Prevented from working for a year, three Strasbourg residents tell of the significant financial difficulties, the impact on their motivation and their morale, sometimes plunging them into depression.
“Not being able to work for a year has a heavy psychological and economic impact. We feel like prisoners, with no release date, ”saddens Philipp Pollaert, DJ from Strasbourg. A feeling shared by Antoine Peraldi, manager of the night bar La Kulture, and Frédéric Muller, owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Le Mandala. Since March 14, these three Strasbourg professionals have not been able to resume normal activity.
The first confinement causes the start of financial problems for Frédéric Muller
For Frédéric Muller, the first confinement was a “brutal shock” which launched the beginning of his financial problems. “On March 14, we had to close the restaurant that same evening and throw away the food,” recalls the manager. On May 28, the announcement of the reopening of restaurants for June 2 does not improve the situation:
“The government caught us off guard by warning us three days before the restaurants reopened. We could not anticipate the purchase of food, the installation of plexiglass barriers or the recall of our employees. The worst part is not being closed, it is the lack of visibility. “
Four months of hard work were necessary for the restaurant couple to regain their usual turnover. But the second lockdown undermines those efforts by causing the restaurant to be closed again on October 30. “Normally we make the majority of our turnover between October and March but the second confinement prevented us from doing so,” says Frédéric Muller.
“Under state drip”.
Unlike other restaurateurs, Frédéric has decided not to use delivery or take-out. The restaurateur explains this choice by the 30% commission imposed on restaurants by the Ubereat and Deliveroo platforms. “It’s sad to have worked four years to create a friendly restaurant and to stay closed. But if it is to gain 15% of my turnover, it is not worth opening, ”says Frédéric Muller.
Currently it is state aid that allows the couple to survive:
“We are on a drip. We receive aid every month from the solidarity fund for businesses. In order not to go out of business, we preferred to go into debt and resort to the loan guaranteed by the State. The amount of this loan is equivalent to the cumulative turnover of the three best months of the year 2019. It is an amount that will still have to be repaid thereafter. ”
Despite this aid, the absence of customers and the prolonged closure of the restaurant caused Frédéric Muller’s business to lose value. According to him, the amount of this loss would amount to 150,000 euros. A situation that prevents him from projecting himself. “I can’t afford to make the decision to sell because I don’t even know if my restaurant is still worth anything,” explains Frédéric Muller.
Anxiety, anger, then … detachment
This prolonged closure, Frédéric Muller lived it badly for a time:
“It made me sad to see the restaurant that I worked hard for for 4 years to be closed. I was angry with all these sanitary measures that kept me from working and anxious not to know if I was going to survive. But I internalized these emotions, especially through meditation, to be able to move forward. We have no control over what happens, so we have to put things into perspective otherwise it’s the best way to go crazy. “
Today, his life no longer revolves solely around his restaurant. The confinements allowed him to rediscover the activities he had long put aside. “All is not negative. I was able to spend more time with my children, to take an interest in reading and art again, ”Frédéric Muller said positively.
Antoine Peraldi: “Culture had become a daycare”
During the first confinement, Antoine Peraldi wanted to maintain an activity in his establishment by offering the people of Strasbourg to dance remotely via the Twitch streaming platform. But the solution does not guarantee the manager a stable income. “The principle of streaming was super cool, I loved it. But in the long term this is not economically possible because it is necessary to pay the technicians and the DJs, ”estimates Antoine Peraldi.
On June 2, the manager of the Kulture decides to reopen his bar while keeping the dance floor closed. Again, this solution is only effective in the short term:
“My clients have been coming for five years to dance, it was difficult to forbid them. I was on their backs all evening to watch them, tell them to put on their masks and to respect the rules of distancing. La Kulture had become a daycare center and that annoyed me. It was not a pleasant situation so I decided to close again in July. ”
To give a new face to his night bar and reopen these doors during the summer, Antoine Peraldi then developed two new projects: the creation of an art gallery and a terrace shared with 15 shopkeepers from the Krutenau. While the first project is undermined by the second confinement, the City of Strasbourg will not follow up on the authorization request for the terrace.
“I didn’t want to want to anymore”
The failure of these new projects accentuates for Antoine Peraldi this feeling of “working in the wind” and makes him plunge into depression in September:
“Normally I’m a fighter, I’m kidding, I’m creative. But there I was no longer doing anything, I could not fall asleep, I did not want to wake up, I had dark thoughts and I was losing weight. It was the first time that I had a depression, I didn’t even want to want to anymore. The government ruined my life. By making me shut up, he took away my reason for living. “
“I thought of selling”
In addition to fruitless efforts, there are financial difficulties. For almost a year, the manager of the Kulture did not earn any income from his night bar and did not receive any state aid. Antoine Peraldi then thinks of liquidating his establishment on the advice of his family and friends. “When we see the accounts, we necessarily think of selling,” he sighs.
Aid of 25,000 euros allocated by the State at the beginning of February allows Antoine Peraldi to breathe a little: “If I had been followed from the start, I would not have felt so much despair. “
Philipp Pollaert: “My life is not that”
This distress, Philipp Pollaert also knew it while the cancellations of his performances were linked. Of its four dates in September 2020, three have been canceled. “It hurts morale to accumulate postponements and cancellations. We have the impression of working for nothing. You can’t see the end of the tunnel, “says Philipp Pollaert sadly.
While the DJ played streaming every morning for his fans, during the first confinement, this activity also loses its interest for him:
“At the start of the confinement I was motivated, I thought it was only going to last a month or two. But my life is not that, I make people dance, I make them smile. I didn’t become a DJ to play in an empty room or do radio shows from home. “
While stores reopen and other professions return to normal life, depression sets in at Philipp Pollaert. “I waited for the day to pass by staying on the sofa, I was moping. It’s hard to find a personal balance by staying locked up. We have the impression of being a prisoner who does not know when he is going to come out, ”describes the DJ. A situation that makes him consider another future for a short time:
“At one point, it crossed my mind to find another job so that I could go out and have social contact. In December, La Poste was looking for new employees so I applied. But in the end I didn’t want to give up music and my job as a DJ. I’ve been doing this profession for 20 years, it’s not my passion, I don’t want to stop. “
Financial aid yes, but a sector left aside
Philipp Pollaert recalls that a blank year has been set up by the State for intermittent entertainment workers. Not having been able to exercise their profession in 2020 and complete the 507 hours which give the right to the status of intermittent in the show, these people saw their compensation rights extended until August 31, 2021. “We have until that date. to do our 507 hours. To make this calculation, the State goes back to our last contract. », Explains Philipp Pollaert.
A measure that the members of this profession, including Philipp Pollaert, wish to see renewed for the year 2021, thanks to a petition:
“I am already at 436 hours so I could reach 507 hours before August 31 but other artists are far from it because there is still no job opportunity. This second white year is compulsory otherwise people will plunge into economic and psychological depression. ”
Despite this financial support, Philipp Pollaert accuses the State of having set aside the catering and cultural sectors. “We have been labeled as non-essential. It has a very degrading and demeaning side. »Philipp Pollaert saddens.
Antoine Peraldi: “I have no more energy to change projects every two months”
Today, Antoine Peraldi is pursuing the “only project that he has successfully completed for a year” for Kulture: the creation of a coworking space. With the establishment of a time credit system of 1.55 euros, students, entrepreneurs or teleworkers can come and work at the Kulture. “The goal is to keep my establishment open, I no longer have the energy to change projects every two months. It also helps to pay some bills, ”says Antoine Peraldi.
The manager of La Kulture has decided not to wait for a reopening date for each speech by the President or a minister: “I’m sick of wasting my time”. His goal remains to reopen his night bar despite a strong apprehension vis-à-vis the attitude of customers: “It’s been a year since people have party, they will have accumulated a lot of frustration. “
Frédéric Muller and Philipp Pollaert: the hope of being able to work soon
In the same opinion, Philipp Pollaert is “looking forward to making people dance again”. Several dates have already been proposed to him including that of June 11 where he could play at the Karlstadt festival. “It all depends on the health situation. We clearly have a lack of visibility which prevents us from establishing a program, ”sighs Philipp Pollaert. If the DJ hopes to be able to mix this summer during outdoor shows, the next nightclub event still seems a long way off.
For his part, restaurateur Frédéric Muller has decided to take training in real estate while waiting for the reopening, which he hopes will be close. An approach that will allow him to reactivate his skills acquired when he was a promoter:
“I don’t know if the restaurant will reopen or when. With this training I am setting up a way out or the possibility of having additional income. “
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