Contracting COVID-19 could be potentially fatal for Paula D’Agostino, but she may be left with no other choice but to reopen Big Guns Barbershop in the not-too-distant future.
The owner and sole proprietor of the East Street business is severely immunocompromised due to a number of ongoing health issues, which is why D’Agostino has decided to keep her barber shop shuttered ever since Ontario initially ordered all non-essential businesses to close March 17.
“It’s been pretty debilitating in every way – financially, mentally, physically. It hasn’t been great,” D’Agostino said.
She’s had her mortgage on Big Guns Barbershop deferred as a cost-cutting measure, but that’s about all D’Agostino can do right now.
“I’m a sole proprietor, I don’t have any employees, I work in a trade, and I own my building, so I don’t rent it,” said D’Agostino. “So those four things have exempted me from a lot of government funding, a lot of loans that would be available and a lot of things I could’ve had – if I met their criteria.”
And what she did qualify for in terms of support – business loans – simply didn’t suit her needs as owner of a small business.
“It was months of me looking for funding and just not finding anything, but the ones I was eligible for were only business loans, and they were very large-amount business loans, which I didn’t need,” she said.
When hair salon and barber shops were cleared to reopen in most public health regions by the province June 12, Big Guns Barbershop remained closed for business.
“It is me saying that my personal health is more important than my clients getting a haircut. That’s a very hard thing to say. I don’t take it lightly, it is terrible – but at this time, I am immunocompromised because I do have several health conditions,” said D’Agostino. “Basically, if I were to get coronavirus, it would kill me.”
But as financial obligations linger, D’Agostino could be forced to make the fear-inducing decision to reopen. She says that when that does happen, all guests will be required to wear masks when entering Big Guns Barbershop.
“I’m probably going to have to open back up because I’m not getting any money any which way, and I have bills to pay,” she said. “That’s going to be it. Eventually money’s going to be more important than my personal health, and only time will tell when that happens.”
“I’ve disclosed that to my clients as well. I’d love to be able to wait for a vaccine, but I can’t at this point. It’s bad.”
While D’Agostino’s regular clientele supports her decision to keep the barber shop closed, not everyone has been thrilled.
“I’ve suffered a little bit of harassment from the public – not from regular clients that I’ve seen before, but just people I’ve never met before,” she said. “The questions, the probing questions, crossing of boundaries, that kind of stuff.”
“That has been very hard on my mental health.”
D’Agostino sounds like she would enjoy nothing more than to have everything get back to normal. Her immunocompromised state keeps her from not only cutting hair – something she’s been doing for 15 years now – but from seeing her own family in-person during the pandemic.
“I love cutting hair. It’s my favourite thing to do. Not doing it has been terrible,” she said.