Do not publish
Dru Smith
Professor McLaughlin
ENGL 2089
April 1, 2020
Life During the Pandemic
I remember first hearing about the Coronavirus back in December of 2019 and didn’t think much about it. I thought it was going to be one of those small little viruses that we see pop up here and there and we would have a solution to the problem. Well here I am in my bed writing this paper due to the fact that this disease has closed all schools, bars, restaurants, and any other non-essential business. Looking back on all that has transpired over the last couple weeks I don’t see this going away any time soon either. I’ve been looking at all the data and estimates that the professionals are giving us, and I don’t like what I see. They’re saying we won’t have a vaccine for another 12-18 months and in the worst possible scenario we could lose from 100,000-240,000 American lives. Now don’t get me wrong they did say that this was the absolute worst thing possible, but it is still possible, nonetheless. So, my fear is that it will take a long time for this to go away.
As for me on a personal level my life hasn’t really changed much since the start of the pandemic. Other than taking all my classes online my job is still operating as UPS is seen as an essential job and I still work 5 days a week. Which is awesome because I still have rent due at the end of each month and will be really relying on those weekly paychecks. But as for life at work I have seen a slight difference, for example they are no longer letting 2 people load in the same trailer because they don’t want to be held accountable if anyone was to get sick during this time. Which makes sense because as a company they still need to operate but also need to look after the wellbeing of its employees. Also, I’m seeing a lot more medicine being shipped in these last couple weeks. They come in these styrofoam boxes and in one night it felt like I scanned over 500 of them. Now was the number probably that high, no, but it felt like it. Also, with less boxes through because of businesses not ordering anything because they are closed or just simply because Americans are staying home and don’t need as much, we have lost some hours of work time. On a normal week we don’t get out of there until around 10:30-11:00. But, now with all of this going on we are seeing less boxes come through our warehouse and that is causing us to leave 30 minutes and sometimes up to an hour earlier. It might not seem like much but in the end that is going to hurt my paycheck a lot and that is money I need for rent. That’s probably the main thing that is affecting me during this outbreak.
As for a more personal perspective I worry about my family that lives up in Lima, Ohio. The virus hasn’t really affected that part of Ohio that much, but I know it is going to make its way up there soon enough. My grandma lives in a nursing home and has been in quarantine almost the entire time. Nobody is allowed into her room at all times, not even my mom to go see her. They had to set up a skype call just so my mom could see her and talk to her. As for my parents my mom works within the school system so currently she isn’t doing much but she is still required to work at least 4 hours a day from either our home or she can go into the office if she wants to. As for my dad he works at a refinery and they definitely can’t so he is currently working just like me during this pandemic but is doing everything he can to stay safe.
So, in conclusion I feel as if the pandemic we are living through right now is something that will not be going away anytime soon. This will be the new norm within this country especially if people can’t follow the guidelines the government is trying to put in place to keep the people safe. I will continue to keep up with all the new information that is being put out there for the public and will continue to do everything I can to be safe. I recommend everyone else to do the same thing in these hard times.
Reflection on the process
The process in which I took for writing this paper was very simple and effective. I simply took my experiences that I knew of for my time during the pandemic and added them into my paper. I also took some facts that I had read about in the news and added them to make it more interesting. I then thought I should write about my family cause other than yourself I feel as if you should definitely be thinking about your family’s safety during these tough times.
Dru Smith 