Item
Marc Adkins Oral History, 2022/10/05
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Marc Adkins Oral History, 2022/10/05
Description (Dublin Core)
Marc Adkins reflects on his personal opinions and experiences during the pandemic.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
October 5, 2022
Creator (Dublin Core)
Mira Adkins
Marc Adkins
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Mira Adkins
Partner (Dublin Core)
University of Toledo
Type (Dublin Core)
Audio
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Emotion
English
Education--K12
English
Health & Wellness
English
Home & Family Life
English
Social Distance
English
Government Federal
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
control
government
vaccine
children
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
job
school
experiences
Collection (Dublin Core)
Essential Workers
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
10/18/2022
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
04/13/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
10/05/2022
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Mira Adkins
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Marc Adkins
Location (Omeka Classic)
43551
Perrysburg
Ohio
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
Audio
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:11:00
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Marc Adkins reflects on his personal opinions and experiences during the pandemic.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Mira Adkins 00:03
All right, this is Mira Adkins. Today's October 5, I'm interviewing Marc Adkins at my house in Perrysburg, Ohio. This interview is being conducted for the COVID-19 oral history project for my English 1130 class at the University of Toledo. We have been assigned this project to go over the topic of COVID. The focus will be on your personal experiences during this time, it will be used as a point of discussion in our class. Interview materials will be collected and put into the online COVID-19 archive called the Journal of the Plague. The project will follow all ethical standards. Do you consent with everything signed in the permission form? Yes or no?
Marc Adkins 00:51
Yes.
Mira Adkins 00:52
Do you agree to allow this to be submitted to public record?
Marc Adkins 00:55
Yes.
Mira Adkins 00:56
Do you have any questions regarding statements in the permission form?
Marc Adkins 00:59
No.
Mira Adkins 01:04
What is your age?
Marc Adkins 01:06
47.
Mira Adkins 01:07
Where are you from?
Marc Adkins 01:10
Toledo, Ohio.
Mira Adkins 01:12
Where are you currently employed?
Marc Adkins 01:14
Brown Honda.
Mira Adkins 01:16
Where were you employed during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 01:18
Brown Honda.
Mira Adkins 01:20
How was your job affected by the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 01:28
Loss of income, loss of employees, loss of customers. Uh, barely survived. Lucky that we stayed open.
Mira Adkins 01:45
So, would you say that this made, during this time, this made your job very difficult?
Marc Adkins 01:50
Very difficult and still very difficult because we lost so many customers. It's hard to get them back.
Mira Adkins 02:01
So you would say you're still experiencing the effects of COVID?
Marc Adkins 02:05
Yes.
Mira Adkins 02:06
Would you say that anything was easier during this time? Did you learn anything?
Marc Adkins 02:12
No.
Mira Adkins 02:17
Is there anything else that you would like to add? About your occupation during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 02:26
No.
Mira Adkins 02:29
Alright onto the next. What was it like trying to raise children during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 02:36
Wasn't too bad. You know, it was hard with the school, the online schools. Whatever they did, didn't work very well. But overall, it wasn't so bad.
Mira Adkins 02:53
Did you notice any drastic changes with their schooling?
Marc Adkins 02:57
Yes.
Mira Adkins 02:58
In what ways?
Marc Adkins 03:02
Colton and Corbin, their grades suffered. And Mira lost out on her senior year with a lot of opportunities and activities that she could have been a part of. Same thing with the boys. Normal life stuff that got canceled or didn't even happen or the severely restricted work really wasn't worth doing anyways. So a lot a lot of those kinds of problems.
Mira Adkins 03:34
Was it hard having to like watch them go through that?
Marc Adkins 03:40
Wasn't hard, but...
Mira Adkins 03:42
It was just weird?
Marc Adkins 03:43
It was weird.
Mira Adkins 03:43
Would you say that the effects of COVID are still noticeable today in your children?
Marc Adkins 03:52
Yes.
Mira Adkins 03:54
In what ways?
Marc Adkins 03:58
Um, made them even more homebound than they probably should be. And school is style a challenge. So, they feel like they've missed out.
Mira Adkins 04:18
Did you notice any weird habits that formed during COVID In your children?
Marc Adkins 04:24
No.
Mira Adkins 04:27
How did you personally cope with the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 04:31
Tried to stay away from everybody because everybody was acting really crazy. Didn't like to go out to stores or restaurants anymore because everybody was too crazy. There wasn't very many rational people out there. Very, very unfreedom-like behaviors and problems.
Mira Adkins 05:02
With all that you're commenting on, it's a lot of negative things. Would you say that there were any positive things from the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 05:10
Yeah, the world slowed down, and realize that it's not all about making money or your job. You know, I think we realized that we don't need a lot of the businesses that we did have. And the businesses that are still around, don't need to stay open 24 hours, seven days a week, you should go back like it was when I was a kid. And give more people time off, and the stores shouldn't be open on holidays and every weekend 24/7. They can have normal hours and be a little easier on the employees and it forced people to be at home with their families like they're supposed to be, instead of worrying about the economy and how good it is.
Mira Adkins 05:54
On the topic of family, were you able to visit family during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 05:59
No.
Mira Adkins 06:00
How did that affect you?
Marc Adkins 06:02
I thought it was dumb. My mom had to have a liver transplant could have died, no one even got to see her before she died. I think most of the stuff that they forced us to do and follow was stupid and didn't prevent shit. All I think it did was cause more harm, psychologically, socially, economically, intellectually. But overall, history is going to judge all these people very harshly.
Mira Adkins 06:43
That's an interesting take. What do you think you remember most from the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 06:53
I'm being told every day that they're working on a vaccine and it was going to save us all from death and destruction and how the virus was so devastating and so deadly that people were dropping over from it in the streets in China. Then when I got here in America, we all realize that was really just the flu, but the control that the government was taking from us and the power they're taking from us to quote-unquote, keep us all safe. They had to keep that aura of deadliness around. When it had a very high survivability rate, and I was sick with it at least three times. And it was more like having the flu or a bad cold than anything so.
Mira Adkins 07:54
do you think that this is continually impacting you and like America, and how you mentioned the word control how everything's controlled?
Marc Adkins 08:05
Well, yeah, I don't think that's ever gonna go away. Because once the government gets all this power and control, it's pretty hard to get away, ever again. It's gonna, it's gonna create bad habits for people in believing that a virus can be controlled, with very rudimentary type behaviors of standing six feet away from somebody, but you're still in a crowded building with poor ventilation. Wearing a piece of cloth that is no better than a fence, keeping out mosquitoes. But it's going to make people think that those things will protect them. In all actuality, it just really harms them because it creates a lot of social problems. And the medical establishment is taking 100 years of research and study on viruses and controls and effects and what we can and cannot do and throw that all out the window. Because, for whatever reason, I don't know. But it's gonna be a long time before things are ever normal if they ever are we may never see in my lifetime, they go back to pre-COVID days. In my opinion.
Mira Adkins 09:40
Thank you for sharing that. I have one last question, it's a fun question. What were some of your impulsive pandemic buys that you may have purchased out of boredom or for other reasons?
Marc Adkins 09:56
I don't know.
Mira Adkins 09:56
Did you feel like online shopping was very heavy for everyone?
Marc Adkins 10:05
Yeah, but I didn't let that change me because I don't like online shopping as much as the convenience factor of it's great but I don't like not being able to touch and feel things if I can really do that. But impulse buys I don't think we had any impulse buys I don't remember anything that particular. No, we tried to be as normal as possible go out as much as we can, not be afraid. No, I don't remember any.
Mira Adkins 10:48
Alright. Well, thank you for sharing again. This will be put into public archives and be discussed in my composition class. And thank you again.
Marc Adkins 10:58
Okey dokey.
All right, this is Mira Adkins. Today's October 5, I'm interviewing Marc Adkins at my house in Perrysburg, Ohio. This interview is being conducted for the COVID-19 oral history project for my English 1130 class at the University of Toledo. We have been assigned this project to go over the topic of COVID. The focus will be on your personal experiences during this time, it will be used as a point of discussion in our class. Interview materials will be collected and put into the online COVID-19 archive called the Journal of the Plague. The project will follow all ethical standards. Do you consent with everything signed in the permission form? Yes or no?
Marc Adkins 00:51
Yes.
Mira Adkins 00:52
Do you agree to allow this to be submitted to public record?
Marc Adkins 00:55
Yes.
Mira Adkins 00:56
Do you have any questions regarding statements in the permission form?
Marc Adkins 00:59
No.
Mira Adkins 01:04
What is your age?
Marc Adkins 01:06
47.
Mira Adkins 01:07
Where are you from?
Marc Adkins 01:10
Toledo, Ohio.
Mira Adkins 01:12
Where are you currently employed?
Marc Adkins 01:14
Brown Honda.
Mira Adkins 01:16
Where were you employed during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 01:18
Brown Honda.
Mira Adkins 01:20
How was your job affected by the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 01:28
Loss of income, loss of employees, loss of customers. Uh, barely survived. Lucky that we stayed open.
Mira Adkins 01:45
So, would you say that this made, during this time, this made your job very difficult?
Marc Adkins 01:50
Very difficult and still very difficult because we lost so many customers. It's hard to get them back.
Mira Adkins 02:01
So you would say you're still experiencing the effects of COVID?
Marc Adkins 02:05
Yes.
Mira Adkins 02:06
Would you say that anything was easier during this time? Did you learn anything?
Marc Adkins 02:12
No.
Mira Adkins 02:17
Is there anything else that you would like to add? About your occupation during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 02:26
No.
Mira Adkins 02:29
Alright onto the next. What was it like trying to raise children during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 02:36
Wasn't too bad. You know, it was hard with the school, the online schools. Whatever they did, didn't work very well. But overall, it wasn't so bad.
Mira Adkins 02:53
Did you notice any drastic changes with their schooling?
Marc Adkins 02:57
Yes.
Mira Adkins 02:58
In what ways?
Marc Adkins 03:02
Colton and Corbin, their grades suffered. And Mira lost out on her senior year with a lot of opportunities and activities that she could have been a part of. Same thing with the boys. Normal life stuff that got canceled or didn't even happen or the severely restricted work really wasn't worth doing anyways. So a lot a lot of those kinds of problems.
Mira Adkins 03:34
Was it hard having to like watch them go through that?
Marc Adkins 03:40
Wasn't hard, but...
Mira Adkins 03:42
It was just weird?
Marc Adkins 03:43
It was weird.
Mira Adkins 03:43
Would you say that the effects of COVID are still noticeable today in your children?
Marc Adkins 03:52
Yes.
Mira Adkins 03:54
In what ways?
Marc Adkins 03:58
Um, made them even more homebound than they probably should be. And school is style a challenge. So, they feel like they've missed out.
Mira Adkins 04:18
Did you notice any weird habits that formed during COVID In your children?
Marc Adkins 04:24
No.
Mira Adkins 04:27
How did you personally cope with the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 04:31
Tried to stay away from everybody because everybody was acting really crazy. Didn't like to go out to stores or restaurants anymore because everybody was too crazy. There wasn't very many rational people out there. Very, very unfreedom-like behaviors and problems.
Mira Adkins 05:02
With all that you're commenting on, it's a lot of negative things. Would you say that there were any positive things from the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 05:10
Yeah, the world slowed down, and realize that it's not all about making money or your job. You know, I think we realized that we don't need a lot of the businesses that we did have. And the businesses that are still around, don't need to stay open 24 hours, seven days a week, you should go back like it was when I was a kid. And give more people time off, and the stores shouldn't be open on holidays and every weekend 24/7. They can have normal hours and be a little easier on the employees and it forced people to be at home with their families like they're supposed to be, instead of worrying about the economy and how good it is.
Mira Adkins 05:54
On the topic of family, were you able to visit family during the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 05:59
No.
Mira Adkins 06:00
How did that affect you?
Marc Adkins 06:02
I thought it was dumb. My mom had to have a liver transplant could have died, no one even got to see her before she died. I think most of the stuff that they forced us to do and follow was stupid and didn't prevent shit. All I think it did was cause more harm, psychologically, socially, economically, intellectually. But overall, history is going to judge all these people very harshly.
Mira Adkins 06:43
That's an interesting take. What do you think you remember most from the pandemic?
Marc Adkins 06:53
I'm being told every day that they're working on a vaccine and it was going to save us all from death and destruction and how the virus was so devastating and so deadly that people were dropping over from it in the streets in China. Then when I got here in America, we all realize that was really just the flu, but the control that the government was taking from us and the power they're taking from us to quote-unquote, keep us all safe. They had to keep that aura of deadliness around. When it had a very high survivability rate, and I was sick with it at least three times. And it was more like having the flu or a bad cold than anything so.
Mira Adkins 07:54
do you think that this is continually impacting you and like America, and how you mentioned the word control how everything's controlled?
Marc Adkins 08:05
Well, yeah, I don't think that's ever gonna go away. Because once the government gets all this power and control, it's pretty hard to get away, ever again. It's gonna, it's gonna create bad habits for people in believing that a virus can be controlled, with very rudimentary type behaviors of standing six feet away from somebody, but you're still in a crowded building with poor ventilation. Wearing a piece of cloth that is no better than a fence, keeping out mosquitoes. But it's going to make people think that those things will protect them. In all actuality, it just really harms them because it creates a lot of social problems. And the medical establishment is taking 100 years of research and study on viruses and controls and effects and what we can and cannot do and throw that all out the window. Because, for whatever reason, I don't know. But it's gonna be a long time before things are ever normal if they ever are we may never see in my lifetime, they go back to pre-COVID days. In my opinion.
Mira Adkins 09:40
Thank you for sharing that. I have one last question, it's a fun question. What were some of your impulsive pandemic buys that you may have purchased out of boredom or for other reasons?
Marc Adkins 09:56
I don't know.
Mira Adkins 09:56
Did you feel like online shopping was very heavy for everyone?
Marc Adkins 10:05
Yeah, but I didn't let that change me because I don't like online shopping as much as the convenience factor of it's great but I don't like not being able to touch and feel things if I can really do that. But impulse buys I don't think we had any impulse buys I don't remember anything that particular. No, we tried to be as normal as possible go out as much as we can, not be afraid. No, I don't remember any.
Mira Adkins 10:48
Alright. Well, thank you for sharing again. This will be put into public archives and be discussed in my composition class. And thank you again.
Marc Adkins 10:58
Okey dokey.
Item sets
This item was submitted on October 18, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Upload” on the site “Oral Histories”: http://mail.covid-19archive.org/s/oralhistory
Click here to view the collected data.