Since COVID-19 began, the world became a state of emergency and everyone was told to stay at home and eat their weight in quarantine snacks. People went crazy over toilet paper, for whatever reason, as if the virus had something to do with all of us going to the bathroom. We were all forced to wear face masks and gloves, as if they did anything. And eventually, everything started closing down and people lost their jobs, children stopped going to school, and only the elitist of workers would stay around. Parents were forced to learn how to homeschool their children, and all the college students were forced to take online classes for the rest of the semester. And everyone else just shared Covid-19 memes on Facebook. I can't begin to explain how much I miss going out for drinks, or how much I missed being able to go out in general. The person who said, "You don't know what you have 'till it's gone" hit the nail on the head because that's all of us right now.
With the country not knowing what the future held, everyone started to lose their minds at homes.
People who did go out to buy groceries had to maintain a distance of six feet, and businesses started taking precautions to keep the virus at bay. Everyone began filing for unemployment, which eventually led to the site crashing every five minutes. The government finally felt bad enough for us that they decided to give us a check, as if $1,200 would solve all our problems. (News flash IRS: most of our rent is more than that per month, but thanks anyway.)
Two months later and not much has changed - we are all still waiting on any news that this will be over soon.
The only businesses that seem to be thriving are hardware stores because everyone finally has the time to remodel their homes. With summer right around the corner and everyone's vacation plans in the air, I still wouldn't travel. But, as more people grow tired of not having answers, I'm starting to think they feel more comfortable going out or that they simply don't care. Most people, at least in Florida, aren't wearing masks when out-and-about and aren't using simple precautions to stop the spread.
Slowly but surely, however, more businesses have opened up such as spas, gyms, and restaurants.
I finally went back to work, and I am adjusting to this new life with new precautions that I must maintain on the job. A sense of "normal" is coming back to me since being back at work. Seeing different people come in and being able to communicate with anyone other than my boyfriend is refreshing. Being at risk is a new obstacle to overcome, like continuously wiping down counters and spraying disinfectant like its my second job.
Hopefully with summer approaching, and people who have had the virus now recovering, we can all overcome this sooner rather than later.
