As you’re no doubt well aware, this Covid situation has gotten really nasty, as people are turning on each other, arguing over masks or how and when we can reopen “safely”. I have been weighed down by what’s happening to my hometown, because I cannot stand to see people losing everything.

I can absolutely relate to those who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and might have to totally recalibrate their lives as a result. I’ve been there myself. They may very well have to lose homes, cars, toys, luxuries they could have easily afforded before this crap began, or move in with friends or family.

The people I have no time for are those who sit in their homes or their parents’ basement in pajamas  telling everyone else to, “Stay home and stay safe!” while they don’t stand to lose anything. What they don’t realize (yet) is that the fallout from this devastated economy and the “relief” packages being passed WILL affect them eventually.

It’s odd; on the one hand they claim they want people to “wear a mask for others”, yet they don’t care if “others” can’t feed their families because they can’t go back to their bartending jobs.

Recently I got fed up and posted something to my Facebook page that was shared and read by over 20,000 people. I guess I touched a nerve. In case you missed it…

As a former casino worker, (cocktail waitress and singer), I truly UNDERSTAND what people are going through right now who are unemployed or underemployed. I am heartsick at what’s happening to my fellow Las Vegans. 

I know what it’s like to sit at the kitchen table and try to decide what you HAVE to pay, because you can’t pay everything at the moment. I know what it’s like to cash out jars of change to buy groceries. I’ve been through uncertain times, had to make changes and recalibrate, but God never left me. I never missed a meal. 

I am disheartened and frankly disgusted at the attitudes of some people who keep telling others “Stay home!” “We need to close down again!” “Bars are spreading it!” “People might DIE!” 

How dare you, when you have nothing to lose and won’t miss a paycheck?  

Here’s some breaking news, you elitists who’ve never worked a gig or bussed a table: Some people have to LEAVE their houses every day to KEEP their houses. They can’t sit home in their pajamas wagging their keyboard fingers at others. 

Livelihoods matter as much as lives do. Some people are losing everything they’ve ever worked for. Careers, businesses, houses…

Here’s more breaking news: Unemployment, even if you can get it, doesn’t replace a lifetime of work spent building a business or career. 

If you are that scared, be good girls and boys, do what the government says and STAY THE HELL HOME, but remember that the REAL people are the ones who are bringing groceries to your house or stocking the stores, picking up your trash, and fixing your utility lines during this crap. THEY are still out there, and they have more guts than some of you do. What would we do if EVERYONE had your attitude? YOU “nonessential” person, we could probably all live without. 

What about cops and firefighters who risk their LIVES daily? And some people are clutching their pearls about what is, for the vast majority of people, a bad flu??

No, we are not “in this together”. The idea that someone who wants to go back to work to feed their families “doesn’t care about others” is b**s**t. YOU don’t care about the suffering of others because it’s not real to you, (yet). YOU will (maybe) still have your car, home and retirement check when this is all over. 

When it gets real for you, hits home, or when you lose your job, you’ll think differently.

Here’s hoping and praying we return to some semblance of “normal” very soon. I weep for my hometown.

Heidi Harris

8-1-20