What Happens When a Baker Gets a COVID-19 Test

This one is a bit difficult. I had my first test for COVID-19 earlier this week. I’m happy to say the test was negative, so spoiler alert – no suspense there. But I will say that it was more than a concerning number of hours. You see for as much as life has changed over the past few months, my daily routine has in most ways remained very much the same.  Basically, I work six days a week, like I’ve been doing – with the exception of one week off for Passover and a few days off for Jewish Holidays – nonstop for the past nine years. The summer for me never involves two weeks in Cabo or a road trip cross-country or a week in the mountains. I’m not proud of this I definitely need to do a better job of carving out time for my family and mental well-being, but it is the way that it’s been. And so, for the past number of months even though our hours have been shortened and the business has contracted, I’ve still gone to work every day. Running a bakery is not something you can do via Zoom. 

Sunday afternoon it became clear that I had been in contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. I didn’t have any symptoms, though this person didn’t either. They appropriately had been tested after someone in their house had a positive test result. So I did the prudent thing and I reached out to my doctor. He agreed with me that the best course of action would be simply to get tested. The testing experience was not a big deal. It was a drive through test site. I showed up and I was the only car in line. 

The nurse checked me in, reviewed my insurance and I drove around the corner to get a swab in the throat and one in each nostril. That was it. This was midday Monday and my doctor estimated that we would get the results sometime Wednesday. Monday night my wife and I took a walk and had a chat about what would possibly happen If my results were positive. The fact that I needed to have a test almost seemed inevitable. For as much as I wear a mask and wash my hands and use copious amounts of hand sanitizer I do interact with people.  I’m out and about shopping for the store, running errands, doing deliveries etc. The idea that I wasn’t coming into contact with someone who probably had the virus at some point is silly. On our walk we talked about the ramifications of me having to quarantine at home for 2 weeks at minimum. Now it may not be the sign of the strongest business structure but my small business, like so many others, relies a lot on me personally. Ordering supplies, doing the books, soliciting new business, running social media, doing other marketing are all things that I’m proud to say I do. And for the most part all of these things that would be a challenge from my bedroom. There’s no clear plan if I ever get sidelined. There’s no easy insurance that kicks in. And while I have a great team of staff supporting the business, it would be difficult to maintain the same level of service if I were out of commission. We talked about what might possibly happen, and though I can’t say that we had a particularly good plan or really any plan… we at least accepted that we would have to do something. 

I woke up early the next morning and saw that I had received an email from the hospital with the test results. I was quite happy that I wasn’t going to have to wait the 48 hours that we were expecting, but I was also concerned as I clicked open.  As I mentioned at the top, the test was negative, I let out an enormous sigh of relief.

My first couple of entries talked about changes and challenges and ways that I was trying to pivot the business. Now as we are months into this ordeal without any real sign of an end, we’re moving on to another stage of challenges – the virus doldrums. Sales have leveled out and while we’re still not where I think we would have been without a virus, we’re at a place that seems for the time being sustainable. This episode with the test reminded me of all the what ifs that still exist.  I doubt that will be my last test for the virus. If the country gets its act together, we will probably all be tested quite frequently until there’s a vaccine and even after. And it’s also not impossible that one day that test will not come back negative. It’s going to take a few more walks to figure out what will happen then – but I will say this: whatever does happen I will do my best to keep the business running , my employees paid, and my customers fed. Of this I am glad to say I’m positive.