Lisa
Covid-History Item Type Metadata
Age
43
Date
05/29/2020
Location
Ballston Lake, New York
When did the impact of COVID-19 first occur to you? How did your reaction to COVID-19 change between then and the first case in your town?
When I was sent home from work the morning following a city-wide state of emergency declaration due to COVID-19
How is your life different now than it was before the pandemic?
Much more time spent at home & remote working, as well as a general feel of unease & anxiety those first few weeks of the stay at home order. Those feelings have eased some now, but it's always there in the back of your mind...
How are you feeling? What are you doing to relieve stress?
Better after the first month or two.... trying to get out for walks & enjoy the fresh air is probably the #1 stress relief option for me, but I also chat with family/ friends, work on puzzles, read & listen to music, or watch TV/ movies to relax.
What have you noticed has changed in your community since the outbreak? What has surprised you?
In general, there have been a lot more people outside going for walks around the neighborhood than was the norm for spring months in years past. I've been pleased with my community's overall helpful, we're-in-this-together attitude, and greatly appreciate people's obvious desires to assist others through acts of kindness as we deal with COVID-19.
Are you a business owner who has had to close? If you are still open, how have you had to adjust how your business operates?
n/a
Are you an essential employee? What do you do? What precautions are being taken at your workplace? What precautions are implementing at home?
n/a
Are you an employee who has been laid off or furloughed? Were you able to get unemployment? Were you able to retain your health insurance?
n/a
Are you working from home? What adjustments or challenges are you experiencing?
Yes, remote work has become the norm now for me. As an employee in a local library that typically deals with the public & a job that's very customer service based, this has been an eye-opening experience. I'm so very grateful for the continued work and paycheck, but my work life has altered in a way I never thought possible. Overall, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is very different than how I performed my job duties prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you have children at home? How’s it going?
n/a
If you’re a student, was school canceled? Were you able to complete your studies online? Do you think you’ll be back on campus in the fall?
n/a
Did you have to postpone any major life events? (e.g. Graduation, wedding, major birthday) What did you do instead?
Thankfully nothing like that so far... no family or friends graduating, getting married, celebrating birthdays as of the start of the PAUSE orders in NYS to the present day. I have an aunt in the last months of her life right now though, and that has been extremely tough to try & deal with at such a distance. Zoom has been helpful in some ways, but it simply is not the same as being in the same room, by her side....
Do you have animals? Did you adopt a pet? How have they impacted your day?
n/a
What positive things did you contribute to or notice take place?
I participated in the local Red Cross Blood Drive, as I have for more than two decades. I've donated what I can financially to a few different national & local food drives & through Red Nose Day activities. I just have been very pleased (for the most part) with how much people are stepping forward & trying to help out their neighbors, near & far. I am also so very, very appreciative for all the essential workers & health care professionals, & for what they are doing day in and out to try & mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
Did you or someone you know contract COVID-19? What was it like?
No, thankfully not as of this point.
If you lost someone during the pandemic, how did you celebrate their lives?
n/a
What do you wish you knew before the pandemic began?
A lot of things & nothing.... even if we were able to get better prepared for something like this pandemic, I'm not certain it would have made a huge difference either way. I think people are just trying to make the best of how things are now, but when a vaccine is discovered, that's when I truly think the "dam will break" so to speak. Right now, people are living more day to day & not really planning too far ahead. Yet with a working vaccine, I hope things can begin again with a "new" normal that we can all appreciate & fully experience, be it plans for the future, vacations, time with family, hugging our loved ones, etc. I look forward to that day....
What would you want future generations to know about the 2020 pandemic? How would you recommend they prepare for it?
I hope that future generations realize we did the best we could with something very new & different to us. Maybe in the future, people will look back on our experiences & current struggles with COVID-19 like we do of those who experienced polio outbreaks or the Spanish flu. We tried to help one another out as best we could, and were not selfish & just looked out for ourselves, or our state, our just our own country. We cared about our friends, neighbors, loved ones, and even those people we didn't know at all. We were all in this together, and I hope future generations know this.
How do you think this pandemic will change how we behave going forward? What will the “new normal” look like?
Until a workable vaccine comes along, I think some variation of social distancing will continue to play a part in day-to-day society. I'd like to think we will continue to look out for each other, the way so many people have done so, but that remains to be seen. Let's just say I'm hopeful, & leave it at that for now.
Is there anything else you would like to add that hasn't already been asked above?
It cannot be said enough times: I'm so, so grateful to those experts in the fields of health & sciences, our doctors, nurses, EMS, police, & fire fighters, our essential workers at grocery stores/Targets/pharmacies, our food service/ takeout & general mail & delivery workers, & the endless number of factory employees that are tirelessly working to help those people who are as a result safe in their homes, hopefully holding up their end of the bargain (so to speak) by limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Dublin Core
Title
Lisa
Publisher
Southern Adirondack Library System
Language
English
Type
Covid History
Identifier
11648711817
Collection
Citation
“Lisa,” Leaving Our Fingerprints on History, accessed May 1, 2024, https://fingerprints.sals.edu/omeka/items/show/103.