The year 2020 has had its way with most of us. The affects that the current pandemic have had on businesses, people and the community are truly immeasurable. One local business owner has had a tough go for a variety of reasons this year. The Purple Cow’s Lisa Berstein opened a new location on the South end of Hilton Head Island early September. Only to have to close because she tested positive for Covid-19.
My chat with her:
JESSE: So you are under quarantine. How are you otherwise?
Lisa: Oh, I’m fine. I’m bored.
JESSE: Let’s go back to the beginning. You were planning to move at the beginning of 2020, right?
Lisa: I was planning on moving, yes. Then COVID hit. I was still not going to renew my lease. I was either going to close down or find a new space. Then I was searching, searching, searching. Then I found my dream location. Then, you know, rules, laws, COVID.
JESSE: Yup, those darned rules. So we were shut down and you, if I recall, were sitting on an unsigned lease for a little bit, right?
Lisa: Yeah, then I actually signed it. Then COVID hit.
JESSE: So we all dragged the potato sack through the summer, and you were finally able to open a few weeks ago, right? Beginning of September?
Lisa: Yep. About three weeks ago.
JESSE: So you get the doors open and boom, you started not feeling well.
Lisa: It wasn’t that I wasn’t feeling well. I had a sore throat. It lasted maybe 24-36 hours. I automatically assumed it was from standing under an AC vent for 12-14 hours a day. I went from 5 months of sitting on my couch, to 14 hours a day working non-stop.
The following night, I went home and slept for 11 hours. I honestly thought it was because I was exhausted. I mean, they were two minor little things that I just blew off.
On Friday, I decided to go get tested. After being around people for two weeks after 5 months of not being around people, I just thought it was my duty as a business owner to protect my employees and my customers and make sure that I didn’t have it. And I was positive I didn’t have it.
I tested, I had no fever. I had no symptoms, nothing.
JESSE: And to be fair, those symptoms you say you felt, the run down and the sore throat. They are gone. You say you feel fine now?
Lisa: Oh, I’m 100 percent!
JESSE: So it would stand to reason that, I mean, I’ve had periods over the Summer where I have not felt well and in 2 or 3 days it’s gone. So you don’t think ‘ok, this is the worst.’ And they ask us not to overreact to those type of things, and you didn’t. But then you were positive.
Lisa: Correct. Sunday, I got a positive test. So I decided I wasn’t going to hide it, unlike some restaurants out there that I know have, I decided I would let everybody know. Because I want everyone to be safe.
If you come to my restaurant, you will see. We’ve done everything. We have the plexiglass. We wear hats, we wear masks. We wear gloves. We change everything out, we wipe down everything. We sanitize. We even even have sanitizer outside and ask everyone to sanitize their hands before they come in through the front door. It really doesn’t matter what you do, unfortunately.
JESSE: So you are at home. You’re shut down. You dyed your hair pink. But your time is winding down. When do you expect to get back to work?
Lisa: It ends on Wednesday. I get to open again on Wednesday, September 30th.
JESSE: This raises so many questions. You mentioned restaurants not saying anything. You know by law, they are not required. That gets into HIPAA issues and medical privacy. I get both sides of it. But I think the bigger picture here and the thing that I want to underscore is that you are fine. I know a lot of people who have had it, gone through it and they are fine. But there are still a lot of people who have gotten it and been in big trouble. This is not over. The weather is nice, everyone is going outside saying ‘thank goodness that is over!” But it is not. Would you agree?
Lisa: 100 Percent agree. I have friends that are in the hospital. I know people who have died. It is very scary. What’s even scarier is people pretending like its no big deal. And it is a big deal to me.
JESSE: Absolutely it is. And we are glad that you are doing OK. Tell everyone where you are? We never mentioned the new location.
Lisa: I’m at 24G Palmetto Bay Road. When you come off of the Cross Island, it is right there on the left before you get to Walgreens. We have a big sign, you can’t miss it.
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