Coronavirus: Finally, people at Bondi are getting the message
It’s a week since Bondi got a national bollocking and while the social distancing message is now getting through, the social set is struggling.
Welcome to Bondi. It’s one week after the suburb got a national bollocking and reality has bitten even the beautiful.
“I’ve lost my job,” says Sarah Mahoney, 26, who until last week had her dream position, working at the Bondi branch of the cult-like fitness chain F45.
“But it’s a gym and they all had to close,” she said. “Everyone’s asking me, what are you going to do? I don’t even know. I’m a bit stressed to be honest. I’ve got rent, and I’ve got no money coming in. And I haven’t got a boyfriend! So now I’m single and unemployed with nothing to do all day. If I go into lockdown, I’m going to be alone. It would be nice to have someone just to share the worry.”
Sarah does have a best friend, Ami Round, 32, but Ami has also been stood down from her job at the Bondi branch of the high-end, athleisure wear store Lululemon.
“Just the week before, we were crazy busy. We sold out of yoga mats,” she said. “Our boss had to make a decision between people’s financial health, keeping them in jobs, and their actual health, because it’s a virus. And he made the right decision, and now we all have to hope we can survive.”
Laid-back Bondi last week found itself at the centre of the worldwide “Covidiot” backlash, with beachgoers chastened by the Prime Minister, among others, for heading out to sunbathe in the early days of the coming storm.
Most probably did not realise: a) there’d be thousands of others doing the same on a warm day; and b) social distancing meant: yes, them too. To stroll the promenade now is to think: where is everyone? Answer: at Bunnings, with many stores reporting huge crowds, as did Mornington Peninsula, Palm Beach, the NSW south coast, and Portsea.
Bleakness in Bondi can be explained also by the economic pain about to hit: the pubs, gyms and cafes are all closed; the transient population includes young people who work in food service, retail, and personal services, and they have of course been hardest hit.
Marina Podesta, 32, is worried for people’s mental health. He is working from home, for a company that sells vegetable seeds, and came outside because “people need to see each other’’.‘‘It can become a big problem if people are told they cannot go out at all, cannot do fitness,’’ he said. ‘‘We are worried about an economic crisis but people have to keep their mental health, and human life.”
Another local, Ortal Pollarski, aka The Roller Girl, was out as she often is, cruising the promenade in her bikini, on roller skates.
“I have friends, mostly in hospitality, who have lost their jobs,” she said. “But I am OK. To be honest, the hardest thing is not being able to go to the gym. I used to go every day. Also the fear of the world ending, that’s where it gets real.”
Sinead Powell, 30, was strolling with friend, Adrienne Hickey, 27. Both have jobs — Adrienne doing project work at home; Sinead a traffic controller on a NSW government project — and both were pleased to get a dose of fresh air.
“It’s hard when you’re used to being active,” said Adrienne. “I just could not look at the inside of my apartment any more. We have no outdoor space. But I’ve taught myself how to do a headstand.”
She’s actually not alone. Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth this week made some of his exercise programs available to bored gym bunnies and so, if you’re seeing people everywhere standing on their heads, that’s why.
“But I haven’t made any bread yet,” said Adrienne, referring to the other craze taking hold. “That’s when I’ll know I’m really bored.”
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