At the end of the nineteenth century, there were 8,000 Chinese laundry workers in the New York metropolitan area, accounting for more than half of the total Chinese population. Laundries are scattered on all corners and corners of Chinatown within 30 miles.

19th Century San Francisco Chinese Laundry Painting. (Information map of American Overseas Chinese News)

　　Since then, Chinese-run laundry shops have opened up the streets of American cities and penetrated into the daily lives of local residents. Laundry shops have also become one of the labels of the Chinese.

　　In this outbreak, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the "Home-based Epidemic Prevention" Executive Order, which stipulates that all non-essential businesses in New York State will be closed from 8 pm on March 22, and the laundry is necessary. List of service industries.

　　In this way, the laundry shop operators, like the medical staff and the police, persisted in business and continued to serve the society in the days of the outbreak. They either chose to stay behind for their livelihoods or responsibilities.

　　Choosing to stay behind, in addition to the risk of being infected, there are more accidents that make the laundry business worse.

　Inescapable racial discrimination

　　"We are also indispensable to serve the industry." The New York Laundry Association Chamber of Commerce Changjiang Xu shared in his WeChat circle of friends, with pride and frustration in his tone.

Data map: A Chinese laundry in New York, USA. (US "World Daily" / Photograph by Zhu Zeren)

　　Jiang Xu has four laundries in places with a large number of Hispanics in Queens, New York. While insisting on business during the epidemic, Jiang Xu also united its members and sent tens of thousands of masks and other epidemic prevention materials to hospitals and police stations; When the epidemic was the heaviest, he also helped members deliver materials to frontline personnel from the five regions.

　　But even so, Jiang Xu did not escape the insults and threats of racial discriminators. On March 31, he received an insulting text message saying, "You are a Chinese man, why do you want to bring the virus to us?"

On April 25, local time, the streets of San Francisco, USA were deserted. China News Service reporter Liu Guanguan

　　Jiang Xu’s encounter is just a microcosm of many Chinese laundry owners who work hard and want to contribute to the epidemic; but in front of the epidemic, they have been insulted by other ethnic groups.

　Helpless Security

　　In addition to racial discrimination, public security issues also plagued the Chinese laundry owners who persisted in the epidemic. During the outbreak, a Chinese laundry in Bronx, New York was looted. After entering the hole through the roof, the suspect stole about $4,800 in cash, the hard drive of the monitoring system and other properties.

Street view of Chinatown in downtown Washington (China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong)

　　Owner Huang Brown said that cash and belongings in the store's safe, cash register, and laundry card vending machine were all stolen.

　　Because the computer system controlling the washing machine was damaged and could not be repaired in time, the laundry was forced to close down, which made the business that had been hit by the epidemic even worse.

　　In order to protect the safety of the clerk and himself, the owner of another laundry shop, Chen Fengguan, installed bullet-proof glass in the store. He said that after the epidemic began, the security of the surroundings became worse, and a retail store that was just across the street from its own store had been Robbery worried him.

　　He talked to customers every day through a piece of bulletproof glass; whenever he talked about that piece of bulletproof glass, he said half-jokingly, "Now it's just for use, it can block the virus, I blocked all the holes in the glass."

Under the global epidemic, many people in all walks of life persist in their jobs in order to protect people's daily lives. The picture shows an employee in a laundry shop in the United States.

　　Chen Fengguan said that he did not want to be a hero, but just wanted to protect himself and his loved ones during the epidemic.

　The pressure of cost soaring is not reduced

　　A New York laundromat operator stated that his own laundromat operates two types of services: washing and self-service laundry.

　　However, due to the outbreak of the epidemic, the employees responsible for washing and delivering clothes, because of fear of being infected by the virus, suddenly resigned and could only temporarily cancel the business. However, the turnover of the laundry accounted for one-third of the store's revenue.

　　In order to ensure the safety of the staff, the shop owner shortened the business hours by three hours; he said that there are only three laundries in the community, and if all are closed, it will cause great inconvenience to the lives of nearby residents.

　　The owner of another Chinese laundry has asked the staff to wear medical masks and distributed them to customers free of charge after the outbreak began. These have increased the cost of the laundry.

　　Due to the epidemic, the number of passengers in the laundry shop has decreased, but the pressures on rent, utilities, and labor costs are still there. For most laundry shops, the situation is not optimistic.

　　Chinese laundry shop owners face much more than that. Protests have erupted in many places in the United States recently, and many Chinese businessmen are worried about this. After the outbreak, the income of many businessmen has dropped sharply, and the business has gradually improved recently. However, if they encounter demonstrations, it will make the operation more difficult.

The picture shows the New York police patrolling near the closed Times Square. (Zhongxin)

　　Despite all the difficulties, these ordinary Chinese laundry owners, together with the police and doctors, stayed on the front line of the fight against the epidemic, doing their part and keeping their hope.

　　Source: China Overseas Chinese Network WeChat Public (ID: qiaowangzhongguo)

　　Author: Xu Wenxin Reference: United States, "World News", China News, China & Overseas, the United States, "Sing Tao Daily", New York Press news