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Let's talk about racism. Have you seen any messages or memes that you thought were racist or offensive? If so, talk about what you've seen or heard.
I live very close to Louisvilke,KY in southern IN. I was appalled at the Breonna Taylor grand jury decision. Most of the protestors were not violent. Its not fair to lump them all together as violent and unlawful.
October 7, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I'm working from home while also taking care of an 18 month old baby boy. My husband used to have the option of working from home, but is now expected to work in his office. He doesn't go into his office much, if at all, but he also doesn't help me take care of our son while we're both working from home. It really pisses me off that he feels his work is more important than mine or that he doesn't have the option to take care of our son while he's working. It puts an extra burden on me because I don't have the option to mute my mic during my classes that I teach. I don't have the option to turn off my camera while teaching. Instead, I have to leave it on even when our child is feeling neglected and screams through half a class. I have seen all of the articles and data about the lack of support from fathers in terms of equitable child rearing and how that affects mothers who work. I've discussed this with my husband and he says that because he started a new job in the middle of a pandemic that he doesn't have the flexibility to slack at work. However, I think it's unreasonable for any job to expect people, whether they have children or not, to be as productive as they were under "normal" circumstances.
October 8, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
The other day I jumped in my friend's car and we drove 550 miles from suburban Maryland to her cabin in the mountains of Western North Carolina. It felt really great to get out of town--the leaves are starting to really turn now--bright crimson topped the trees and the highways were adorned by miles and miles of white Queen Anne's Lace and flaming yellow goldenrod and blue aster and it felt like a rainbow of colors everywhere, summer turning to autumn, the earth going about its business just fine. Walking around the back roads since getting here feels like another world too--not a soul in sight and no need to pull my mask out for hours, just breathing in crisp, cool mountain air. It's been good for the soul. And yet, driving through Southern Virginia and Tennessee was a shock too--almost no one wearing a mask at the gas stations we stopped at, when in our area just outside Washington D.C most everyone wears a mask. It was like crossing over into another country. "What part of this science do you not believe in", I want to ask these people? I feel like I am working so hard to stay sane and do my part to restore some normalcy to the U.S.--writing letters to people encouraging them to vote, training to work the polls because of the poll worker shortage. I am 58 and not at low risk, but at much lower risk than people in their 70s who usually staff the polls, and I am willing to take that chance to make sure EVERYONE can vote. And yet, nothing feels like enough. Last night my dreams were crazy-anxiety- filled; over and over I kept arriving to large public gatherings with no one wearing a mask--not even me, and then I would wake up in a panic that I was nfected with COVID. Watching Trump's latest shit-show this week--getting the virus, and then pretending it wasn't a big deal--never mind that he got the best medical treatment ANYONE in the world has gotten--makes me sick to my stomach. The sheer amount of lies he tells makes me sick. I think it's just too much cognitive dissonance to withstand--the narrative he creates versus the one we KNOW that we are all living, and he gets SO Much press and attention. I cannot wait for him to be gone and have someone in the White House who actually cares about the people he serves.
October 8, 2020
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Has the pandemic affected your religious or spiritual observance in any way? If so, talk about it.
In some ways yes--I have always trusted that God has a bigger purpose for this pandemic. At the end of the day, I know there is something good coming out of it and that God is in control. As much as people might deny God's sovereignty, we ARE leading up to the end times--whether its this year, or in a thousand years. Knowing that, and that God is in full control of what will happen in the end times, has been incredibly humbling and hope giving during the pandemic. I have had such moments of reverence and have learned to appreciate God and His glory in all circumstances. In the Bible, Paul writes that we should consider all suffering joy--and I do (or at least am working towards it, with the Holy Spirit). Jesus is good-He has saved me from an eating disorder, depression, and self-loathing. Despite the bleak circumstances and my own emotional and physical pain, and doubt, and failure to have faith, GOD is GOOD.
October 8, 2020
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Talk about any major life events, milestones, or other important things in life that have been disrupted by the pandemic.
I wanted to marry my partner this year, after I found a new job. The pandemic has delayed both. I cannot get married to her because I would lose my health insurance, and because I do not have an income, it would be a strain for her to add me to her insurance. And her insurance through her work is bad anyway. the weekly mental health therapy I NEED to function properly would cost $80 a session so, f*ck that. So I think she and I will need to actually look for a different healthcare plan. I mean unless Universal Healthcare becomes a thing. That would be awesome.
October 8, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
The Coronavirus has profoundly affected my life in the past week. I found this sign in the woods. It’s the corrugated version of a flag I had ordered. So for a while we had both the lawn sign version and the banner version outside of our home. I should order a t-shirt version, too, because this small rectangle holds the basis for what I believe. I will not willingly interact with, or do business with, anyone who doesn’t believe—and vote—this way. Our country is so divided, and I’m feeling it. The Coronavirus is the hallmark of the dividing line. Mask it or casket. No one should have the right to willingly endanger other citizens, and I’m afraid that the leadership of this country has abdicated its position in the most dangerous possible way—all because the White House resident does not believe that lives of others matter. He — and his VP in last night’s debate — demonstrate an inability to listen to women. Their actions define those who do not have their income levels as illegal. They certainly are not listening to science. Love and kindness are not even part of their vocabularies. And it is causing me heartache, and probably affecting my blood pressure. I cannot believe we have come to this as a nation. Our Constitution does not seem to mean anything. I want to call someone, but there is no adult who is in charge at this time. My heart breaks for the career workers at the White House, who are not only exposed to this deadly virus, but are now bringing it home to their families. The utter selfish power grab of the GOP could kill us all. The covidiot-in-chief will stop at nothing. And so I helped get several hundred Reclaim the Vote postcards into the mail. I have made a countless number of masks. I have made political contributions. For every small thing that we have done from this household, this administration and its minyans put up more barriers to democracy. The governor of Texas has ordered just one ballot dropbox per county, meaning that more than one million people will have just one place to bring their early ballots. It isn’t fair, and it shouldn’t be legal. The lives of Americans, and the life of America depend on a Supreme Court that is no longer fair, nor balanced. There will be desperate people. There will be deaths. And I cannot do enough on my own. I don’t know whether I need to psychologically drop out of the news cycle, or jump in with two feet. Either way I am overwhelmed with a citizen’s smallness in the face of reality. I used to feel pride in my participation in the political process. As a woman facing open misogyny, a Jew in a time of rising anti-semitism, a compassionate person concerned with all human rights, I will vote for the policies that defined this country—and fear that the unity of these United States has been corrupted for generations.
October 8, 2020
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A history professor in our town has a tradition of making elaborate, thought-provoking Halloween displays. This year, he -- and his friends and family, media reports share -- tackled both #BLM and COVID-19, as well as the death of RBG. My family and I went for a walk over the weekend to check it out. It's impossible to capture the full display in a single photo, but I've tried to snap a few. Media reports -- local and national -- capture a bit more. For example: A Connecticut man's Halloween display features real-life horrors: The coronavirus and Black lives lost https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/connecticut-man-halloween-covid-blm-trnd/index.html West Hartford family's annual Halloween display tackles BLM, COVID-19 https://www.wfsb.com/news/west-hartford-familys-annual-halloween-display-tackles-blm-covid-19/article_b22f79a0-0724-11eb-97fd-5f5558807e19.html This panel shows Black people killed by police. It's part of a series of four panels that starts with excerpts from announcements of runaway slaves that appeared in local Connecticut newspapers in the 1770s and 1780s, followed by a second panel showing quotations from Frederick Douglass, WEB Dubois, and MLK, then this panel showing people murdered by police. A horrible continuity.
October 8, 2020
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What do you think was the biggest news event this past week -- either in your community, nationally, or globally? Talk about why it’s a big deal.
Just everything regarding the US election. There is so much riding on this. And in either case there will be fallout. I can feel the tension rising as November 3 comes closer.
October 9, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I can't believe how long this has gone on. It feels like it's been an eternity, but it simultaneously feels like it's been a lot less time than it has. I think it's because so many days are exactly the same. A couple of times when I was a young kid, I remember feeling disoriented after waking up from deep, dreamless sleep feeling like I closed my eyes a second ago. It feels like that. For months, I didn't think anything of all the thinkpieces and such saying, "Stop waiting for life to go back to normal, because it never really will." I didn't really believe that in March. Or April. Or May. Or June. Or July. Or August. Or even September. But I believe it now. It's difficult to accept, to get to that final stage of grief. Even after the pandemic is finally through, whenever that will be, I will never again live in a world that doesn't bear some of the social and political transformations of this year. I'm so tired. I'm writing this at 3 AM because there's nothing that offers any escape. Watching a movie or reading a book just reminds me of the way things were, and may never be again. I have nowhere to physically escape to. And even when I do, reminders of the way things are are everywhere. But I've been lucky. I'm a PhD candidate (which means all my coursework and exams are through, and I only have my dissertation to work on). I also work 20 hours a week at an intellectual job that I work from home. My income as a grad student has always made for a very tight budget, but I haven't lost my job. I'm not often in high-risk situations. No one I know has gotten sick. The pandemic has made me more appreciative of what I have. But I live alone, and I'm single. I have pet birds I love dearly, but it's not the same as having someone to decompress with about all this. This stage of graduate school is a lonely one in normal circumstances, and it couldn't be lonelier now. At the end of the day either working or writing my dissertation, I don't have anyone or anything but the doom and gloom of current events. I see an endless stretch of an evening and don't know what to do with myself. I don't have the relief of coming home, where I've been all day. I drink more, because it tricks me into thinking I'm doing something fun where I'd be drinking. Sometimes I watch YouTube videos of places I've been with a drink in hand thinking I'll feel better, and I just feel worse. I hate it. I hate all of this. I hate not knowing what kind of future comes after both the pandemic and the political turmoil. I hate that I'm supposed to just go about my work as if everything is totally normal when it's the least normal it's ever been, in my lifetime, anyway. Thinking about the job market after the PhD feels ridiculous. Not simply because there aren't any jobs, but because it calls for planning for some sort of normal future that I just don't know how to envision.
October 9, 2020
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Think about the people closest to you. Tell us about how the coronavirus has affected them, and their life.
My dad and my step mom run a dog boarding business in their home. Their business has taken a huge hit. I don't know the full extent because my dad tends to be cryptic about finances, but I know it's bad. My mom and step dad retired and started collecting social security right before the pandemic hit. The timing couldn't have been better. My mom was a home health aid, and I can't imagine knowing she was at such high risk. My step dad was a manager at an auto parts store, and he has COPD. I worry all the time about how bad it would be if he got it. At least he's not working. My brother already worked remotely before, but I know it was an adjustment to have his wife working from home, too. One of my closest friends lost his job at an engraving shop--via text message, early in the pandemic. It's been hard on him not being able to find work in the area, feeling adrift. Another close friend of mine lost her job at an architecture firm, due to lack of projects to bring in enough revenue to keep everyone. Fellow grad students are especially grappling with lack of access to research materials (fortunately, most of my research is behind me), and remote teaching (I'm not teaching this year), but especially sobering is the uncertainty that international grad students are facing. Many of my friends are young parents, and trying desperately to keep things on an even keel.
October 9, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
It seems like the limitations of the pandemic are just normal now. My social activities are nonexistent, largely cause they involved seniors, all of whom are also in isolation. None of us are very daring about going to a restaurant even if the guidelines are kept. We’ve limited our contact to phone conversations or emails. Town activities at the senior center are all cancelled and I’m guessing it won’t open until there is an immunization. I’m hoping that the senior center can offer Covid shots to those most at risk when it comes out. I will only agree to the shot if it comes highly recommended by the scientific community and doctors, not at the recommendation of any politician, even one I voted for.
October 9, 2020
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Let's talk about racism. Have you seen any messages or memes that you thought were racist or offensive? If so, talk about what you've seen or heard.
A history professor in our town has a tradition of making elaborate, thought-provoking Halloween displays. This year, he -- and his friends and family, media reports share -- tackled both #BLM and COVID-19, as well as the death of RBG. My family and I went for a walk over the weekend to check it out. It's impossible to capture the full display in a single photo, but I've tried to snap a few. Media reports -- local and national -- capture a bit more. For example: A Connecticut man's Halloween display features real-life horrors: The coronavirus and Black lives lost https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/connecticut-man-halloween-covid-blm-trnd/index.html West Hartford family's annual Halloween display tackles BLM, COVID-19 https://www.wfsb.com/news/west-hartford-familys-annual-halloween-display-tackles-blm-covid-19/article_b22f79a0-0724-11eb-97fd-5f5558807e19.html The final board of the display gives passersby a chance to write their own comments. This photo shows one of the hundreds of comments posted on the comment board. (The creators of the display thoughtfully built it to include a ledge with permanent markers on one side and a holder with a bottle of hand sanitizer on the other so people can write their comment, then sanitize.)
October 9, 2020
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We hear a lot these days about the economic impact of the pandemic. Has this been on your mind? If so, tell us what you're thinking.
In the mist of this pandemic we are having a huge economic problem and I was suggested because I am in college right now to continue my education after I graduate and obtain my master's degree instead of looking for a job because the process of that would be long and there might not be a lot of work for me although I don't all the way agree with the fact that there would be work for me It would make sense to continue my education because I can focus on my work rather than the stress of finding a job, a place to stay and moving around the city.
October 10, 2020
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
I've been cooped up in my apartment alone for months. I only go outside for grocery shopping, doing the laundry, checking the mail, and taking out the trash. I'm trying to follow the rules, but what's frustrating is that other people are not putting in as much effort as me.
October 10, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
week of 8 October (Thurs) -- KEEPING COVID-19 RELATED PUBLIC ANXIETIES BOILING FRUSTRATION: S. went back to the pool in Waltham, and saw 3 women outside talking agitatedly, and knew immediately that they too were upset at the failure of the pool to post when the youngsters teams would be using the pool and how long a spacing after they would not allow others to use the pool. PLEASURE: We had a lovely garden gathering with A&R&D, welcoming A and daughter D to the US and coming out of their 14 day quarantine. They had been caught in Germany for months unable to travel to the U.S. although holding valid visas; and finally somehow finally got special permission to reunite with husband/father. The furniture from Germany arrived almost as quickly as they did, a surprise, apparently because there is so much unused capacity on the freight ships. My classes on zoom, and our Tuesday and Friday seminars continue to be engaging and two of the classes have the extra pleasure of being able to talk to people around the world. Also have been having some wonderful engagements on my Bacurau essay with my colleagues in Brazil (one by Face Time, the others by email), including today a Globo piece on the efforts by the American distributor to get the film into the Oscars -- a nice affirmation of my own sense of the film. Part of the essay is about COVID-19 in Brazil and connections with Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Lives Matter. DISTURBING ANXIETIES. Three notable and disturbing public events kept the country in turmoil this week: (1) The President's COVID illness and wild erratic behavior. Admitting to COVID-19 symptoms beginning last Thursday (1 Oct), and being treated twice for alarming drops in blood oxygen levels, he was taken by helicopter to the Bethesda Naval Hospital (now known as Walter Reed, though somewhat distant from the historical Walter Reed campus) for 2 nights and his return to the White House after being infused with drugs both experimental and known to cause mania and mood swings, while claiming to be fine and it being a gift of God to have been able to lead the way in showing that COVID-19 can be cured, and showing off his "cure" by standing Mussolini like on the White House portico, taking off his mask, rigidly saluting, standing and visibly struggling for breath before heading inside without a mask, where he continued to infect anyone left inside. While at Walter Reed, he had himself paraded around in a black Secret Service car to wave at people and declare he felt younger and stronger than he had for twenty years (an effect of the steroids), waving like a caged king at his subjects. An anonymous irritated Secret Service person is reported to have comment that they signed up to take a bullet for the President, not to take one from him! Some thirty people of the President's staff and people attending tightly packed (no distancing, and no masks) events at the White House last week (e.g. the Rose Garden nomination of Amy Barret to the Supreme Court) have reported being infected, and the Mayor of Washington has urgently demanded meetings with the White House staff to arrange for contact tracing, which the White House so far has refused to pursue. Trump and/or the White House is being called a super spreader. In the following days after his return, his stream of (consciousness) tweets have become not only increasingly erratic, but alarming for national security (not only by having all the members of the Joint Chiefs being quarantined by COVID-19; but also by increasing his stoking of racist incitement to "liberate Michigan" and attacking Governor Gretchen Witmer and urging the state to "open up"-- see item 3 below). These erratic tweets have included demanding that his government stop negotiating ("until after the elections") with the Democratic leadership over desperately needed funds for people and small businesses struggling to find enough money for food, rent, and medicines; saying he would not participate in the second debate with Joe Biden unless the virtual town hall format (agreed to in June) was changed, and getting his doctor to issue a statement that he was well enough to return to public life; and to add insult to injury, he now blames Gold Star families (families of men and women in the armed forces who gave their lives in service to the country) of infecting him (they had been invited to the White House). Khizr Khan came on the Rachel Maddow Show and gave an extremely strong reprimand of Trump, Trump's "mute enablers", including for his doctors and spokespeople for claiming that Trump's medical records (including simply the date when he last tested negative) are "private." This is a violation of HIPPA rules that exclude privacy in the case of public health emergencies when information is needed for public health management. First son, Donald Trump Jr, headlined a rally today inside a closed hall where again people including himself refused to wear masks. The Commission of Presidential Debates cited the Trump family and supporters for arrogantly violating the rules of the Mayo Clinic and Case Western at the debate last week; enforced the placement, against the objection of the Pence team, of plexiglass partitions between the debaters at tonight's even (protective against direct particles but not more general aerosolization, but at least a partial precaution -- both Pence and Harris tested negative before the debate). (2) The COVID-19 focused Vice-Presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice-President Michael Pence plus a robot which settled in on his white hair and became among the most interesting of subjects of commentary of the evening. One cartoon had the fly parachuting in on a parachute labeled "Joe Biden". As likely is my fantasy that it was a robot-fly sent in from the White to sit on his head and monitor and control his patronizing, rude-interrupting, and trampling on the agreed rules of debate. In his male-dominance performance Pence is no match for the totally out of control, logorrheic, raging Trump, but is sufficiently blatantly offensive to draw attention to his rudeness, particularly in talking over Harris during her time to speak, and refusing to attend to the moderator's repeated admonishment that he was over time. However, purely on the battle of body language, Sen. Harris held her own and then some, by repeatedly admonishing him that she was speaking, and often giving him "the look" of mothers towards lying children; and by smiling broadly both at his silliness and in her own joy at being able to get her agenda across. The primary agenda on which she kept the debate focused was the pandemic, the 213,000+ lives lost and 7.64 million people who have become infected. And secondarily on the economic disaster Trump has brought about, particularly through the trade war with China, which she pointedly looking at Pence, "you lost". At his claim that NAFTA had been a disaster and the new trade deal has restored the economy, she pointed out the devastation in the manufacturing sector due to the China trade "war". This was a debate, which Harris kept focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, on the lying and on the failures of the Trump Administration to be honest with the American people or to care much about deaths and infections. She also was strong on reminding people that the Affordable Care Act was under attack by the Trump administration, and is in the Supreme Court at the moment and will be in even greater danger should Amy Coney Barrett be confirmed, as would Roe v Wade. She was strong in reminding people of Trump's contempt for the veterans who have lost their lives (calling them losers and suckers). What she failed to do, in my view disappointing, was to prosecute Trump's (and his enablers, Attorney General Barr, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and in fact all Republican senators) push into authoritarianism, the dismantling of the checks and balances in our system of government, the outright violations of his oath of office, the corruption of the cabinet, the effort to run the Administration with "acting" rather than Senate confirmed agency heads, and the effort to interfere with the Justice System. In response to Pence's charge that Democrats would pack the Supreme Court if Republicans make the court a 6-3 hard right wing court, she tried to remind voters of the Trump Administration's packing the Appeals Courts with right wing justices many of whom are declared by the ABA as incompetent and unqualified, and she gave a good for the moment of debate but eventually wrong history lesson to counter Pence's claim that in 29 cases of an election year Presidents in power always nominated. She used Lincoln's alleged restraint in not appointing someone until after the election, but both that Congress was in recess until December, so there was no point in announcing a nomination, and Lincoln was preoccupied in keeping his coalition together and so wanted to canvass opinion from around the country in the meantime, and although he disliked Salmon P Chase, he tempted him with the prospect of the appointment, and Chase then stumped for him during the election, and then after the election appointed him in the hope this would neutralize him within the Republican party (it didn't). Chase had been even more anti-slavery than Lincoln, and now replaced the deceased Chief Justice Roger Taney, who had authored the infamous Dred Scott decision with its lines that blacks were inferior and could never be American citizens. Today, Mitch McConnell says publicly that he has not set foot in the White House since early August because he disagreed with how the White House was handling conditions there, and his concern for his own health. Commentators suggest he is trying to create some distance for other Republicans in tight Senate races to distance themselves from Trump. Although the races are all unnervingly tight, it does seem there is a chance for heavy Republican losses, and hopefully the loss of the Senate as well as the Presidency. (3) Michigan Anti-COVID Precautions. The agitation against mask and social distancing, stirred up and abetted by Trump tweets, speeches, and interviews, and which today (8 October) exploded in the arrest and charging conspiracy and terrorism under both state and federal law of 13 men (who also had been in involved last April and May with storming the Michigan state legislature armed with guns during debates over Governor Witmer's request to extend "stay-at-home" order to slow the spread of the COVID-19. This time they were charged with planning to kidnap the Governor and try her for treason. Ironically, Michigan laws allow open and concealed carrying of guns, but not signs inside the Capitol.
October 10, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I graduated college during the Pandemic and my in person graduation was obviously cancelled. We got a super shitty graduation "slide" that we downloaded on our original graduation date. I thought I was over it, but I'm still mad about that. This week I got an email where I could download my virtual diploma and I honestly felt so sad. Normally getting your diploma is a joyous occasion, but all it did was remind me that I didn't get to spend my last quarter with my friends. My last days of little responsiblities were ruined by a pandemic. We had so many plans for our last quarter together: traveling out of the country for the first time, camping, partying, going to the beach every single day, getting drunk on a boat, etc. Childish and stupid things, but after 4 years on focusing on school, working part-time jobs, and helping take care of my family I finally felt like I had some freedom. A bucket list of items to do before I started my next "great" stage of life. Now 6 months later, still in the middle of the pandemic, I'm bogged down by a shit ton of responsibilities. I moved across country, live alone, and started a grad program that I don't feel connected to. I'm forced to go to these zoom classes and participate when all I want to do is lay in bed and doing nothing. I'm feeling the loss of human connection now more than ever. I snapchat my friends and FaceTime my family daily, but I haven't talked in person to another human being (besides brief conversations with grocery store workers) in months. The most frustrating thing is that there is no end in sight. Trump, the republican party, and mask deniers are ruining this country because they are not taking this pandemic seriously. It could be over, but their choices are affecting the lives of everyone in the US. So, now I just feel like time is passing by and I'm stuck. I'm stuck because I have to continue going to school and work like nothing has happened. I have to continue making decisions that will affect the rest of my life, but I can't even imagine what my future life looks like. We're all acting like life will go back to normal when this pandemic is over, but we don't even know if that will happen. So my mind and heart is stuck in February 2020 reminiscing about my life when I had freedom and about what could have been.
October 10, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
The past week has been nothing but eye opening and inspirational for me as I have found ways to make myself happy as well as friends and family around me. I went to a Black Lives rally at Wright state listening to inspirational poems and speaker such as my brother who was there detailing what students like I should ask myself to excel in the present and in the future. If I am still able to get up eat, touch,taste,smell, laugh, joke and be happy then I'm great.Through times like these you have to satisfy yourself cause you'll never be happy or care to even participate in activities.
October 10, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I’ve been going outside a lot more lately. It is keeping me sane. The alternative? Be super depressed when temporary relief is right behind the door. We found this froggy in the reservoir path. My friends found more and more as we walked. They seem content in their muddy world. Are they?
October 10, 2020
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected either your work or your ability to work.
This weeks pandemic journaling project asked about how COVID has impacted working for me in the past couple of months. Before COVID I had a part-time job at JC Penny in Brooklyn trying to save up some money for my freshman year of college. I initially generally worked around 4-5 hours 3-4 times out of the week but when COVID first started to hit in the US being only a part-time worker my hours started to decrease to almost none at all. Now when COVID became out of control in NYC everything closed down and with that my job was gone as well. By the time things finally started to reopen in the city my store was closing down with bankruptcy and they decided not to bring me back for the 2-3 months before they closed. The whole pandemic left me with about 4 months of not being to work or make money at all.
October 11, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
This week has me feeling a bit like I’ve fallen down a rabbit’s hole. Politics aside, the mixed messages on COVID are other worldly. More people seem to be out and about. There’s more traffic on the road, more cars in parking lots outside of restaurants and stores. More invites from friends to get together, with social distancing of course. Yet cases are on the rise, and The Presidents gets it which proves no one is immune. Then he gets an experimental cocktail and seems to indicate this is a cure and we should not be afraid. I guess he thinks it’s all over and It’s no big deal. Yet the cocktail contains stem cells, which will be interesting to see how that plays out with Pro-lifers who clearly will have to abstain right? And it’s experimental so not available to us. And the cost was tens of thousands, and we don’t know that he’s out of the woods yet. And contrast that with the video of the sobbing nurse who is furious at his indifference in social distancing because she has done chest compressions on hundreds of patients and knows this is not a joke for anyone else. Occasionally I pop on to one of the talk radio stations and am always amazed at the lies and vitriol that is allowed, and encouraged there. Having isolated and been so careful for so long to see the leader of our country speak and act with such indifference is another example of the parallel lives In other worlds some of my fellow Americans seem to be living in. Move over Peter, I guess I may be here awhile.
October 11, 2020