Quarantine: My Story

When we first went into lockdown, I started a little journal documenting my experiences during the start of the pandemic. For reference, I had recently started a new job and was excited to begin my new journey. During training, we talked about the impact of COVID in China and how our work was doing so much to help the people affected out there. What we really didn’t understand was how it would impact our lives here.

Here is the first entry of my quarantine journal.

Day Zero:

Today is my last day of work. I started this job about a month ago now, but as of yesterday my store is closed. We’re supposed to be closed until March 27th but really I could potentially be out of work for a lot longer depending on the spread of the virus.

Today I went to work even though we’ve been closed since yesterday. Even though we’re closed the company I work for is requiring us to show up for our scheduled shifts until Monday. People looking to make their latest technology purchase were turned away by the two or three workers standing at the door at any given time. I completed some training I was supposed to complete by the 28th.

On our break, one of my coworkers and I walked across the way to Starbucks to get a caffeine fix. When we arrived, Starbucks had taken all the food out of their normal display case. The store itself was overly packed for a Sunday with people rushing to get their coffees as quickly as possible. I asked the barista when they would be closing and they said tomorrow.

Lots of places are closing or limiting hours. Most of the grocery stores are opening one hour later and closing one hour sooner. There are rumors going around at my store that we may stay closed for even longer than the initial 14 days. The United States is in chaos with toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, canned food, and raw meat being high on the sold out list.

I was sent home from work an hour and a half early and told I would be paid for my whole shift. I went home, grabbed my fiancé, Ricky, and went to visit my Mom. She’s not nervous about this virus or about the shortages we’re facing. She thinks we’re all being paranoid at this point. I still don’t know what to think. Part of me is nervous because supplies are running low, but then I wonder if the media hyped this illness up so much that people are feeding into the frenzy. After we left my mom’s we went to Ricky’s dad’s house. He also had similar feelings, but after spending $40 on a pack of $8 toilet paper he too was getting worried.

Coming back to these places, these cities I lived in long ago, reminds me of how I miss it out here sometimes. I miss seeing the the stars. I miss the dry cold air. I can’t believe how many times I took this for granted, and it took a virus for me to even pay attention.