I live in San Diego but drove up to Sacramento to visit some friends. Since I was already in the northern half of the state, I made a last-minute decision to make a detour to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Tonight I am staying at the Grove Canyon Cabins. The plan is (or was?) to do some sightseeing tomorrow and then head back to San Diego. But I don't know if that's going to be possible due to the government shutdown (thanks, Boehner!). But for me it's a minor inconvenience. Big deal if I don't get to see General Sherman this time. He'll still be there for, hopefully, another 1,000 years. But for many of the people I interacted with today, it is their livelihood.
Like everybody else I've been following the going-ons in Washington but it hadn't even dawned on me that I was visiting a national park on the eve of a federal government shutdown. It wasn't until I pulled up to the entrance and overheard a couple of the rangers discussing what was going to happen. The answer seemed to be that nobody knew for sure.
Then I stopped at the General Grove Visitor Center (it's part of a small complex along with the cabins where I'm staying, a gift shop, a restaurant, a market and even a post office - although I can't say for sure if it was open). People there were also asking the rangers about the impact of the shutdown on their jobs. They said they didn't know. You could tell they were tired of talking about it. I'm sure it stresses them out to even think about.
At the market, the cashier and another customer were talking about the shutdown. The cashier isn't a government employee but you can bet your last biscuit he's worried about his job. Because if there aren't any park visitors, there are no customers for the market and no paycheck for him.
My next stop was a few hours later in Cedar Grove Village, a remote location where the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway terminates. There's a lodge and market (with surprisingly reasonable prices for such a remote location, btw). I stopped at the market to get a soda and candy bar. It's such a remote location I asked the cashier where she lived and how long it takes her to get to work. She told me she lives in an RV parked behind the lodge so she walks to work and it only takes her two minutes. I asked her what it was like in the winter and she told me it's only seasonal. They were scheduled to close in 14 days but she was told it might only be 2 days because of the shutdown. The workers in the lodge would be equally affected.
I drove back to the visitor center. I asked the lady who checked me in to my cabin what she was going to do if the government shut down. She said she wasn't sure but had told to be ready to leave within 48 hours. She's employed by the same company as the two cashiers and apparently the company provides employee housing. But unlike the girl working in Cedar Grove, who was already planning to move on in 2 weeks regardless, this lady isn't seasonal. She lives here all year. And she said, "What's going to happen if they shut down the park? I know I won't get a paycheck because there won't be any tourists. But will I even be able to get to my house?"
I had dinner in the restaurant and was seated within earshot of the kitchen. The employees were all talking about the shutdown. The #1 question asked was, "What are you going to do?" The #1 answer provided, "I don't know."
The point of this story is to show just how many ordinary, hardworking people will be impacted by this shutdown. It won't just be suit-wearing officials in Washington. It will be park rangers, cashiers, hotel workers, waitresses and cooks, etc.
So I don't know what I'm going to wake up to in the morning. Will the Visitor Center be open? Will the people I interacted with today still have jobs? A place to live? If so, for how much longer? How long can the shutdown drag on before they all lose everything?