Staying Sane Through The Madness
Hey everyone! I’m sure you all know that the Coronavirus is spreading all throughout our country, and the world! It’s a scary time right now for everyone. Most people are socially distancing themselves, self-quarantining and working from home. Ohio’s governor closed all restaurants and bars Sunday night, meaning thousands are without jobs. I am lucky enough to work at a restaurant that can run a couple of people for drive thru and carry out, and although my hours are cut, I still am allowed to go in and work.
That being said, the worst is yet to come. The incubation period in the U.S. is going to be over soon, and millions of people are finally going to start showing increasingly worse symptoms. I wish there were more tests to be found because I feel like it would be so beneficial to test everyone who’s even having just mild symptoms…that would help us get so much closer to flattening the curve.
I hate how my coworkers are unable to enjoy the end of their semesters in college, and I hate how more of them have been displaced and let go temporarily. I wish I could help everyone! For now, I figured I’d be able to give you all some ideas for things to do while you practice social distancing and keep yourself safe from the virus.
Video Calls? Yes!
One thing that’s kind of a positive about all this is that almost all of us have smart phones. If you have friends and family that you want to talk to, you can always call them! But why stop at audio calls?
My dad is the King of FaceTiming, so I almost always expect to see his face when he calls me. I’ve begun to FaceTime the rest of my people with iPhones, and I know others who have begun video calling on Facebook Messenger and other platforms.
It’s so important to remember that we have so many tools at our disposal to keep the lines of communication open. Even Discord, which is, from what I understand, widely used for video game communication, is a great tool to have all your friends in the same “room” to talk. The resources for connecting with others are plentiful in 2020.
I’ve had the idea to even play board/video/card games with people via FaceTime if it came down to everyone being quarantined. Get creative with it! Checking up on people is so important right now, and being able to entertain each other will make the hard times, well, less difficult.
Run Errands for Others
Following the “plentiful resources for connecting with others” path, Nextdoor is an app that connects your neighborhood together. I’ve noticed that on both Facebook and Nextdoor, people are beginning to offer their services for running errands for people who cannot risk going outside right now. I think that’s a brilliant thing.
I suggest if you’re healthy and willing, offer your services to others who can’t leave their house. Say your elderly next door neighbor needs groceries and you have some to spare. Give them some!! Maybe your mother needs her medicine, but she can’t go outside because she’s immunocompromised? Go get those meds for her!! Your friends don’t have a car but need to stock up on groceries? Take them to the store!! There’s so many things that we as healthy people take for granted, so use your vitality to help those who can’t help themselves right now.
Good karma is never a bad thing, so if anything, think of it as collecting many a good karma point!
Out of a Job? Look at the Grocery Stores Near You!
I’m not sure if it’s like this everywhere, but in Ohio, lots of service workers just lost their jobs. I work in food service, and we’re lucky that we can keep a handful of people on the payroll, but even then, hours are cut drastically. My 30 hour work week has turned into barely anything, but I’m straight up blessed that I can work even a little bit.
Many of my peers, however, are scrambling for unemployment. If you sign up now, there’s not a wait time I believe. But maybe you are healthy and want to work? I’ve seen online that many grocery stores are beginning to hire on temporarily displaced workers to help out around their stores, so call up your local grocery store if you need some work!
I’m sure it will be a challenging time for all of us, but the more help grocery stores have, the more people can have peace of mind that they’re going to be able to grocery shop in the first place. Especially people in need (like elderly, pregnant women, and children, who I’ve seen are most affected by the shortages at these grocery stores).
Now’s The Time to Find Something Productive To Do
If you’re healthy and self-quarantined, there’s no excuse for your house to look a mess. This is the perfect time to clean up and rearrange your house! Think of it as early Spring Cleaning!
Maybe you’ve cleaned everything already. Okay, cool. Today may be the day you teach yourself how to draw an apple. Or read that book you’ve been putting off. Maybe you can find new recipes so you can cook all the weird food you’ve panic bought? Paint your nails? Get lost in YouTube tutorials?
If you’ve got the Internet and a bored mind, you can find something new to do! While this is a scary time, this is also a good time to find a new hobby. Pros and cons, people.
As for me, I’m planning on getting back into painting until my paints are gone, and baking bread for all the people that have helped me so far in this crisis (more on that later). Take the time you have now to learn something new!
Better Together
Now is the time to spend time with your housemates. Whether you live with your family or your friends (or just some roommates), it’s a golden time to rekindle any positive relationships within the home. Time usually escapes me, and I don’t get to hang out with my husband and best friend (aka my roommates) as much as I would like. Now that my hours have been cut, I’m going to take this opportunity to spend time at home with my boys.
If you live alone, no worries! Like I said earlier, it’s 2020…almost all of us have smart phones!! Call up your friends and family. If you’re healthy and they’re healthy and y’all are taking the necessary precautions, invite them over! If the risk is too great for that, Video Chats save your sanity more than you think. Seeing a person’s face while talking makes it feel like they’re right there with you.
We can’t go through this all alone, so take time to reconnect with the people you live with (or the people you miss, if you live by yourself!).
I know you all have heard what precautions to take for the past month now. I won’t be repeating them because frankly, it makes me anxious. This is a rough time in our history, one that will define the rest of our country’s future. It’s scary! No matter how terrifying it all is, however, just know that we’re all in it together. Communities are already coming together to help each other, so why sit around and do nothing when you can join your peers and help the less fortunate?
If you’re sick, stay home. Let people help you. If you aren’t sick, go help! Be someone’s hero. If you have spare bucks, consider donating to your service industry workers and those who cannot work from home during this time. If you are willing and able, drive people to the store. Deliver goods to their houses. Help, help, help. And be safe and healthy!
If you’d like, feel free to donate to my “Grocery Fund”. We unfortunately didn’t get paid before all of the stores ran out of everything, so I’ve been buying things little by little, and helping my peers by buying them what they need as well. Bills are coming soon, and with my hours cut at work, I’m starting to get nervous.
Luckily, several people have already helped me out, and they know who they are. I owe them so much more than a thank you and a loaf of bread, but that’s what I do best, so that’s what they’re getting! If you’d like to throw a couple bucks my way, my CashApp is $MaryBGolubich and my Venmo is the same. Obviously, no pressure. I understand that we’re all pulled real thin right now, so I will never be upset if you just can’t donate money.
If you live in the Columbus area, I’m willing to help out any way I can in exchange for a couple dollars or some goods, so go to my Twitter and DM me if you need help! I’ll do my best to help out my friends and family while I’m still healthy.
Many restaurants that are offering carry out and drive thru services are collecting tips to donate to servers/bartenders who cannot work right now. I’m going to be tipping double what I usually do so my fellow servers can have some extra cash to come back to. I suggest if you plan on utilizing carry out/drive thru services, ask if there’s something like that in place. If there is, tip your carry out/drive thru people! Many of us work for small businesses (including myself), so to the employees, this could make a world of difference.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for socially distancing yourselves, helping others, and generally being good people. A huge extra thanks to the people that have helped me personally. Try and find time to breathe during all of this craziness. It’s important to keep your sanity during a crisis! I love you all, so please be happy and healthy!!
