In Hindsight, Part Two

In Hindsight, Part Two 

Snippets of daily journal entries written by one student during the unfolding Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. The first in a three-part series. 

Names have been removed for privacy. Otherwise, no changes to the original content have been made. 

Entries and commentary by Moriah Story 

 

March 30, 2020: F-k the virus. Thank God I can still leave the house and go to work. Otherwise, I would go crazy.  

April 1, 20202: It may be April Fool’s but I think all jokes have been cancelled due to the virus. 

I don’t know what to do about math. Its yet another thing the virus has made so hard. I can’t wait to escape this. All of this. 

April 3, 2020: If a pandemic is ensuing, do research papers matter? 

A side effect of the Coronavirus has been rapid and drastic changes to education, from kindergarten to graduate school. Never have so many students been required to learn online, and for many it has been a struggle. Not only have educators been forced to restructure their courses and teach with new restrictions, but schools are no longer a place for students to freely be social. 

April 14, 2020: I got called into work a little early so my shift was long AND we have to wear masks now, which absolutely sucks a**. 

April 18, 2020: There will be even more regulations at work on Monday. Corona is ruining everyone’s lives. 

Masks became required to enter pharmacies and grocery stores in Pennsylvania on April 18, says the WPXI News website. But in a state populated by many who believe the virus to be a hoax or masks to be a form of oppression, enforcement of this mandate is frustrating at best.  

April 22, 2020: Today’s shift was long and it really wore me out because we have to clean the entire register after every customer. And people were uncharacteristically rude today.  

My COIN concert has been postponed indefinitely. 

April 23, 2020: I’m really not sure what I can say about these times that hasn’t already been said. But I know that each and every person longs for nothing more than normalcy and that seems far away. 

Most logical Americans have known from the beginning that it will take months, possibly years, for COVID-19 to be completely eradicated and for our country to fully recover from the impact of the virus. Diseases of this degree with this level of contagiousness do not simply “disappear” without some form of cure or vaccine. But the President has consistently insisted that the Coronavirus will just “go away”. In fact, he’s on record saying this 34 times, according to The Washington Post. It is because of his ignorance and incorrect assumptions that many Americans have expected things to “return to normal” sooner rather than later. 

April 26, 2020: F-k COVID and the people it has taken from us. 

On April 26, the US death toll passed 53,000 people, according to CNN. That number has since tripled. 

April 27, 2020: I really do not want to show up to work at 6:30 am tomorrow. For the old people I must. I hope they are grateful. I hope everyone is grateful. I don’t f**king feel like wiping the belt down after every customer and standing for hours on end. But because I need income I have to. As always, f**k Corona. 

April 28, 2020: I’ve never been so scared to have a sore throat in my entire life. That’s what the Coronavirus does. It makes us scared – even of shadows. 

May 5, 2020: I did have a minor cry today because it really hit me how much of an impact the virus will have on the rest of my college career. Made me sad and angry. I’m so angry at the people who could have taken steps to prevent this but didn’t.  

President Trump began receiving warnings about the virus during his morning briefings in early January, according to The Washington Post. On January 22, he made his first public comment about COVID, saying he’s not concerned about it and, “We have it totally under control. It’s going to be just fine.” He continued to downplay and ignore the seriousness of the pandemic until March 13, when he declared a national emergency. But by then it was much too late for the proper preventative measures. 

May 6, 2020: I don’t know how much longer my mental health can handle this virus. I know that sounds crazy. I mean, it’s not like we can just will it away. But I mean it. The Coronavirus is driving humanity further apart. 

May 19, 2020: This lock down cannot end soon enough.

May 21, 2020: Dad took me to Hagerstown today and we drove around and found two geese with five babies and then we went to a cemetery and fed ducks some old corn and crackers we found in the car. Because we really had no other activities to do. Everything is closed. The world is closed. 

I would venture to say that the American people have never been so bored as we were during the quarantine of 2020. Being cooped up in the same rooms with the same people and few opportunities to go out would take a toll on anyone. But perhaps the only upside to lockdown were the ways people creatively solved their boredom. From bread baking to yoga to sewing to feeding ducks, many of us managed to find ways to safely fill our days and boost morale. 

May 25, 2020: I swear to God, if Corona doesn’t f**king go away in the next month I will lose my mind entirely.  

May 29, 2020: I’m so tired of all this. Of everything. This monotony sends me back to the dark place. 

This series of articles does intend to focus mainly on the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. However, there have been several defining moments in the United States this year that contribute to the turbulent, fast-moving, and sometimes depressing current social climate. From the murder of George Floyd and the protests to the mud-slinging election campaigns to the death of Ruth Bader-Ginsberg, we are experiencing a change in our country as we know it. (And it’s about time.) That being said, while I have tried not to make these pieces too political, this year is, inherently, political. The virus may be, at its base, nothing more than a vicious disease. But it has been an instrumental component in causing 2020 to become a year of social justice.