On April 17, Chase sent me an email with this subject line: “The SBA has committed all the funds from the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program.”

I lost it. How is it possible that Shake Shack and many other mega chains got millions of dollars, and small restaurateurs like me, who collectively provide jobs for millions of people, were left with nothing?

I’m not angry with Danny Meyer, who founded Shake Shack, or the others, for that matter. In many ways, Danny is a role model for people like me who are just starting in this world. I also get that Danny and other owners of mega-chains are doing everything possible to save their businesses and help their employees. I get that. But Shake Shack and others like them have plenty of avenues to access liquidity. They don’t need to get money from our pot.

What angers me even more is that Chase let me down. I trusted them and they failed me. Friends who applied through small community banks you’ve probably never heard of had much better luck than I did.