GEE & URSULA

How has COVID-19 impacted your life? Gee & Ursula listeners tell their stories

Oct 24, 2020, 8:11 AM | Updated: Oct 3, 2024, 8:20 am

UW Medicine, covid treatment...

Workers at UW Medicine's drive-through testing facility. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

COVID-19 has impacted multiple facets of everyone’s lives this year, cutting into work, kids, and social lives. To get a better sense of how people’s lives have changed, Gee and Ursula opened the phones to KIRO listeners to hear their stories.

Greg in Tacoma works in event planning and has seen his work life virtually disappear since March.

“I run the Pierce County and City of Tacoma parks and recreation food concessions — also I do car shows and multiple events like Bike Seattle, Taste Tacoma, Puyallup Fair, all those big events — I have been shut down 100% since March,” he said.

How do we bring the country together? Gee & Ursula listeners sound off

“Probably not open until maybe March of next year, April, if we do it at all. I run the show, so I have under 20 employees, and your listeners out there, just think, cut your income for a whole year. That’s where I’m at. I lost my mom in April, and I’ve been dealing with that. People realize that it’s going to get better, and we have to hold on to what we got. And remember, your family is the only one that can get you through this,” he said.

Heidi in Bothell has a son going through cancer treatment and gained a new appreciation on the year as a result.

“I just got done walking my 9-year-old son through cancer treatment during COVID. And it’s not for the faint of heart, but we made it. And he’s doing really well, and it just gave me a completely different perspective on everything that’s happening, just made me so grateful for every single day,” she said.

CPA: WA unemployment insurance rate for businesses could spike 1 to 3%

Norm in Puyallup takes refuge in just listening to the experts, and ignoring politicians when he can.

“There’s a quote: ‘Politicians are always amazed when people believe what they say, since they themselves don’t believe what they say.’ And the reason I bring that up is with this virus thing, what has helped our family is to listen to the experts. That’s the scientists, that’s Dr. Fauci … So by doing that, masking up and not meeting in big groups, it protects not only ourselves but others,” he said.

To listen to the rest of the callers’ stories, head here.

Listen to the Gee and Ursula Show weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Gee & Ursula

seattle minimum wage increase...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘Everything’s expensive’: Gee and Ursula discuss whether Seattle’s minimum wage increase will ease financial strain

Gee and Ursula discuss the impact of Seattle's minimum wage rise to $22.14 and the financial strain for residents in 2027.

20 hours ago

consumer confidence u.s. spending...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘I don’t wish that daily stress on anyone’: Gee and Ursula discuss finances as consumer confidence falls to 12-year low

Gee and Ursula discuss the implications of low consumer confidence on household finances and the job market in the U.S.

2 days ago

blazers broadcaster fired...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘You’re garbage for firing him’: Gee condemns racist posts but blasts Blazers’ decision to dismiss broadcaster over teenage comments

Blazers face backlash after firing broadcaster Braiden Bell over past comments. Gee weighs in on the controversial decision.

2 days ago

Kent Loux seattle police officers guild president spog...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘We’ve had two years of inaccuracies’: Police union president wants payroll answers before Seattle recoups overpayments

Seattle’s police union wants the city to resolve what it describes as two years of payroll inaccuracies, including underpayments.

2 days ago

A partially unzipped grey duffel bag is overflowing with United States one hundred dollar bills. (P...

Gee Scott

Gee: Wait, what?! Man finds $128K in cash sitting on top of an ATM

A 37-year-old man in Texas walked up to an ATM and discovered something you generally don’t find sitting on top: $128,514 in cash. What’s your next move?

2 days ago

seattle police (1)...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘A $13 million mistake’: Ursula blasts Seattle’s ‘ineptitude’ after major SPD payroll error

More than 900 SPD employees received excess back pay totaling approximately $13.1 million after the city used incorrect wage rates.

2 days ago

How has COVID-19 impacted your life? Gee & Ursula listeners tell their stories