Pimentel’s husband is a Department of Defense employee at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Dayton Daily News is not naming him due to concern about reprisal. Pimentel and her husband have different last names.
Her husband provides about 60% of the family’s income, she said.
Pimentel owns Gem City Beauty, 704 Brown St. in Dayton, where about half her clients are base employees.
“I had 30 scheduled for this week and five already canceled,” she said.
Pimentel said she and her husband canceled a trip to Virginia over the weekend for her brother’s wedding out of concern for finances.
What worries them most is what happens if the shutdown continues into next month when their mortgage and other bills come due.
“We have savings, we’re just afraid to tap into it,” Pimentel said.
Kadir Kurt is the manager of Fairborn Family Diner, 419 N. Broad St. in Fairborn.
For more than 15 years the family-owned and -operated diner has served meals to military personnel and contractors working at the base.
Kurt said about 30% of his lunch business usually comes from people employed by the military in some capacity.
That’s down to 10% since the start of the government shutdown Oct. 1.
“Honestly there’s just less uniforms in here. I just haven’t seen them as much,” Kurt said.
The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown, the Associated Press reported.
Democrats have dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes and blaming President Trump for the shutdown.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has insisted it was Republicans who are “feeling the heat.”
Diner regular Jack Norris, 88, comes in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for breakfast to meet with friends and see what’s happening in the neighborhood.
Since the shutdown, his mornings have been very quiet.
“Usually there’s more people here. There’s just not as many,” Norris said.
One Washington Twp. couple who asked not to be named is feeling double the stress.
Both she and her husband were furloughed Oct. 1. Both are scientists with the Air Force Research Laboratory.
“We’re not unemployed so we’re not allowed to take jobs related to our field,” she said.
Her husband has picked up odd jobs like painting to keep money coming in, she said, and she has been doing projects around their house.
What they’re not doing is spending money they would normally on things like sports and activities for their 13-year-old daughter, dinners out and other activities that move the local economy.
“We’re usually buying Christmas gifts by now. We’re not doing any of that,” she said.
Her husband has worked in the federal government for 20 years. She has been a government employee for the last two after spending 16 years as a federal contractor.
She said over that time, she doesn’t recall a holiday season when they’re weren’t worried about a shutdown, regardless of which political party was in power.
“Congress typically does this around the holidays. I can’t remember a Christmas we weren’t sweating this,” she said.
Steven McKee is in the unenviable position of working for no pay.
As a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base firefighter, he is considered essential personnel and must report for duty.
McKee has worked there 23 years as a civilian contractor and been through five government shutdowns including the current one.
He said until this year, money for essential personnel pay was always carved out. He received his last paycheck - for partial pay - on Oct. 10.
“This is the first with zero, and that’s a real wallop,” McKee said.
The other thing that makes this different, he said, is that there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.
McKee said his leadership and union representatives try to keep them updated on the latest discussions from Washington. There’s just no information coming, leading to a complete “lack of optimism” among the rank and file
“It’s like there’s indifference on the part of those who can make a difference,” McKee said about Congress and the White House. “Sometimes you wonder if these people want a functioning government.”
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