“Will she or will she not?”

“She won’t, or...they won’t. Not yet.” 

My dad says they’re keeping them closed for some weird political reasons.” 

“Who knows.” 

“I’ll bet the price of a ticket that they’ll be open by October 1.” 

“I’ll make that bet -- I don’t have that much faith.” 

“She’ll open it up because she loves movies as much as we do.” 

“But it’s not up to Downey’s mayor. It’s the governor’s decisions, based on the Covid-19 statistics. That’s what they say.” 

“Well, I don’t know if he likes movies that much.” 

Such a conversation might have taken place, until recently, in front of the Cinemark Theater at the Downey Promenade. But months have gone by and many people tend to give up hope and disappear, together with their itchy wallets, intact. 

So the Cinemark continues worried. They have reason to be. The benches that face their front doors are bare of any customers, except a shopper or two seeking a momentary rest from strolling the half-empty mall. ACross the way, Johnny Rockets has been equally anxious, since all this lockdown happened. Every desperate company or business, in the malls or on Downey Avenue, is waiting for relief. 

The powers-that-be in Sacramento have offered no such relief to most counties of California. They know that kids and adults alike are already deluged with a multitude of appars, supplying continuous electronic entertainment on phones, tablets and desktops, so they’ll “get by.” 

No, the population at large doesn’t have it so bad. Yes, the virus is real and it isn’t going away, or not fast enough. But even though cases are still high, Covid deaths are way down, including in Downey, and are mostly due to underlying illnesses in the aged, who also happen to test positive, a sorry state of affairs. 

Meanwhile, the Cinemark, on its website, and with a large dose of sincerity, has been telling its lost audiences that it has a workable plan for reopening. Beyond maintaining the social distancing in each movie auditorium, by taping off a least half of the seats, and requiring the wearing of masks for all its staff and customers, they will be going the extra mile by spraying and wiping down all seats, the snack bars, the lobby, restrooms, and all doors and railing, as often as required, before and after each showing. These procedures will be checked off by observant supervisors, nearly constantly. This is going way beyond what supermarkets and restaurants like Ralph’s and La Barca do, or are required to do. 

Churches and restaurants can use their parking lots to accommodate people and schools depend on homeschooling through the internet. Dentist offices and beauty salons struggle to get by. But what do the empty movie theaters have to bring back the people in order to survive? And how will we “kids at heart” be able to check out the new James Bond movie, soon to arrive? Maintaining these closures sounds like the making of a new kind of virus, the “Type-15 Severe Stage Frustration,” dragging a lot of poor, out-of-work people in its wake. 

Mr. Governor, at least he can see by now how nervous we’re getting with this Covid-19 and everything that comes with it. But we will follow Cinemark’s guidelines, just like we would whenever and wherever we go out. 

We want to be spending money and having some old-fashioned fun again, patronizing whom we wish, before they all go broke -- the ones who are depending on us. 

John DeLaney
Downey