Item
6 Ways Covid-19 Has Impacted My Daily Life
Title (Dublin Core)
6 Ways Covid-19 Has Impacted My Daily Life
Disclaimer (Dublin Core)
DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment prompt. See Linked Data.
Description (Dublin Core)
The biggest change for me since COVID-19 became a fixture in my day-to-day life is transferring permanently from a physical classroom to a virtual one. Teaching online has its own unique set of challenges in addition to the ones that it shares with classroom teaching. While I personally do not find teaching online to be as satisfying or engaging as the physical classroom, I am hesitant to return. I hear from colleagues about the behavioral issues, the lack of motivation, and the additional stresses placed on teachers by administration. While these are things I also deal with in a way in an online environment, compounding them with the potential risk of COVID when I have immunocompromised loved ones isn’t worth the risk for me at this time.
Another big change in my routine is using more delivery services than I did before March 2020. I started ordering groceries through Instacart to avoid having to go the stores after experiencing the chaos more than a few times. Even though grocery stores have calmed considerably, and the shelves remain stocked with most in-demand supplies, I still use Instacart for shopping and having my groceries delivered. Some of this is convenience, but I think that the pandemic has simply changed the way I deal with groceries for the time being. At some point, I will more than likely return to the grocery store to resume shopping in person, but for now using delivery services will remain my weekly routine.
Since the pandemic relegated many people to quarantining and spending more time at home, working and going to school virtually, I have noticed that I am not as social as I used to be. While I’ve never been a very sociable person, I’ve noticed that, not only do I not crave social interaction outside of my family and close friends as much as I used to, I have to “prepare” myself for social gatherings and interactions. I have more social anxiety than I ever thought I would and going to events where I may have to hold long conversations revolving around “small talk” make me anxious and tired. I hope that I am able to work through this over time as things become more open and social gatherings and events become more common, but it is another way in which the pandemic has affected me most.
When I would leave the house prior to 2020, there were certain items I made sure I had: keys, sunglasses, purse, water bottle. A change to this routine now includes making sure I have a mask in my purse and masks in my car. It’s interesting to note that they have become both a physical and symbolic item in everyday life. Yet, as we all know, it’s an item that is important to have to make sure I am prepared in the event a business requires it or I’m interacting with places and people where it’s smart to wear one.
To expand on the symbolism of the mask, another example of change in my life is interacting with anti-mask strangers who think they have an obligation to comment on or ask questions of people who wear one. My daughter came home a couple nights ago very upset because a customer had been rude to her because she was wearing a mask at work. My daughter is 17 and works in a grocery store. She wears a mask to protect herself and, in her words, “to protect her family”. I’ve noticed that the pandemic seems to have made some people feel like it’s okay to comment on and berate complete strangers on personal health decisions like it’s their right. Being socially distanced for months has made some people forget their manners or maybe it’s simply brought out the worst in them. Either way, the idea that a grown man might get in a teenager’s face at the grocery store over something that is none of their business and affects them in absolutely no way, is a startling shift in how people interact with one another since this all began.
Lastly, COVID has not been kind to those working in the healthcare profession, and certainly it has made visiting people who are in the hospital much more restrictive. Last September my husband was hospitalized with a collapsed lung. Visiting policies essentially made it so that one person per day could visit him. Where previously I, his parents, children, and siblings might have been able to visit him, now it only made sense for me to be the one since I could bring him what he needed, talk with his doctors, and update everyone else.
This most recent February, my mom was hospitalized for a serious health concern. During her entire stay, I was not able to visit her because it was most sensible for my dad to be there for her and ensure he could bring her things from home to make her comfortable. I was able to send flowers to brighten her room, but still the one visitor per day policy held firm. Last night my mom was readmitted to the hospital for health issues related to her previous issue. My dad stays with her all day, and I am not able to because of the visiting policy. It’s frustrating and heart breaking to not be able to see her and be there for her – and to also be there for my dad who needs support and time to recharge as well. The pandemic has highlighted so many privileges and everyday things that were once taken for granted – things most people (including myself) never even thought about.
Another big change in my routine is using more delivery services than I did before March 2020. I started ordering groceries through Instacart to avoid having to go the stores after experiencing the chaos more than a few times. Even though grocery stores have calmed considerably, and the shelves remain stocked with most in-demand supplies, I still use Instacart for shopping and having my groceries delivered. Some of this is convenience, but I think that the pandemic has simply changed the way I deal with groceries for the time being. At some point, I will more than likely return to the grocery store to resume shopping in person, but for now using delivery services will remain my weekly routine.
Since the pandemic relegated many people to quarantining and spending more time at home, working and going to school virtually, I have noticed that I am not as social as I used to be. While I’ve never been a very sociable person, I’ve noticed that, not only do I not crave social interaction outside of my family and close friends as much as I used to, I have to “prepare” myself for social gatherings and interactions. I have more social anxiety than I ever thought I would and going to events where I may have to hold long conversations revolving around “small talk” make me anxious and tired. I hope that I am able to work through this over time as things become more open and social gatherings and events become more common, but it is another way in which the pandemic has affected me most.
When I would leave the house prior to 2020, there were certain items I made sure I had: keys, sunglasses, purse, water bottle. A change to this routine now includes making sure I have a mask in my purse and masks in my car. It’s interesting to note that they have become both a physical and symbolic item in everyday life. Yet, as we all know, it’s an item that is important to have to make sure I am prepared in the event a business requires it or I’m interacting with places and people where it’s smart to wear one.
To expand on the symbolism of the mask, another example of change in my life is interacting with anti-mask strangers who think they have an obligation to comment on or ask questions of people who wear one. My daughter came home a couple nights ago very upset because a customer had been rude to her because she was wearing a mask at work. My daughter is 17 and works in a grocery store. She wears a mask to protect herself and, in her words, “to protect her family”. I’ve noticed that the pandemic seems to have made some people feel like it’s okay to comment on and berate complete strangers on personal health decisions like it’s their right. Being socially distanced for months has made some people forget their manners or maybe it’s simply brought out the worst in them. Either way, the idea that a grown man might get in a teenager’s face at the grocery store over something that is none of their business and affects them in absolutely no way, is a startling shift in how people interact with one another since this all began.
Lastly, COVID has not been kind to those working in the healthcare profession, and certainly it has made visiting people who are in the hospital much more restrictive. Last September my husband was hospitalized with a collapsed lung. Visiting policies essentially made it so that one person per day could visit him. Where previously I, his parents, children, and siblings might have been able to visit him, now it only made sense for me to be the one since I could bring him what he needed, talk with his doctors, and update everyone else.
This most recent February, my mom was hospitalized for a serious health concern. During her entire stay, I was not able to visit her because it was most sensible for my dad to be there for her and ensure he could bring her things from home to make her comfortable. I was able to send flowers to brighten her room, but still the one visitor per day policy held firm. Last night my mom was readmitted to the hospital for health issues related to her previous issue. My dad stays with her all day, and I am not able to because of the visiting policy. It’s frustrating and heart breaking to not be able to see her and be there for her – and to also be there for my dad who needs support and time to recharge as well. The pandemic has highlighted so many privileges and everyday things that were once taken for granted – things most people (including myself) never even thought about.
Date (Dublin Core)
March 18, 2022
Creator (Dublin Core)
Self
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Jessica Parvan Pike
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
HST580
Partner (Dublin Core)
Arizona State University
Type (Dublin Core)
Text story
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Education--Universities
English
Home & Family Life
English
Emotion
English
Health & Wellness
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
family
school
mask
hospital
stress
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
pandemic prompt
Arizona State University
Day in the life
Collection (Dublin Core)
College COVID Stories
Healthcare
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
03/20/2022
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
3/29/2022
04/19/2022
04/21/2022
08/02/2022
05/23/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
03/20/2022
Item sets
This item was submitted on March 20, 2022 by Jessica Parvan Pike using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: http://mail.covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.