Point: Paotie Dawson

Back in 1969, when Richard Nixon was president of the United States, young Americans across the country were attending music concerts and festivals. Woodstock, that great American love and peace festival, was held in August of the same year. Nearly 400,000 Americans attended Woodstock during its three- day festival.

The Vietnam War was still ongoing. Political protests and riots took place during this socially chaotic time. Folks in Colorado and across the country did not live in fear of the Hong Kong flu pandemic, which had ravaged much of the world between 1968- 1969. The virus claimed more than 100,000 American lives.

Scant media attention was paid to the pandemic. There were no lockdowns. Schools were not closed, and if so, it was due to absenteeism. No state public health agencies issued blanket orders requiring restaurants and bars to close or restrict services and restaurants remained open. Toilet paper shortages were not a thing.

Fast- forward to 2020 and the COVID- 19 pandemic. There are no concerts. Toilet paper shortages are big news.

Few political protests attract small crowds and much internet derision. There is no Vietnam War. Unemployment has rocketed. Social activities in public and private spheres have been severely curtailed with deleterious and negative effects with increases in suicides and domestic violence cases.

It is Mother’s Day in Castle Rock, and the owner of C& C’s Korean Kitchen is behind on her bills. She’s like tens of thousands of folks in the state: unemployed. She wants to generate income for herself and her employees, and also protest what she considered illegal if unnecessary edicts from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. In mid- March of this year, the governor issued an edict requiring bars and restaurants in the state to restrict services or close.

It might surprise you to learn the current lockdowns and quarantines guidelines were inspired by a high school science project and adopted by the federal Centers for Disease Control. And it might surprise you even more to learn that a scientific paper published by real scientists recommended against lockdowns and quarantines, actions the governor and the state public health department has undertaken.

In the time since C& C’s opened on Mother’s Day, hospitals have not been overrun and the state’s COVID- 19 fatality rate continues to drop. Counties across the state are opening up, some in defiance of the governor and state public health department. It seems each new day brings news of another business opening up in defiance of government edicts.

The owners of C& C were brave and courageous to open their restaurant in the face of severe public criticism and from predatory government bureaucrats safely secure in their paid positions. They were also right to challenge Gov. Polis.

The governor should have considered his policies could be flawed and alternatives exist. He could have implemented policies similar to South Korea, or even South Dakota. Sweden has done well without destroying its economy. He could have focused on educating the public about the virus. He chose instead to focus on forced compliance of his edicts and punished folks, including C& C’s, for not doing so.

Today, it has become groovy to criticize C& C’s for opening up. More businesses are doing the same. More folks are questioning the governor and public health department and that’s good. What folks and the media should also be doing is sending love and light to C& C’s for being one of the first to stand up to political bullying. They stood up for what they believed in as the right thing to do: open up their business.

I support them and so should you.

There is a right and wrong way to reopen businesses following a pandemic. Stroll the streets of downtown Colorado Springs, and you’ll find plenty of small retail shops practicing the former. Masks are worn by the staff and are required to enter the store, customers are kept to minimal numbers to insure distance, and counter surfaces are constantly kept clean. As restaurants expand from pickup to limited seating, it’s a sure bet most will adopt a form of this model. Profits will be a challenge as restaurant seating areas remain only a third full.

C& C Coffee and Korean Kitchen in Castle Rock, as well as Shooters Grill in Rifle, represent the antithesis of this model. Both restaurants reopened suddenly, to much fanfare, with no limits placed on customers in the restaurant, and no masks worn by staff. The owners of both establishments made a point of tying their practices to “don’t tread on me” rhetoric about freedom. But photos from C& C on Mother’s Day resembled Daytona Beach at spring break. The crowded scenes in Castle Rock were a harbinger of the Wisconsin packed bars after that state’s Supreme Court threw out stay- at- home rules in mid- May.

Colorado health officials empathize with the number of small- business owners who are struggling, and have no desire to pick fights unnecessarily. Opening a restaurant prior to a state- defined date is not the paramount issue here, as long as owners of businesses show a modicum of responsibility. It’s likely the three Calhan eateries who jumped the gun will be able to negotiate a reopening. Gov. Polis has emphasized how much he wants to see small business return to profitability quickly, but the rash actions of C& C and Shooters left state health officials little choice but to pull their licenses.

When businesses want to flaunt their rejection of sound health measures as some sort of libertarian stake- in- the- ground moment, those responsible don’t come across as brave, they come across as brazenly selfish and arrogant. There is plenty of evidence the self- centered focus is deliberate. The conservative Constitutional Rights PAC launched a social media campaign May 18 under the tagline “We are NOT in this together.” One protester at a weekend rally held a sign declaring “Selfish and Proud.”

If opportunities were otherwise equal, responsible restaurant owners still risk paper- thin margins by trying to keep their businesses safe for customers. Restaurants in many cities, including Colorado Springs, hope for innovative approaches to expand outdoor seating, like the closure of secondary streets near popular bistros. Meanwhile, the outliers gamble on future outbreaks while taking a laissez- faire attitude to public health, even as they set up crowdfunding campaigns to gain support for hazardous practices.

Some business owners place a political dimension of their branding ahead of putting in place safe and consistent business processes. If their profile as a restaurant, bar, or small retail operation can demonstrate how rebellious they are, that becomes the only metric that matters. Unfortunately, this becomes a self- defeating game of chicken where the business is almost certain to violate state or municipal licensing procedures.

It brings to mind the individuals who think they are vanguards in the culture wars by parading with no face masks, even as they challenge sales clerks who do — sometimes threatening them with physical violence. Risking the chance of a Covid- 19 renewed outbreak is bad enough, but using lack of safety precautions as a political statement is beyond the pale.

Paotie Dawson lives in Manitou Springs and is a political writer. Loring Wirbel is co- chair of Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission. He works as a para in a school for autistic youths, drives tour jeeps up Pikes Peak, and writes a music column for the Colorado Springs Independent.