The longtime owner of Rosy’s Diner in downtown Escanaba is not happy with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order to close all restaurants in the state over coronavirus fears.
Rosy Cox says the order, which was announced late Monday morning and takes effect at 3:00 p.m., will be a serve hardship on her business.
“I cannot believe that she can put that many people out of a job with one word,” Cox said, in between serving lunchtime customers. “How are they going to pay their bills? I don’t get it. It’s jus crazy.”
The governor says restaurants need to switch to delivery and take-out service only. This is meant to avoid spreading the virus in large groups. But Cox says that her small Ludington Street diner seats a maximum of 40 people, and there are rarely that many people in there at any given time.
“They won’t be able to pay their bills because I won’t need but one employee to do the deliveries,” Cox said. “I guess they’ll have to go on welfare or something, because they have to be able to eat. They just got paid yesterday, and they don’t have another check coming now.”
What would Cox say to the governor if she came to her diner?
“I would like her to come and try to be one of my employees and see where she’d be,” Cox said. “It’s easy to say everybody has to do “this”, but it’s very uneasy to actually have to live through that. Her life isn’t going to change any, I guarantee that.”
Rosy’s Diner will be available for take-out and delivery orders every day from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
