In the U.S. in early 2020, the looming threat of the pandemic still felt new and uncertain.
“It didn’t matter to her,” she said.
She sold fruit on the sidewalk for months until her salon hired her back at reduced hours.
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“Other nail techs went into cleaning or construction,” she tellsAllurein Spanish via a translator.
“We were practically earning nothing.
It’s not a real job, everything was closed for March, April, June…
In my building, we went on rent strike, which we are still on to this day.”
“They had their livelihood cut off from one day to the next.”
Lopez and Ramirez were not the first nor the last nail salon workers to be impacted by the pandemic.
“Our membership is largely undocumented; 80 percent were not eligible for any kind of federal assistance.
They had their livelihood cut off from one day to the next.
One of the salons then quickly shut down because of slow business.
“It affected me a lot.
I didn’t so much worry for myself but I worried for my kids.
If I were to get sick, what would happen to them?”
“Trauma causes one to enter into the fight, flight, or freeze mode,” Raucci explains.
It is not possible.
This fear of not knowing is the state within which these women are living.
“It has taken a huge toll,” says Gomez.
We don’t know how long this situation will go on for.
The pandemic has exposed just how fragile the system is.”
It’s a loss for us.
What are we supposed to do?
I have a family I need to support."
Mental and emotional stress will indeed affect the body.
Research shows the correlation between trauma and manychronic physical conditions."
“The industry is not dead, and instead of being fearful, we want to welcome clients.”
*Names have been changed.
