, the customers would tell us every day what was going on, and what they felt, how this should be solved, and this and that. You’d hear this side, then you’d hear the news and newscasters. And then I had my actual boss, my owner, just not even care. He’s like nope. We are going to do what we are going to do. We are not going to follow the rules. We’re just going to live life how it should be and go with that. And honestly, our customers were happy with that. They were more happy with not taking precautionary measures I guess to live a normal life than they were to actually have to follow the rules.

SB: Once vaccines were kind of mandated did you go and get one or what was your stance on the vaccine overall?

LB: I did not. I had Covid, if not once but twice possibly before Covid actually came out I think I did have it. But we don’t know for certain. But I figured, you know, the vaccine is so new, I don’t get the flu shot, I was still very standoff-ish about it and concerned. I still didn’t know all the facts, like I said I don’t really follow the news. And it seems like if you turn on one channel you’ll hear, oh you need to get this. And the other channel, oh you’ll be fine or whatever. So, I just stayed with my belief of how I felt on the vaccine, pros cons, I went more the cons side. I am not going to say anyone is wrong for getting it or right for getting it. I just in my personal beliefs, I don’t get the flu shot, this is another. I know it was huge. It was a huge pandemic. But I survived and I feel that if I survived this time, it’s going to change the strain every now and then. I just can’t, I won’t put that in me.

SB: Since you have said that it’s more of a personal preference on how you felt just because the vaccine is new. I’m just interested in seeing if you heard these theories or conspiracies about the vaccine. And I just want to know if that was maybe an influence of why you didn’t get a vaccine. Some people said that the vaccine has a microchip in it. Have you heard that before and was that kind of a con for you?

LB: I remember that yea, and I kind of laughed because people would hold up a magnet up to their arm. Oh, yea you got the shot, oh yea there’s obviously something in there that’s going to be statistics of the government now. You know, so that was one of the reasons, but it was just more of a laugh. But I just felt the vaccine was too new to put that in my body. And hearing other things after the vaccine came out. Like how the younger girls it could cause sterilization for having children. Granted, I’m older than that, but even hearing that to me I’m like no. I’ve heard of deaths from the vaccine. But I’ve also heard the pros about the vaccine. For the elderly especially.

And of course, social media, you see on Facebook, you see on Instagram, Twitter, you see all these different things. Pros and cons. So, it’s like okay, do you believe this part, do you believe that part. People are sending me messages about this side of the government and this. I just stopped and I’ll just go with what I know.

SB: At this point too from my perspective I think it’s kind of like a flu too. I mean with all the strains and everything, and granted I am younger, and I haven’t been affected as severely as others have. I think, you know, it’s kind of gotten to the point where I am ready to move on with life. And I am pretty sure a lot of people feel the same way. But ya, it is definitely interesting to see an insight of someone that works in a smaller business with a community that is more elderly.

Now that the pandemic, I don’t want to say over, but we have reached the three-year mark from this pandemic starting things have definitely started to go back to normal with mask mandates. How have your thoughts on the pandemic now or what do you hope will kind of come from it?

LB: I know that that is just recent for everyone with these mandates, but of course another strain has come out. So, it’s like, what’s next? What is going to happen? What are they going to do? Are we back to square one? Like you just don’t know, So I don’t know how long this is going to continue, but I think we are going to be with this Covid for the rest of our lives. Lots of twists and turns. So, I am hoping that everything does get back to normal and you just live with it, you got too.

SB: Is there anything else you would like to add related to Covid, the pandemic, how you’ve handled it, kind of your thoughts?

LB: I’m just very sad right now because I’ve been with the company since they opened which was eleven years ago. It’s just sad to see that these businesses have failed because of this pandemic, and I hope most of us can regroup and try again. But I know there is a lot out there that have lost a lot. It’s disheartening, but I hope things get better.

SB: Thank you again for joining me today. I really appreciate this. This is definitely a helpful insight into Covid and how the pandemic has affected people all around us.