Interview 10: Edwin Rodriguez
Dublin Core
Title
Interview 10: Edwin Rodriguez
Subject
COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, Hoboken, New Jersey
Description
An oral history with Edwin Rodriguez, flower shop employee, regarding Hoboken's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his personal experiences with it.
Creator
Hoboken Public Library
Publisher
Hoboken Public Library
Date
Recorded June 8, 2022
Format
Uploaded recording: .mp3
Preservation recording: .wav
Preservation recording: .wav
Language
English
Type
Oral history
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Digital audio file
Duration
00:26:01
Transcription
BP: I am Bernadette Patino. I’m a staff member here at the Hoboken Public Library. And I’m the one conducting the interview today which is June 8, 2022. And then for you, would you like to give your name and introduce yourself as well?
ER: Hi. My name is Edwin Rodriguez. And I’m from Jersey City, New Jersey. And I’m here to give an interview.
BP: And if you’re comfortable sharing, how old were you, and then, what would you describe as your race or ethnicity?
ER: Sure. Yeah. Actually, I was born in Puerto Rico. I’m Puerto Rican, but I have also American Indian blood on behalf of my grandmother from my dad’s side. His mom. I’m 56 years old. And I work in a flower shop. But I also do landscaping. I do weddings. And in my spare time, I like to do wood burning figurines. That’s my hobby when I get a chance.
BP: And how long have you worked here in Hoboken?
ER: I will say because we have two stores; one in North Bergen and one in Hoboken. But I would say about 10 years on and off because I switched to both stores on and off. But I would say, yeah, 10 years. 10 years.
BP: And could you describe what you do at the store?
ER: Yeah. My primary job at the Hoboken store, the flower shop, we sell regular plants. We sell bouquets, all types of plants. We do also weddings, any type of party that they may ask. It could be from a Hispanic party to a Jewish wedding, Italian wedding. We do all types of bouquets, you name them. And I love my job. I love meeting people.
BP: Yeah. If you could go back in time and remember where you were when the initial announcement was made that there was a lockdown due to the pandemic back in March 2020. What do you remember from that day or that moment when you heard, like, oh, there’s a pandemic?
ER: Well, to be honest with you, Bernadette, I’ll be honest with you. I was scared because my immune system is very weak. I have issues with my heart. And I’m a person that I get sick very easy. We were working. Of course, we took a lot of precautions. And I got so scared that I took time off for about maybe a month and a half. But because I had to pay my bills, I came back to work. And we kept, you know, working by very – we protected ourself very well against the public. But in December of 2020, then I, myself, came down with Covid. I was in the hospital for 12 days, two in intensive care. And it’s something that you shouldn’t play with. It’s out there. And it’s still out there.
BP: Thank you for sharing your experience. And is your work at the flower shop considered, like, a front line or essential job, you know, back especially when the pandemic started? And could you describe what it was like when, you know, it was like, at your job when the pandemic first started?
ER: Wow. When the pandemic first started, we didn’t really didn’t know what to make of it. We knew that there was, you know, people out there dying. And, but we thought that initially that the store was going to be closed down for a lot of reasons. But eventually, it was the opposite. We were overpowered with a lot of people ordering flowers, arrangement to their homes. Yeah. We took precautions. In other words, we were not allowed to go to the persons’ homes. They had to come downstairs, you know, depending on where they lived at, and pick up the arrangements, you know. We stopped a lot of things. Also, they were not allowed to sign papers. You know, the auto forms. We also created this thing which is something that a lot of people do today. It’s called Venmo. You buy something, you know, and you go on the website and you pay through the website to make it more safer. But overall, you know, we just took it, you know, carefully. One step at a time. We were very surprised because we thought we were going to close business. But, no. Actually, believe it or not, it was a very positive outcome for us. It helped us a lot in income.
BP: Yeah. It sounds like here were a lot of changes during your job, during the pandemic. Right now, have a lot of those changes, did they stay in the store? Or were some of them just temporary changes?
ER: No. Days went on and, you know, people, you know, started coming out and, you know, wear less masks and things. The store try to go back to its normal routine. But I insisted that we should not take this as a game. So, we were very careful. You know? You have a choice whether you want to wear a mask at work or not. We don’t – it’s not mandatory. But we let them know that, hey, this is still out there. If they don’t want to wear masks, it’s okay. But if you come down with a cold, they can’t come to work. That’s the bottom line. You don’t want no one getting sick. Again, this is out there. It’s still out there. And, you know, even with customers, you know, we have masks. They’re entitled to wear them. If they don’t want to, we respect them. But me, if it was up to me, I’d make sure everybody wears them. But unfortunate, you know, everybody gets to do whatever they want.
BP: Exactly. And then, on the job, were there any things that, like, happened during the pandemic that people who might not work in a flower shop or who might work outside of your industry, that they might not realize was happening, kind of, behind the scenes of the flower shop.
ER: No. You know. A lot of customers, they were very concerned, you know. They will ask us, none of you guys are sick. And when you come to places, how much protection are you guys doing to yourself? And believe me, we were. It’s like, big because it was just the beginning of the pandemic. There were time (and it sounds funny) I would change gloves at least six times a day. Plastic gloves. And even masks. I would change at least three or four times a day. I mean, not knowing, that, yeah, you could all use one only for the one day. But we didn’t know. We want to talk about it, you know, show them, hey, this is how you’re supposed to do it. I mean, again, you know, everybody did their own way. But a lot of customers out there did, they were very… I’m not going to say scared, but they were very care about us, you know. Making sure that we were okay. And especially, we have a lot of tough big clients here in Hoboken. So, they wanted to make sure that a lot of them, actually, they reach out to me. Are you okay? You know. But it's… It was an experience, you know. I went through it. And I’m sure, like, Hoboken went through it with a lot of, like, police officers, EMS, and, you know. But, yeah. We just took – I guess we had to take it one step at a time. That’s the only thing we can do.
BP: And then, now we’re shifting to your home life. How did your family’s lives get impacted during the pandemic? And you can share whatever you’re comfortable with.
ER: Wow. Well, my household is, there are five of us at home. My mom, my brother, and my two children which I raised by myself. They’re already adults. And we didn’t really know what to think about, but, yes, we were very careful. Especially my children because they do work in ShopRite. You know, so, they were more worried about me and my mom because my immune system is very weak and I will get sick very easily. And unfortunately, my mom suffers from emphysema which is, you know. So, you know, I try to take as much care about myself. But regardless, it didn’t work. You know, until the day I had ended up in the hospital. And my mom followed me the following day. You know, so, it’s something that it doesn’t matter how much you take care of yourself, if you’re going to get it, you’re going to get it. There is no – you can have three shots. I know someone that right now to this day has the three shots. And they had Covid already three times. Not four, three. And they take care of themselves. But again, you wake up every day, you don’t know who has it. So, it’s a playing game.
BP: And then, how did your view of yourself change during the pandemic? You know, since you were a frontline worker, a lot of people, you know, called themselves, or called frontline workers heroes. Did you see yourself in that way? So, if you want to respond to that.
ER: No, no. Not at all. Actually, I just thought of myself Edwin, a normal person who I am. I did my job to the best of my ability. You know. Yeah. I know a lot of people that were, you know, that are elderly than me. You know, I’m 56 years old. And, yeah. I will call, and, you guys, if you need anything, let me know. I wouldn’t go to their house, but I would drop whatever they needed, you know. Because like I said, my mom is 75 years old. And I’m sure that if I wasn’t there, I would like somebody to take care in that time of need. But, no. I don’t count myself as, like, a fun person, you know. This is my job. I love it. And if you ask me, will you do it again? Yeah. In a heartbeat. I wouldn’t think about it.
BP: And was your job impacted at all with any, you know, like, supply chain issues? Or, do you know of others at your work who might have also, who might have experienced that problem? You did mention, like, the challenges with, like, making deliveries and changes. But what about the, sort of, supply and for the store?
ER: Well, no. Well, we – at the beginning, we started having a lot of shortages of supplies because we are at the beginning of this pandemic. We didn’t know what’s going on, what it really was. So, for us to get, you know, plans and things that it was very hard for us. We, you know, something that you would normally go into a store, now we had to wait a week, two weeks, three weeks. And we were working under a lot of stress. For example, during the pandemic, maybe you’re not going to believe this, but we had to go do a wedding. And now, you have a lot of people that say, no. I’m going to go. We’re not going to go. I couldn’t say, well, I’m not going to go. I have to be there. We have to set up for a wedding. You know? And… So, it’s crazy. Really, to answer that question, I cannot give you a concrete answer.
BP: And when it came to getting supplies, you know, PPE to protect yourself from getting Covid, did your family have any issues, like, you know, getting the type of PPE protective equipment to do that? I mean, I remember in the beginning of the pandemic, there was like, the craze for toilet paper and things like that. Did your family experience any issues in getting, like, supplies you needed?
ER: No. You know what? The only issues that we had, and I’m sure everybody probably in the States had was looking for a can of Lysol. So, basically, the only way that I did – the only way I used Lysol at home even though we didn’t have it, I did have a lot of alcohol, rubbing alcohol. And that’s what we used at home to spray in the air. And, because it does, you know, kills germs. But when it came to, like, toilet paper issues with them, no. When we – oh, my God. I’ve never seen so many toilet papers in my house rolling. We had so many that, honestly, it last us for about six months. You know, and, but again, it looks crazy now. But at that time, you don’t think about it. You start buying things, you know, and like, when you come to see – wow. But I know people that were going crazy, you know, if they didn’t find a roll or a can of Lysol. The only thing I didn’t like about that time is that a lot of people were taking advantage of, you know, people that were buying these essential things that we needed, you know. I mean, it came to a point that a regular can of Lysol at that time was about maybe four dollars. I’m just saying when this didn’t happen, it was like, you were talking about 15-20 dollars a can. And I think that was wrong.
BP: And did you feel prepared at all for the pandemic? Of course, it was a surprise for everyone. But anything in your previous life experiences that felt, like, prepared you for this difficult and trying times?
ER: No. I wasn’t prepared for it. You know. It caught me off-guard like it caught a lot of people, you know. Maybe a lot of people, it didn’t. But it, to me, it caught – you know, I always thought I was so stubborn. I always thought that I would never get sick when it comes, with something like that. I mean, I have seen a lot of things. And when AIDS happened, I remember when that first came out. You know? Or, the flu, or this and that. But I never seen something like this. To me, I think it’s to be one of the biggest thing in my life that I ever seen to impact a lot of people.
BP: And have things gone mostly, like, ‘back to normal’ for you? Or do you still feel like you see the effects of the pandemic regularly?
ER: To be honest with you, I’m back to normal 100 percent. And I’m not going to lie. They said I’m at work. And I don’t have to mask on me. But that’s when I’m, like, 100 feet to 200 feet away from people. The moment I feel myself that I close to six feet, I’m force myself to wear a mask. Not too long ago, maybe two days ago, someone got mad at me here in Hoboken because I went in the elevator. “You can take off your mask.” I said, “No. It's okay. You know what? This is how I feel. I’m doing it, not for you, I’m doing it for me. I don’t want to get no one sick.” “Oh, you’re sick?” No, it’s not that. You know what? I just want to take my risks. You know? Because I don’t know who has it. I really don’t know. You could look normal, but you might have it. That’s the bottom line.
BP: And then, do you have friends or family that live in other states or even other countries? And if so, how was their experience in the pandemic different than what you experienced, like, here in Hoboken or here in New Jersey?
ER: Wow. Let me tell you something. You know, I hear story from friends of mine. I had Covid. I was in bed for two weeks. It was like the cold. I have sisters in Puerto Rico. Covid hit me. It was like a truck hitting me, but I’m okay. I think the worst case of Covid that I heard because I didn’t see it until I went the store. Of course, my baby sister in Pennsylvania. You know, in her case, she was warned, wear masks. She works for a school. She didn’t like wearing mask. She came down with Covid. That’s not the issue. The problem was, Covid hit her so bad that she spent 28 days in a coma. She almost died. From January to, you know, February, March, April, almost to beginning of May she was in a rehab center. That’s when we went to see her that she’s clear. But I have never seen Covid take a shot at a human being for what she did to her. She had so much bed sores on her that these are open wounds. Like, she had gotten shot with a shot gun. And she would have come to so much. She almost died five times. They had to resuscitate her. So, you know, I have friends of mine that again, they said Covid didn’t do anything to me. And that’s great. That’s fine. But other people, in my, in fact in how worse. You know? I know a friend of mine, she got Covid and she passed away. And it was sad. The sadder thing was that her mom couldn’t take her daughter’s passing away and she committed suicide. And the mom killed herself. So, Covid has affected a lot of people in a lot of ways. You know? And I’m glad that it’s almost gone. Yes. It’s not almost gone. Still out there. I wish this country can do something much better for it. You know? They wouldn’t have to live in this – it’s not fear. But we just want to feel secure. You know? Do I want it? No. Do we have to live with it? Yes.
BP: And I’m sorry to hear about all of those stories.
ER: That’s okay.
BP: And how did – you know, you got Covid. Your other family members got Covid as well. And then, that story of your friend. How did these experiences impact your family since, you know, multiple members got Covid? And then, how did these experiences impact you?
ER: Well, to be honest with you, every day, I go out. I hear my mom. “Do you have your mask on?” “Yes, mom.” She calls me up. [unintelligible 00:17:34]. “Do you have your mask on?” “Yes.” I go see my fiancée. Every time I see her, the moment I enter her house, “Please wash your hands.” I’m like, see, what, so something new for me. You know. You know, so every time I meet friends of mine, they act different than they acted before. You know? And I noticed that people that haven’t had Covid, if they know that you have Covid, they act different with you. Yeah, no, I’m glad you’re okay. But they, like, oh, stay away thinking that, you know, they get it because you had it. It’s not like that. You know? I have all my shots. [knocking noise] Knock on wood. I haven’t had Covid again, thank God. Can I get it? Of course. I believe you can. But, you know, I’m pretty sure that everything’s going to be okay. But I’m 100 percent careful. You know? I have to be. For my sake and your sake, you know? I came here to have this interview. It's great. But, you know, I have to think about it. You know, I say, well, if I’m sick, I cannot go. I’m not going to get people sick [unintelligible 00:18:46]. You have to be, you know, caring. There is a lot of people here in Hoboken that are very caring. But I seen a few of them are very reckless. You know? And I’m afraid of that. I’m 56 years old. But trust me. I’m afraid everywhere I go. And to do the [unintelligible 00:19:02], I’m careful wherever I go. You know? I would never lay my back, pull my head back and say, no. It’s okay. It’s over. I got three shots. No. It can come back.
BP: And do you think there was anything about being in Hoboken specifically that made your pandemic experiences unique in any way? Or, do you feel like you had similar experiences to most people?
ER: I think, you know, I learned a lot from Covid here in Hoboken. Some of the people in which I met, you know, they were, you know, we talked about the safe topics. Some of them were, like, very exaggerated. And, you know, and you try to keep a serious face. But you have to laugh because of things that they were saying. And I understand, you know, these are answers that we don’t have. You know? But I have people saying, oh, my God. You can’t touch me because I don’t want to die. And, you know? And but, no. You know what? I think, you know, Hoboken was one of the cities that I could say maybe I’m wrong, but really took care of the issue, you know? You know, and they forced it. Like, for example, I was working in Hoboken and a police officer came in in the truck. One of those big units. And talked me to shut your store or I’m going to ticket you. And I say, well, you know, you can ticket me. But this is not my store. It’s my boss’ store. But he gave me a paper and he said that we consider as a nursery. You know? He goes, okay. So, I tell my boss, they’re going to ticket you. But, you know, but that show me to see that, you know, they were on top of – you know, and it was for the well-being for the people, you know, out there.
BP: And has the pandemic changed anything in the way that you view Hoboken now?
ER: No. No. I see, you know what? [sighs] I don’t see no change. You know what? I see Hoboken the way I always saw it, even before the pandemic. Again, a lot of people took actions and they took care of themselves. And, no. I didn’t see no difference.
BP: And do you think Hoboken has changed in any way in the last two years through this experience of the pandemic?
ER: Yes. I seen it a lot in the restaurant business, you know. And some of them, they’re very careful. Some of them are not. But I love to go into a place like, for example, a pharmacy. And everybody still has their mask. Or I love to go see, you know, into restaurant and you see them. You see a lot of people without masks. But you see a lot of people with masks. You know. And, but, no. Hoboken has done a great job, you know, in preparing their people when it comes to Covid.
BP: And do you have any predictions for the future of Hoboken, you know, moving forward? As we’re, still, kind of, in pandemic times, but trying to move past it, trying to overcome it?
ER: No. To be honest with you, no. I just hope it stays the same, you know. Like I said, I’ve been here since a young boy. So, Hoboken has changed way before the pandemic. Believe me, this is not the Hoboken of 35 years ago. I… Hoboken, like I tell my kids, Hoboken is back on the map. You know, before years ago. As the pandemic, has it come back to normal? Yes, to an extent. You know. The people are more knowledgeable now what’s going on, you know. And I hope they aware of what’s going on. You know, we want to keep it that way. You know, I mean, there’s nothing more beautiful than to come to Hoboken and see people walking with their families back to normal. But I want them to know that, hey, it’s out there. You know, you don’t have to wear a mask, but just have it with you just in case. You know? It’s just to prepare anything.
BP: And now you mentioned that, like, Hoboken is different now in comparison to 35 years ago. That it’s, kind of, on the map now. What do you mean when you say that? Or, what do you – how was it different, I guess, in comparison to what you remember when you were younger?
ER: Well, to be honest with you – and I’m not saying it like in a negative way. When I was a young kid, okay, like, maybe 12 years old, there was no way I’m going to walk to [unintelligible 00:23:47] and just see, come down to their [unintelligible 00:23:50] station is. You couldn’t do that then. It was pretty hard to walk on those areas around here. When the industrials came into Hoboken and acting like, I’m assuming it was like, in the late eighties. Maybe I’m wrong. And they started saying we’re going to buy a lot of people out of here to start doing condominiums. I think that was one of the best thing Hoboken has ever done. Because like I said, Hoboken is a beautiful city. I’m not from Hoboken, but I see it. It’s a beautiful town to come and visit. You know? I love coming here when I have a chance. You know? The only negative thing I don’t like about Hoboken is the parking. That’s it. I can’t find parking when I’m coming to work. It’s a hard time for me, man. They were doing a movie the other day right in front of my store. And, oh, my. No, it took me about, almost an hour and a half to look for parking.
BP: Is there anything else you’d like to mention in your own personal experience during the pandemic in these last two, two-and-a-half years that you haven’t mentioned yet but you’d like to talk about?
ER: No. You know what? The only thing is that Hob-, if people get to hear this transcription that we’re doing here, this, you know, interview, that enjoy yourself. You know what? Enjoy yourself. You know, enjoy today and tomorrow. But just be aware of your surroundings in the sense, you know, if you feel sick, go see someone, you know? Sometimes a little cough might not be anything. But it could be your last thing, you know? I have a saying: It’s better to lose two minutes of your life than you lose your life in two minutes. And that’s one of my famous quotes I have.
BP: Well, excellent. I think that’s a great stop to the interview with your, like, nuggets of wisdom.
ER: Thank you.
BP: So, thank you for coming, and for the interview.
ER: I enjoyed it. I hope I come back again.
ER: Hi. My name is Edwin Rodriguez. And I’m from Jersey City, New Jersey. And I’m here to give an interview.
BP: And if you’re comfortable sharing, how old were you, and then, what would you describe as your race or ethnicity?
ER: Sure. Yeah. Actually, I was born in Puerto Rico. I’m Puerto Rican, but I have also American Indian blood on behalf of my grandmother from my dad’s side. His mom. I’m 56 years old. And I work in a flower shop. But I also do landscaping. I do weddings. And in my spare time, I like to do wood burning figurines. That’s my hobby when I get a chance.
BP: And how long have you worked here in Hoboken?
ER: I will say because we have two stores; one in North Bergen and one in Hoboken. But I would say about 10 years on and off because I switched to both stores on and off. But I would say, yeah, 10 years. 10 years.
BP: And could you describe what you do at the store?
ER: Yeah. My primary job at the Hoboken store, the flower shop, we sell regular plants. We sell bouquets, all types of plants. We do also weddings, any type of party that they may ask. It could be from a Hispanic party to a Jewish wedding, Italian wedding. We do all types of bouquets, you name them. And I love my job. I love meeting people.
BP: Yeah. If you could go back in time and remember where you were when the initial announcement was made that there was a lockdown due to the pandemic back in March 2020. What do you remember from that day or that moment when you heard, like, oh, there’s a pandemic?
ER: Well, to be honest with you, Bernadette, I’ll be honest with you. I was scared because my immune system is very weak. I have issues with my heart. And I’m a person that I get sick very easy. We were working. Of course, we took a lot of precautions. And I got so scared that I took time off for about maybe a month and a half. But because I had to pay my bills, I came back to work. And we kept, you know, working by very – we protected ourself very well against the public. But in December of 2020, then I, myself, came down with Covid. I was in the hospital for 12 days, two in intensive care. And it’s something that you shouldn’t play with. It’s out there. And it’s still out there.
BP: Thank you for sharing your experience. And is your work at the flower shop considered, like, a front line or essential job, you know, back especially when the pandemic started? And could you describe what it was like when, you know, it was like, at your job when the pandemic first started?
ER: Wow. When the pandemic first started, we didn’t really didn’t know what to make of it. We knew that there was, you know, people out there dying. And, but we thought that initially that the store was going to be closed down for a lot of reasons. But eventually, it was the opposite. We were overpowered with a lot of people ordering flowers, arrangement to their homes. Yeah. We took precautions. In other words, we were not allowed to go to the persons’ homes. They had to come downstairs, you know, depending on where they lived at, and pick up the arrangements, you know. We stopped a lot of things. Also, they were not allowed to sign papers. You know, the auto forms. We also created this thing which is something that a lot of people do today. It’s called Venmo. You buy something, you know, and you go on the website and you pay through the website to make it more safer. But overall, you know, we just took it, you know, carefully. One step at a time. We were very surprised because we thought we were going to close business. But, no. Actually, believe it or not, it was a very positive outcome for us. It helped us a lot in income.
BP: Yeah. It sounds like here were a lot of changes during your job, during the pandemic. Right now, have a lot of those changes, did they stay in the store? Or were some of them just temporary changes?
ER: No. Days went on and, you know, people, you know, started coming out and, you know, wear less masks and things. The store try to go back to its normal routine. But I insisted that we should not take this as a game. So, we were very careful. You know? You have a choice whether you want to wear a mask at work or not. We don’t – it’s not mandatory. But we let them know that, hey, this is still out there. If they don’t want to wear masks, it’s okay. But if you come down with a cold, they can’t come to work. That’s the bottom line. You don’t want no one getting sick. Again, this is out there. It’s still out there. And, you know, even with customers, you know, we have masks. They’re entitled to wear them. If they don’t want to, we respect them. But me, if it was up to me, I’d make sure everybody wears them. But unfortunate, you know, everybody gets to do whatever they want.
BP: Exactly. And then, on the job, were there any things that, like, happened during the pandemic that people who might not work in a flower shop or who might work outside of your industry, that they might not realize was happening, kind of, behind the scenes of the flower shop.
ER: No. You know. A lot of customers, they were very concerned, you know. They will ask us, none of you guys are sick. And when you come to places, how much protection are you guys doing to yourself? And believe me, we were. It’s like, big because it was just the beginning of the pandemic. There were time (and it sounds funny) I would change gloves at least six times a day. Plastic gloves. And even masks. I would change at least three or four times a day. I mean, not knowing, that, yeah, you could all use one only for the one day. But we didn’t know. We want to talk about it, you know, show them, hey, this is how you’re supposed to do it. I mean, again, you know, everybody did their own way. But a lot of customers out there did, they were very… I’m not going to say scared, but they were very care about us, you know. Making sure that we were okay. And especially, we have a lot of tough big clients here in Hoboken. So, they wanted to make sure that a lot of them, actually, they reach out to me. Are you okay? You know. But it's… It was an experience, you know. I went through it. And I’m sure, like, Hoboken went through it with a lot of, like, police officers, EMS, and, you know. But, yeah. We just took – I guess we had to take it one step at a time. That’s the only thing we can do.
BP: And then, now we’re shifting to your home life. How did your family’s lives get impacted during the pandemic? And you can share whatever you’re comfortable with.
ER: Wow. Well, my household is, there are five of us at home. My mom, my brother, and my two children which I raised by myself. They’re already adults. And we didn’t really know what to think about, but, yes, we were very careful. Especially my children because they do work in ShopRite. You know, so, they were more worried about me and my mom because my immune system is very weak and I will get sick very easily. And unfortunately, my mom suffers from emphysema which is, you know. So, you know, I try to take as much care about myself. But regardless, it didn’t work. You know, until the day I had ended up in the hospital. And my mom followed me the following day. You know, so, it’s something that it doesn’t matter how much you take care of yourself, if you’re going to get it, you’re going to get it. There is no – you can have three shots. I know someone that right now to this day has the three shots. And they had Covid already three times. Not four, three. And they take care of themselves. But again, you wake up every day, you don’t know who has it. So, it’s a playing game.
BP: And then, how did your view of yourself change during the pandemic? You know, since you were a frontline worker, a lot of people, you know, called themselves, or called frontline workers heroes. Did you see yourself in that way? So, if you want to respond to that.
ER: No, no. Not at all. Actually, I just thought of myself Edwin, a normal person who I am. I did my job to the best of my ability. You know. Yeah. I know a lot of people that were, you know, that are elderly than me. You know, I’m 56 years old. And, yeah. I will call, and, you guys, if you need anything, let me know. I wouldn’t go to their house, but I would drop whatever they needed, you know. Because like I said, my mom is 75 years old. And I’m sure that if I wasn’t there, I would like somebody to take care in that time of need. But, no. I don’t count myself as, like, a fun person, you know. This is my job. I love it. And if you ask me, will you do it again? Yeah. In a heartbeat. I wouldn’t think about it.
BP: And was your job impacted at all with any, you know, like, supply chain issues? Or, do you know of others at your work who might have also, who might have experienced that problem? You did mention, like, the challenges with, like, making deliveries and changes. But what about the, sort of, supply and for the store?
ER: Well, no. Well, we – at the beginning, we started having a lot of shortages of supplies because we are at the beginning of this pandemic. We didn’t know what’s going on, what it really was. So, for us to get, you know, plans and things that it was very hard for us. We, you know, something that you would normally go into a store, now we had to wait a week, two weeks, three weeks. And we were working under a lot of stress. For example, during the pandemic, maybe you’re not going to believe this, but we had to go do a wedding. And now, you have a lot of people that say, no. I’m going to go. We’re not going to go. I couldn’t say, well, I’m not going to go. I have to be there. We have to set up for a wedding. You know? And… So, it’s crazy. Really, to answer that question, I cannot give you a concrete answer.
BP: And when it came to getting supplies, you know, PPE to protect yourself from getting Covid, did your family have any issues, like, you know, getting the type of PPE protective equipment to do that? I mean, I remember in the beginning of the pandemic, there was like, the craze for toilet paper and things like that. Did your family experience any issues in getting, like, supplies you needed?
ER: No. You know what? The only issues that we had, and I’m sure everybody probably in the States had was looking for a can of Lysol. So, basically, the only way that I did – the only way I used Lysol at home even though we didn’t have it, I did have a lot of alcohol, rubbing alcohol. And that’s what we used at home to spray in the air. And, because it does, you know, kills germs. But when it came to, like, toilet paper issues with them, no. When we – oh, my God. I’ve never seen so many toilet papers in my house rolling. We had so many that, honestly, it last us for about six months. You know, and, but again, it looks crazy now. But at that time, you don’t think about it. You start buying things, you know, and like, when you come to see – wow. But I know people that were going crazy, you know, if they didn’t find a roll or a can of Lysol. The only thing I didn’t like about that time is that a lot of people were taking advantage of, you know, people that were buying these essential things that we needed, you know. I mean, it came to a point that a regular can of Lysol at that time was about maybe four dollars. I’m just saying when this didn’t happen, it was like, you were talking about 15-20 dollars a can. And I think that was wrong.
BP: And did you feel prepared at all for the pandemic? Of course, it was a surprise for everyone. But anything in your previous life experiences that felt, like, prepared you for this difficult and trying times?
ER: No. I wasn’t prepared for it. You know. It caught me off-guard like it caught a lot of people, you know. Maybe a lot of people, it didn’t. But it, to me, it caught – you know, I always thought I was so stubborn. I always thought that I would never get sick when it comes, with something like that. I mean, I have seen a lot of things. And when AIDS happened, I remember when that first came out. You know? Or, the flu, or this and that. But I never seen something like this. To me, I think it’s to be one of the biggest thing in my life that I ever seen to impact a lot of people.
BP: And have things gone mostly, like, ‘back to normal’ for you? Or do you still feel like you see the effects of the pandemic regularly?
ER: To be honest with you, I’m back to normal 100 percent. And I’m not going to lie. They said I’m at work. And I don’t have to mask on me. But that’s when I’m, like, 100 feet to 200 feet away from people. The moment I feel myself that I close to six feet, I’m force myself to wear a mask. Not too long ago, maybe two days ago, someone got mad at me here in Hoboken because I went in the elevator. “You can take off your mask.” I said, “No. It's okay. You know what? This is how I feel. I’m doing it, not for you, I’m doing it for me. I don’t want to get no one sick.” “Oh, you’re sick?” No, it’s not that. You know what? I just want to take my risks. You know? Because I don’t know who has it. I really don’t know. You could look normal, but you might have it. That’s the bottom line.
BP: And then, do you have friends or family that live in other states or even other countries? And if so, how was their experience in the pandemic different than what you experienced, like, here in Hoboken or here in New Jersey?
ER: Wow. Let me tell you something. You know, I hear story from friends of mine. I had Covid. I was in bed for two weeks. It was like the cold. I have sisters in Puerto Rico. Covid hit me. It was like a truck hitting me, but I’m okay. I think the worst case of Covid that I heard because I didn’t see it until I went the store. Of course, my baby sister in Pennsylvania. You know, in her case, she was warned, wear masks. She works for a school. She didn’t like wearing mask. She came down with Covid. That’s not the issue. The problem was, Covid hit her so bad that she spent 28 days in a coma. She almost died. From January to, you know, February, March, April, almost to beginning of May she was in a rehab center. That’s when we went to see her that she’s clear. But I have never seen Covid take a shot at a human being for what she did to her. She had so much bed sores on her that these are open wounds. Like, she had gotten shot with a shot gun. And she would have come to so much. She almost died five times. They had to resuscitate her. So, you know, I have friends of mine that again, they said Covid didn’t do anything to me. And that’s great. That’s fine. But other people, in my, in fact in how worse. You know? I know a friend of mine, she got Covid and she passed away. And it was sad. The sadder thing was that her mom couldn’t take her daughter’s passing away and she committed suicide. And the mom killed herself. So, Covid has affected a lot of people in a lot of ways. You know? And I’m glad that it’s almost gone. Yes. It’s not almost gone. Still out there. I wish this country can do something much better for it. You know? They wouldn’t have to live in this – it’s not fear. But we just want to feel secure. You know? Do I want it? No. Do we have to live with it? Yes.
BP: And I’m sorry to hear about all of those stories.
ER: That’s okay.
BP: And how did – you know, you got Covid. Your other family members got Covid as well. And then, that story of your friend. How did these experiences impact your family since, you know, multiple members got Covid? And then, how did these experiences impact you?
ER: Well, to be honest with you, every day, I go out. I hear my mom. “Do you have your mask on?” “Yes, mom.” She calls me up. [unintelligible 00:17:34]. “Do you have your mask on?” “Yes.” I go see my fiancée. Every time I see her, the moment I enter her house, “Please wash your hands.” I’m like, see, what, so something new for me. You know. You know, so every time I meet friends of mine, they act different than they acted before. You know? And I noticed that people that haven’t had Covid, if they know that you have Covid, they act different with you. Yeah, no, I’m glad you’re okay. But they, like, oh, stay away thinking that, you know, they get it because you had it. It’s not like that. You know? I have all my shots. [knocking noise] Knock on wood. I haven’t had Covid again, thank God. Can I get it? Of course. I believe you can. But, you know, I’m pretty sure that everything’s going to be okay. But I’m 100 percent careful. You know? I have to be. For my sake and your sake, you know? I came here to have this interview. It's great. But, you know, I have to think about it. You know, I say, well, if I’m sick, I cannot go. I’m not going to get people sick [unintelligible 00:18:46]. You have to be, you know, caring. There is a lot of people here in Hoboken that are very caring. But I seen a few of them are very reckless. You know? And I’m afraid of that. I’m 56 years old. But trust me. I’m afraid everywhere I go. And to do the [unintelligible 00:19:02], I’m careful wherever I go. You know? I would never lay my back, pull my head back and say, no. It’s okay. It’s over. I got three shots. No. It can come back.
BP: And do you think there was anything about being in Hoboken specifically that made your pandemic experiences unique in any way? Or, do you feel like you had similar experiences to most people?
ER: I think, you know, I learned a lot from Covid here in Hoboken. Some of the people in which I met, you know, they were, you know, we talked about the safe topics. Some of them were, like, very exaggerated. And, you know, and you try to keep a serious face. But you have to laugh because of things that they were saying. And I understand, you know, these are answers that we don’t have. You know? But I have people saying, oh, my God. You can’t touch me because I don’t want to die. And, you know? And but, no. You know what? I think, you know, Hoboken was one of the cities that I could say maybe I’m wrong, but really took care of the issue, you know? You know, and they forced it. Like, for example, I was working in Hoboken and a police officer came in in the truck. One of those big units. And talked me to shut your store or I’m going to ticket you. And I say, well, you know, you can ticket me. But this is not my store. It’s my boss’ store. But he gave me a paper and he said that we consider as a nursery. You know? He goes, okay. So, I tell my boss, they’re going to ticket you. But, you know, but that show me to see that, you know, they were on top of – you know, and it was for the well-being for the people, you know, out there.
BP: And has the pandemic changed anything in the way that you view Hoboken now?
ER: No. No. I see, you know what? [sighs] I don’t see no change. You know what? I see Hoboken the way I always saw it, even before the pandemic. Again, a lot of people took actions and they took care of themselves. And, no. I didn’t see no difference.
BP: And do you think Hoboken has changed in any way in the last two years through this experience of the pandemic?
ER: Yes. I seen it a lot in the restaurant business, you know. And some of them, they’re very careful. Some of them are not. But I love to go into a place like, for example, a pharmacy. And everybody still has their mask. Or I love to go see, you know, into restaurant and you see them. You see a lot of people without masks. But you see a lot of people with masks. You know. And, but, no. Hoboken has done a great job, you know, in preparing their people when it comes to Covid.
BP: And do you have any predictions for the future of Hoboken, you know, moving forward? As we’re, still, kind of, in pandemic times, but trying to move past it, trying to overcome it?
ER: No. To be honest with you, no. I just hope it stays the same, you know. Like I said, I’ve been here since a young boy. So, Hoboken has changed way before the pandemic. Believe me, this is not the Hoboken of 35 years ago. I… Hoboken, like I tell my kids, Hoboken is back on the map. You know, before years ago. As the pandemic, has it come back to normal? Yes, to an extent. You know. The people are more knowledgeable now what’s going on, you know. And I hope they aware of what’s going on. You know, we want to keep it that way. You know, I mean, there’s nothing more beautiful than to come to Hoboken and see people walking with their families back to normal. But I want them to know that, hey, it’s out there. You know, you don’t have to wear a mask, but just have it with you just in case. You know? It’s just to prepare anything.
BP: And now you mentioned that, like, Hoboken is different now in comparison to 35 years ago. That it’s, kind of, on the map now. What do you mean when you say that? Or, what do you – how was it different, I guess, in comparison to what you remember when you were younger?
ER: Well, to be honest with you – and I’m not saying it like in a negative way. When I was a young kid, okay, like, maybe 12 years old, there was no way I’m going to walk to [unintelligible 00:23:47] and just see, come down to their [unintelligible 00:23:50] station is. You couldn’t do that then. It was pretty hard to walk on those areas around here. When the industrials came into Hoboken and acting like, I’m assuming it was like, in the late eighties. Maybe I’m wrong. And they started saying we’re going to buy a lot of people out of here to start doing condominiums. I think that was one of the best thing Hoboken has ever done. Because like I said, Hoboken is a beautiful city. I’m not from Hoboken, but I see it. It’s a beautiful town to come and visit. You know? I love coming here when I have a chance. You know? The only negative thing I don’t like about Hoboken is the parking. That’s it. I can’t find parking when I’m coming to work. It’s a hard time for me, man. They were doing a movie the other day right in front of my store. And, oh, my. No, it took me about, almost an hour and a half to look for parking.
BP: Is there anything else you’d like to mention in your own personal experience during the pandemic in these last two, two-and-a-half years that you haven’t mentioned yet but you’d like to talk about?
ER: No. You know what? The only thing is that Hob-, if people get to hear this transcription that we’re doing here, this, you know, interview, that enjoy yourself. You know what? Enjoy yourself. You know, enjoy today and tomorrow. But just be aware of your surroundings in the sense, you know, if you feel sick, go see someone, you know? Sometimes a little cough might not be anything. But it could be your last thing, you know? I have a saying: It’s better to lose two minutes of your life than you lose your life in two minutes. And that’s one of my famous quotes I have.
BP: Well, excellent. I think that’s a great stop to the interview with your, like, nuggets of wisdom.
ER: Thank you.
BP: So, thank you for coming, and for the interview.
ER: I enjoyed it. I hope I come back again.
Interviewer
Bernadette Patino
Interviewee
Edwin Rodriguez
Location
Hoboken Public Library, Hoboken, New Jersey
Citation
Hoboken Public Library, “Interview 10: Edwin Rodriguez,” Hoboken Public Library's 2022 COVID-19 Oral History Project, accessed May 14, 2024, https://hobokenoralhistory2022.omeka.net/items/show/10.