How We’re Living During Coronavirus: Tommy “Razor” Rainone Reports From Long Island, NY

The coronavirus is affecting the overall quality of my life, as it is for so many others. 

There is the obvious, which is the financial hit that most of us have taken during this time. I have worked non-stop since I was 14 years old, working and breathing go hand-in-hand for me. 

As I've gotten older I’ve actually become more of a hustler and go getter. I’ve been in the hotel industry for 18 years now, the last 15 and change for a Hilton hotel. On top of working for Hilton I do personal training and teach two white collar boxing classes a week, both of which I started doing in March of 2016 to supplement my income and to make a transition as my boxing career wound down. 

The hotel industry is no different than the travel industry, especially airlines, which have taken a big hit. The property that I work for is a very busy one that ran at 90 percent occupancy in 2019 and we were doing similar numbers until a few weeks ago, when this outbreak started. Our numbers have dropped significantly, right around the 38 percent margin and falling. 

News hit the employees of my hotel this week that we would be dropping down to four days a week rather than our normal five day, 40 hour work-week until things pick back up. Of course no one has any idea when that will be and with all the current travel bans, common sense dictates that it won’t be any time in the very near future. On top of that the state of New York has mandated the closing of all gyms until further notice so that supplementary income has been completely halted for the time being with regards to the classes I teach. I lost a few clients as well on the personal training end of the spectrum with the closure of gyms right now but am fortunate enough to have been able to hang on to a couple of them. I have had to transition to training them in either their backyards or at a park right behind my boxing gym but they are still getting their workouts in and money is still green so I’m grateful I have not taken a total hit on that front. 

FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME HERE, WE CAN SET UP A TRAINING SESSION…NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD!

On top of the reductions on those income avenues we are currently without sports in this country due to the coronavirus which has meant me losing out on a couple of commentating gigs I had set for March 4 and April 9th in Boston as both of those shows have been postponed. 

That bleeds into the social life or lack thereof at the moment, as besides making a little money commentating, it is something I enjoy and goes hand in hand with my passion for travel.

Certain sorts of fun have been dampened, Rainone notes. Hey, there's always webcams, right?

Weddings in Arizona and two in New York have been postponed, two boxing events that I was invited to as a guest, as well as my nephew’s first birthday party are a no go. A very busy and promising March and April of 2020 wiped out from a social and financial perspective.

That all I said, I fully understand that I’m no different than millions around the world who have been affected and have had their daily, weekly and monthly lives turned upside down while having new economic concerns. 

We are all affected to an extent or another by the stock market, a great majority of us are affected with work related issues and just about everyone's social calendar is looking pretty empty. If nothing else this has reinforced the need to stay humble, to appreciate the things we do have and to continue thinking positive because I know there are others worse off than me right now and everyone is fighting a different kind of battle with the same opponent.