'So, as now, it has never been': how the service station of Ukrainian immigrants survives in quarantine - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

'So, as it is now, never happened': how the service station of Ukrainian immigrants survives in quarantine

Quarantine declared in the USA caused serious damage to the country's economy. Small and medium-sized businesses suffer the most, where they rely on a constant flow of customers. These days, Americans travel much less with their own vehicles, hence less work with automobile mechanics. How auto shops are held, on the example of Ukrainian owners, is described in the video "Voices of America".

Photo: Shutterstock

Car repair is a vital business in Maryland and continues to work during quarantine. The owners of the technical service station (STO) are brothers immigrants from Kiev Dmitry and Mikhail Tepelboim.

HUNDRED repairs a car in the city of Geisterburg for 15 years. The owners well remember the times of the financial crisis of 2008, however, they say that it has never been so bad as it is now.

“This is the most difficult period in the history of our business. There have been falls before, but never like this. We feel this very much, it affected everything - the supply of spare parts, poor selection and general tension around us,” says Mikhail.

“You don’t know where you can catch this virus and when, you can’t see it, you can’t hear it,” says Dmitry.

Due to the pandemic, the owners lost a lot of orders, but did not cut staff and did not cut salaries, although the mechanics now have much less work.

On the subject: Two immigrant doctors from Ukraine die from coronavirus in New York

“People are driving less, fewer cars are breaking down, fewer people are coming to us,” says Dmitry.

What now saves them from bankruptcy is the repair of cars of those companies that serve vital business.

“Transport is the first thing medical workers and police officers need now to get around. They should all be able to travel,” says Dmitry.

“We have contracts with large companies that either have a network of homes for the elderly or serve schools. We repair their trucks,” says Mikhail.

Owners say that only in the last 3 weeks of quarantine their incomes fell by 60%.

To cover the costs, the brothers filed a request for government assistance.

“Now we are submitting documents for government assistance; if everything succeeds, the government will pay our employees’ salaries and rent for two and a half months,” says Dmitry.

However, with government assistance, it is also not so simple, because the state loan will most likely have to be repaid.

“If we need these funds, of course, we will use them, if not, we will return them so that we don’t have to repay the loan later,” says Mikhail.

Six people work at the service station, workers admit that they are afraid of contracting a new coronavirus, however they are more afraid of losing the opportunity to feed their families.

“It’s very scary, it’s dangerous now. I have a lot of friends in New York who got sick,” says auto mechanic Richard Ganga.

On the subject: 'Our mentality helps to survive': how Ukrainians who are left without work in the USA cope

During machine repairs, it is very difficult to maintain a social distance between colleagues. Therefore, to prevent the virus from reaching the station, the machines that the customer brings for repair are disinfected here.

“We are trying to limit personal contact with clients. There are clients who simply bring the car, tell us that they left it outside and the keys inside, and ask us to call when it is ready. We try to keep our distance as much as possible,” says Dmitry.

“We were told to clean the car well, change gloves and masks. Once the machine arrives to us, we disinfect it before we start working on it,” says Richard.

Milan, a long-standing car service client, says he is not particularly worried about the coronavirus.

“I’ve been bringing cars here for years, I’ve known Dmitry for a long time, he and his brother do their job very well. I feel like nothing has changed, I don’t want to go too deep into these matters, I still can’t control them,” says Milan.

Responsibility for the safety and health of everyone at the service station lies on the shoulders of the owners. And while the pandemic has diminished their fortunes, it has also been a lesson in survival for the brothers. They not only adapted to new realities, but also realized that the most important thing in their business is the people who work in them.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Worse than Russian counterparts: 3 products that US immigrants do not like

What folk remedies treat the common cold in the USA: what surprises our

'Can save lives': Ukrainians in the USA talked about their experience of online medicine

A unique method of reading notes: how a Russian woman opened a music school in Los Angeles

Miscellanea Our people Ukrainians coronavirus
Subscribe to ForumDaily on Google News

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis. 



 
1084 requests in 1,078 seconds.