Los Angeles Is Closed

Living During Covid-19

Los Angeles is closed.

The mayor of Los Angeles closed down the city on March 15th, 2020. The governor followed the next day shutting down the entire state on March 16th, 2020, with a “shelter in place “order. Since that time all schools, restaurants and bars, churches, parks have been closed. The beaches are closed. Our famous hiking trails throughout Los Angeles are closed. All movie theaters, museums, any place where people would gather are closed. This is what it’s like living in Los Angeles, California, in the time of plague.  

When I first came to Los Angeles in 1984, it was already an overpopulated city. There were too many people, traffic jams, incredible air pollution, a growing homeless problem, and you had to add 20 minutes to any trip that you were going to take anywhere in the city just to be on there on time. But it was also the capital of filmmaking in the entire world and I wanted to be in the entertainment business, plus it had great beaches, incredible sunsets and that incomparably great weather.

Thirty-eight years later, it’s even more crowded. The traffic jams are even worse. You have to add 45 minutes to any trip that you’re going to take now. The pollution is a lot better, but our homeless problem has grown to such proportions that by itself is larger than most mid-sized cities in the United States. It’s still the movie capital of the world but there’s now five world class museums, two sports teams in every major category: baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer. And still we have those incredible beaches and sunsets, and still enjoy the best weather in America.

But Los Angeles is closed.

I’ve been sheltering in place since March 16th. On the 15th, two days before Saint Patrick’s Day, I went out to an Irish bar and had a Guinness while sitting in the most distant corner of the bar to keep social distance between myself and others. Other than going to a grocery store or a pharmacy that’s the only human interaction I’ve had since March 16th. I have a roommate, so I have someone to talk to. But I can’t imagine what it’s like for people who lived by themselves and can’t venture out. Humans are made and programmed to be around other humans and to not have any human contact is almost inconceivable.

Few days ago, I was allowed the opportunity to take a Corona virus test. The week before I had reached out online to the testing authority here in Los Angeles to see if I had symptoms of the virus, and I was told that I didn’t and stay home. But then I was contacted by them because I fit into a certain age category and have an underlying health condition. They allowed me to come be tested. It was very strange as the photographs show. It took place in a large parking lot of a church. Everyone was dressed in hazmat suits and you were told to roll down your window just a little bit so they could slip you a test kit. No one personally tested me. Those photographs or videos that you see on the television or online of someone sticking a swab up another person’s nose didn’t happen for me. What happened was they gave me a plastic bag with a swab inside of it, a small vial filled with a toxic liquid, a list of instructions and two smaller plastic bags. The man who handed it to me at the side of my car told me what I needed to do. Then he asked me to repeat it back to him, and then he told me the instructions one more time. At that point, I was supposed to pull off to the side in the parking space and perform the test myself.

I was supposed to open the kit and take out the swab. Then I was to swab the inside of my mouth three times. Then I was to break the swab in half so it would fit into the small vial with the toxic liquid and close it. I was warned several times not to let this liquid spill on me. Then I was to take that vial and put it in the smallest plastic bag and seal it. Then place that bag in the next size bag and seal that one. And finally put that bag in the bag that the test kit came in and seal it. I was then to drive to the exit of the parking lot and throw the bag in a large container that had all the other test kits that had been used. That was 10 days ago. I still don’t have my test results. And I have my doubts that that is the most effective way to test people for coronavirus. What if they don’t understand the instructions? What if they get confused? What if they don’t do the test in the correct way? Don’t think that’s the most effective way to do it.  No human interaction whatsoever. Self-testing seems like it leaves a lot of room for confusion and improper testing.

Three days ago, I was so stir crazy that I decided to drive down to Santa Monica. Just to see what there was to see. Nothing. Empty streets. Closed stores. Hardly anyone on the street at all. The 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier were completely closed and empty of anyone. Standing on the cliffs overlooking Santa Monica beaches, they were completely empty.

There was a movie that came out in 1959 or 1960, that I remember seeing as I was growing up. It starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire. It was called On The Beach. It was based on a controversial book that had come out in the late 50’s about a possible nuclear war that happens between the Soviet Union and the United States. The war happens and the fallout from the radiation kills everyone on the planet. Gregory Peck is the commander of a submarine that was at sea when the attacks happen and, they survive. The eerie scene of the submarine sailing into San Francisco Bay to find nothing. The city wasn’t blown up, it was just empty of people. No one there. Empty streets, empty buildings, just empty. And that’s what Santa Monica reminded me of. It was very spooky and eerie and unsettling.

What will life look like on the other side of this plague. Will we remember to be nicer to each other as we are now? Will we maintain the slow pace of life that we have managed to accomplish now? Will the pollution continue to get better because there are less cars and less movement on the streets now? Or will it return to the way that it was before with overcrowded freeways, and the hustle and bustle of a massive city.

Life will begin to return to normal. Movie theaters will open, churches will open, schools will open, restaurants and bars will open, and life will begin to return to something that resembles normal. The beaches will open. The parks will open. And there’s still the incredible sunsets and the beautiful weather. Right now that’s in the future and no one knows when that will happen.

Los Angeles lives one day at a time. Some people still go to work but many people have lost their jobs because film production is stopped, and the service industry of bars and restaurants have shut down. And the ripple effect has affected almost everyone that I know. Whether they are renters or homeowners or landlords or just regular business owners because all nonessential businesses have closed as well. Los Angeles is closed. And we don’t know when it’s going to reopen.

When it does, those of us that live here hope you come back because our city exists on tourism as a major source of our income. But will you want to come here? Will you trust that you can fly in a plane and not catch the virus? Will you want to be on the Hollywood Walk of fame with hundreds of other people, will you want to go to our fabulous beaches with hundreds of other people, or want to go to our museums, the 3rd St promenade, and the Santa Monica pier?

Los Angeles is closed. And the Los Angeles we used to know will be very different than the one that arrives when they finally lift the shelter in place order. And I wonder what that will be like?

We should be thankful all across the country for the men and women who work as doctors, nurses, EMT’s, grocery store clerks, people that restock stores, pharmacists and their colleagues in drug stores, Amazon drivers and UPS drivers, and the growing business of food delivery. All those people risk their lives every day being confronted with the possibility Covis-19. I don’t know that I could do their job. Yes, they’re making a living because they have to but they’re also brave. I really don’t know if I could stand behind a cash register as hundreds of people walked by me maybe with the disease or maybe not. The odds of not getting it are not Vegas odds, but they’re still not good.

In the meantime, please stay inside, when you go out wear a mask and remember social distancing. The reason that California, the most populous state in the United States, has some of the lowest Corona virus numbers is because our mayor and our governor got out in front of this and our curve is a lot lower than other places especially New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana.

Be careful, be safe and stay healthy.    

Hosting in the Time of Corona

AirBnb hosting during a pandemic.

Yes, for those literary types who caught the reference, the title of this blog references the famous novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. The title of this famous book references a disease but the term Cholera as it’s used in Spanish can also denote passion or human rage in its feminine form. Therefore, the title of the book is a pun: Cholera as a disease and Cholera as a passion.

For those of you that have been following this blog for a while, you know that I am an AirBnB host in Los Angeles. And in this time of Coronavirus and very limited travel, I decided to write about what’s happening to the hosting business in Los Angeles.

Hosting for me has been a passion and a way of life since 2011 when I joined AirBnB. And I was playing host to students from University of Southern California for five years before that. So, hosting for me has been going on for about 15 years. In that time, I have hosted over 300 people and have over 150 positive reviews and only two negative reviews. I was a Superhost for three to four years losing that last year when I canceled someone who I thought was a danger coming into my home.

Some of my best friends from around the world I have met through hosting. Some of the people that I have hosted in my home, I have ended up staying with them when I traveled to their country, and conversely, people that I met while traveling have come in stay in my home when they’ve traveled to Los Angeles. My marriage which is now ending unfortunately was also a happenstance of my hosting a woman from Denmark and we ended up being married for five years.

For the first time since somewhere in the beginning of 2012, my rooms are empty. I have always been full since that time. I have 4 bedrooms and a guest house and an apartment which I converted from the former servants’ quarters in my large house in Los Angeles. I’m not wealthy. I bought a derelict house and have spent the last 19 years restoring it. It’s taken a lot of time, lot of effort and a lot of love. Working with AirBnB has allowed me to pay my mortgage and pull myself out of debt and repair my ancient home. For some of you around the world, this house would not seem old since it was built in 1904 but for Los Angeles which tears down everything after about 50 years, this place is ancient.

My 4 bedrooms are empty. The guest house and the apartment are rented to tenants thankfully at the moment, but the main house is empty. On around March 14th, the Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council closed all bars, restaurants and gathering places. The only thing open are grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses. All groups of 50 or more people were not allowed to meet and instantly all concerts and events and conventions that were in the Los Angeles area were cancelled. Within a space of three days all my business for March, April and most of May has completely disappeared. If you listen to the CDC out of Atlanta instead of President Trump, you realize that America is in very bad shape to meet such a pandemic. Believing the science more than I believe the propaganda, the experts are predicting that in Los Angeles, the crest will come sometime in late March or early April, if then. Erring on the side of caution, I’ve also decided to cancel any new reservations for the month of April because the coronavirus is just now arriving in Los Angeles in force. And we are warned that we will soon look like New York or New Jersey or Louisiana in terms of cases and rates of infection and community spread and rates of death.

So, for the first time in my hosting career I am turning people away. And part of me is very sad. But after living in a house full of strangers for the last 15 years part of me is also happy. For the first time the place is quiet. There’s no one around. I don’t have to be worrying about how much noise I make or if I can play billiards in the pool room downstairs past 11:00 PM or play the stereo loud. I’m here by myself. I’ve been self-quarantining for about 11 days and on certain levels I am extremely bored and stir crazy but on the other hand the peace and quiet is kind of nice. It actually makes me think that maybe I’m not going to host anymore. I might rent a couple of rooms to students from University of Southern California but leave the rest of the house quiet.

Hosting in the Time of Corona. It’s a time of reflection. It’s a time of sadness because I have friends who have already passed and many friends who are currently battling the disease. So far, I’ve been lucky. But that doesn’t mean that I will escape it. It’s just now cresting in Los Angeles, so the possibility of me getting it in the next few days or next couple of weeks is very strong. You can’t stay indoors forever.

Yet the peace, the quiet, the reflection and the time to myself has been very nice. So, here’s to the 300 plus people that have lived in my house. Here’s to the 150 plus good reviews that I’ve received for my work and allowing people into my home and treating them like family and friends. Here’s to nine years I have been an Airbnb host. I don’t know if this will continue. It takes a lot to operate a house this big – 6 bedrooms, three bathrooms, living room, dining room, pool room, guest house, an apartment and on and on and on. But I wouldn’t have changed the last 15 years for anything.

Please stay safe. Please stay healthy. Many people seem to take this virus as something that’s not really that important. You’re wrong. This virus is a killer. Most people won’t get very sick but those that do it’s a terrible way to die. Gasping for breath. My thoughts are with everybody around the world as we go through this world changing event. And my prayers are with those who are very sick or who have passed from this terrible disease.

Hosting in the Time of Corona. A life changing event for everyone and one in which the future cannot be known.

Be safe!

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