Ready to go back: Unemployment checks do not cover missing customers for Aynor waitress
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Horry County Coronavirus Diaries
The coronavirus has upended life for everyone. Here is a look at the toll the virus’ impacts have had on our neighbors in Horry County. A nurse, a waitress, a pastor, a retiree and a family grappling with job loss all tell their stories.
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Go ahead, ask waitress Jessica Fipps about her regulars at the Aynor Waffle House.
There is the customer who is battling cancer and comes into the small diner off U.S. 501 to order grits with sausage gravy and a coffee. If his appetite is doing well, there might be some bacon. There is also Mark, who has Down syndrome and refers to Fipps as “his wife.” Last year he brought Fipps a gift for her birthday, but he wasn’t able to give her one this year.
It wasn’t Mark’s decision, and it certainly wasn’t Fipps’.
Fipps, like much of Horry County, has been stuck at home for the last two months. She lost the work part of “work or home” and longs for the days when she can dish up waffles.
“I’m ready to go back,” the 36-year-old said in late March. Then, she couldn’t imagine the closure lasting months. “Oh God, I’d probably cry.”
But, it did last that long and Fipps spent weeks wondering when her unemployment checks would arrive. Every day it was checking her bank account, hoping for a sign that she would have money.
“This is what we’re really depending on to pay bills, you know what I mean,” Fipps said.
She’s filled her time with friends and family. Maybe a little bit of fishing. But, no customers. She dealt with the boredom and the frustrations of others not adhering to the social distancing rules. She wondered if this was the week she would be allowed to return to work.
Really, she spent the time like so many of us.
“My house doesn’t need to be cleaned,” Fipps said, her country accent highlighting her words. “It’s starting to get boring.”
March 26- I panicked
Our Story: Many are realizing the coronavirus impact is real as the state mandates restaurants and other business closures. Hotels in Horry County are also turning away customers in what typically would be spring break.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: Fipps lives a relatively modest lifestyle, as do many in the northern parts of Horry County, where the bustle of the beach is not part of life. Social distancing is the norm here, not a lifestyle switch.
Fipps joined the Waffle House in 2008 and will tell you how much she loves her job. Heck, most people who work six days a week do.
Two weeks ago, Fipps’ manager told her they would close down. Dining room service was forbidden and take-out wasn’t fiscally an option for the Aynor diner. Fipps says she didn’t worry about coronavirus until then.
“I panicked I was like ‘NO!’” Fipps yells to mimic her reaction to the news.
“That went from a 3 to a 10 … ,” Fipps says of her stress level, “… 11 and 12.”
Fipps lives with her boyfriend and estimates they have roughly $1,700 in monthly expenses. With no waitress work, she has to apply for unemployment for the first time since 2015. It was a major stress for Fipps, who was left wondering how she was going to pay their bills.
Fipps filled out the online unemployment paperwork, but has heard nothing and the money has not arrived. She frequently checks her bank account hoping to see the direct deposit payment. She asks a community group on Facebook for help and to see if anyone has received their money. No one has and Fipps is left waiting.
“I’m tellin’ you,” she says, “I check every day.”
“Lord, I need my money.”
March 31- The waiting game
Our Story: Restrictions continue to limit activity in Horry County as officials try to slow the virus’ spread. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the closure of beach accesses, but there is confusion over whether private access is allowed.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: Still no unemployment money. Still constantly refreshing the computer.
Fipps hasn’t received her unemployment check, but now has reason to hope it will be in the next week. She heard from someone at the South Carolina Department of Employment a few days ago, which adds to her hope. Fipps made some mistakes in her paperwork and the department walked her through what needed to change.
What put a dash on her hopes was hearing from Waffle House that it might be a month or two until she can return to the diner.
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” Fipps says, as her voice trails off with disappointment.
April 4- Relief from relief
Our Story: The number of positive cases in Horry County is growing exponentially now at 63. Horry County is adapting to the restrictions put in place and the entire state will soon face life under a “work or home” order.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: “I was like heck yeah I just got approved for unemployment!”
That quote and moment might be the most excited someone has ever been for unemployment as Fipps details how she woke up to find a pending transaction in her bank account. It was for $191.
She knew she would be getting at least the $191 each week. There is a little confusion over whether she will receive the additional $600 a week from the federal stimulus package, but she remains hopeful (she later would).
“It really does [feel good getting that off my back,]” Fipps notes.
There is a noticeable change in the out-of-work waitress’ voice. She is chipper and jokes a few more times. The money makes it one less thing to worry about.
A small amount for many, but to Fipps, it meant the world. It means she can make some payments on her bills. She says the money will tide her over until she returns to work. It also means she will only owe hundreds instead of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.
“Unemployment won’t cover everything,” she says.
April 13- Canceled birthday?
Our Story: The economic toll of coronavirus is being measured in Horry County. North Myrtle Beach announces it is furloughing 200 employees because of a decrease in service during the outbreak. Grand Strand residents are now entirely in “work or home” and supposed to only take trips outside for necessary supplies.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: “Work or home” hasn’t changed Fipps interactions with her neighborhood of nine mobile homes. They already spend large amounts of time together. As Fipps puts it, if one person had COVID-19, they’d all have it.
She even plans to go to a birthday party in the neighborhood later in the day. She has also been thinking about her own birthday in a week. She knows the pandemic will likely mean no party at a bar or restaurant.
“I guess I’ll have to make my own cupcakes,” Fipps said a few days earlier.
The unemployment checks continue to arrive, but Fipps is ready to get back to the diner. She is now helping others through the unemployment process by answering questions on Facebook “because I know how difficult it was myself.” She helped one man step-by-step through the process.
“It makes me feel good,” Fipps says of her efforts to help those in the same spot she was two weeks earlier.
April 24- Turning 35
Our Story: It’s the first day many retail stores can open as coronavirus restrictions start to ease. Shops have to take extra precautions to make sure everyone is practicing social distancing. Horry County’s total case count sits at 190 since the pandemic began a month earlier.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: Yesterday was Fipps’ birthday and coronavirus put restrictions on that as well.
Typically, Fipps says she and her boyfriend would go out to eat at a place like Applebee’s, but that’s not an option in 2020. Instead, they had to pick up a to-go order at Modern Cafe and bring it home.
There was no large party, no friends over, just the two of them. He gave her new shoes and a new outfit for her birthday, which Fipps proudly showed off. Even though the big celebration was denied, Fipps didn’t seem to mind — a change from a week earlier when she lamented not having a party.
“Even though I was home, I had a good one,” Fipps says.
The past six weeks provided a chance to catch up on rest, but Fipps reiterates she is ready to go back to the restaurant. She does not want to sit around and collect unemployment.
“I love my job,” Fipps says with a smile across her face. “I’m about to go crazy. I’m ready to go back.”
May 6-’Mind blowing’
Our Story: The Myrtle Beach area has seen some leveling in its cases, now sitting at 236 since the pandemic started. Hotels and Beach accesses are reopening and there are rumblings that dining rooms at restaurants could soon join them.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: There is still no word when the Waffle House might reopen, though Fipps is ready for the day. She is spending this day, however, at her aunt’s house.
It’s another way to fill the time without her customers.
The desire to get back to work is what Fipps says she will remember most from coronavirus. She then talks about how scary the whole ordeal has been. It’s the first time in nearly two months she mentioned fear.
There has been frustration, but fear? That wasn’t something she conveyed in the previous two months. It was apparently something on her mind as she talks about the economic impact of the virus, including the effect it had on the Aynor Waffle House.
“It’s been a mind-blowing thing from the beginning.”
May 29- Return to work!
Our story: Most of Myrtle Beach and South Carolina is reopen as tourists continue to flood the area. Memorial Day weekend saw thousands of tourists back at the beaches and Ocean Boulevard. Despite the number of openings, the county’s total coronavirus cases now top 400.
Jessica Fipps’ Story: Finally! After months of pleading to return to work, Fipps is back and seeing her regulars for the first time. It’s nothing but smiles.
“I was happy. I was like, ‘Hey we’re back,’” Fipps says. “It’s on now. We’re fixing to have fun now.”
The Aynor Waffle House is not completely back to normal as seats and booths are blocked off to encourage social distancing. The staff wears homemade masks, which Fipps helped create, to help slow the virus spread and protect the waitresses, cooks and customers.
Fipps says she doesn’t think they will return to normal for a while, at least not until social distancing guidelines is part of the world’s vocabulary. The safety precautions are not stopping the laughter between the staff and the steady stream of lunchtime customers as they see each other for the first time.
It’s a scene that was months in the making.
“The thing I’m really gonna remember, was me stressing ‘was I going to lose my home. How was I going to pay my bills? How was I going to feed my dog? How was I gonna eat?’” Fipps recalls. “In all honesty, everything turned out for the best. I hope it’s soon over with.
“My main concern is being back here at the Waffle House and being back here with my customers. So that was the exciting thing this morning at 5:30 a.m. when I woke up.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 9:30 AM.
