Covid-19: Social Distancing, Technology, and Lost Skills

First of all- I hope everyone is having a great Easter and enjoying it in whatever way you guys are choosing to spend it. 

I know this year has been crazy so far. Remember back in 2019 when we were all excited to make the leap into the next decade and start off with a bang? We were all pumped and excited for 2020, making wishes, dreams, goals, and plans for how great the year would turn out, but that all changed when a pandemic swept the world by surprise. 

Ever since this coronavirus decided to pop up and spread wildly out of control, threatening to destroy life as we know it, different versions of people have surfaced on all ends of the spectrum.  As expected, you’ll have people who will follow instructions to stay safe and healthy, while on the opposite end of that spectrum, you’ll have the people who just don’t care. There are some that are indifferent about the virus and what it entails.  Some are amplifying their racist views by putting the blame on all asians and recognizing them all as Chinese. Then there's some people that are panicking and hoarding supplies and food, while others are mourning losses and are allowing hatred to drive them.  Finally, you have some people that are worried whether or not they will still be employed to receive a paycheck to support their families and pay the bills. 

After reading the last paragraph, have your eyes been opened a little more compared to when you first started reading this blog?  Where do you fit within the spectrum that was just described? In times of panic and mass confusion, we as human beings tend to stray away from our Dr. Jekyll persona and lean more towards our Mr. Hyde alter ego.  If that’s not the case for you, then congratulations, you are one of the few who will help us get through this together.  

The Black Death, Plague, Spanish Flu, and Coronavirus to name a few.  You would think that in the year 2020 we as humans would have learned from our ancestor’s experiences from prior pandemics, but I guess that would not be the winning guess.  While we have not learned from our mistakes in history, we also have not grown wiser nor stopped thinking with heads jammed up our asses. We are still totally prejudiced towards certain people without looking at the bigger picture. The amount of hate crimes towards Chinese Americans (well, let’s face it...Asians in general) has significantly risen during this virus outbreak.  It's ridiculous and disgusting to see, yet we see it time and time again. 

We have been rushing and always chasing after life on a daily basis before all this happened, relying on technology and throwing all the basic skills our ancestors had taught us out the window. Now with everything closed and the majority of us being stuck inside our homes, a lot of people are now having issues with not knowing how to do certain tasks such as cutting hair, mending clothes, cooking, sewing, operating household appliances and even taking care of loved ones when they’re sick or even in general.  When everything was open, we took everything for granted and used the services available at our very fingertips without a care in the world. Now that the shoe is on the other foot - it's a different story. 

Despite all of these hardships, we still have the internet and cell phone service in all of its glory.  We can still order cookies, clothes, and lumber online, all at the same store while watching a movie on Netflix.  Life can still continue with some semblance of normalcy, but what if we didn't have these services and the internet and mobile networks were somehow affected by this virus and were forced to stop operating?  Would we all be caught with our pants down or would we know how to live like we did in the past? As with a corrupted computer, we need a hard reboot. We need to relearn how to do simple tasks that used to be dominant in our lives, not even 30 years ago.  Tasks like those I stated above as well as knowing how to operate as sociable human beings. This is where our ancestors have the advantage over us. They knew how to live life without depending so much on technology. It is true that one can argue that my claim would be unfair because there was no tech back then, but the point remains the same.  They knew what they had to do to survive and support their families.  

Do you remember when your mom or dad tried to teach you how to use a saw, a sewing machine, needle and thread, how to do something and you just blew them off when you were young? How do you feel now without the convenience of dry cleaners, barbers, or tailors to name a few? How do you feel now that you are now responsible for your children 24/7 instead of being able to drop them off at school, daycare, or camp?  My mom raised me along with the help of her mother and my dad's sister. There was no daycare or camp, just the apartment and my family. Most of what I learned in life has come from sitting at the kitchen table and listening to all the knowledge my family had to give to me.  

Throughout all of this craziness that has been transpiring since March, strangely enough people are having the hardest time practicing social distancing.  Being able to say hello to a stranger or start a conversation with a new friend was damn near impossible before this pandemic came to light, but for some reason, everyone still wants to be butt up against one another, despite knowing that anyone and everyone could either be sick or carrying the virus.  I do not get this, not even one bit. No one listened to it nor give a heck of what it meant. They still crowd the stores and disobey the 6 ft. rule regardless of what anyone says. I don't know what is so hard to understand about staying away from each other and no gatherings of more than 10 people, yet here we are. But hey, at least they still have their cell phones and internet, right?

Thinking back to the generations that lived through The Spanish Flu and Plague, they managed to find the light at the end of the tunnel, so why can’t we.  It is true that the losses were great but the lessons that were learned should be just as great. Technology has only been around for a small fraction of human existence, so we can find a way to survive not only with its help, but also without forming a dependence on it.  This Coronavirus will pass eventually, but until then, we need to become used to being inconvenienced and living without festivals, parades, concerts, conventions, sit down restaurants, and so on. I would like to think that we would all come out of this smarter and more knowledgeable, but I don’t know.  Some people are probably sitting at home, thinking this is going to be the end of humanity, but it will not be.   

Do not get me wrong, I like technology, cell phones, and going out on random road trips too, but this is not the time to be doing those sorts of things.  Now is the time to stay at home and freshen up on those skills we used to be so good at when we were younger. Take advantage of the free time you now have at home to become a better person and improve your skill sets.  When this pandemic goes away, it will be back to 8-12 hour work days for most people. Swing shifts will be back in full swing and overtime will be a plenty. Sure we will all be making more money and the economy will be saved, but at what cost?  Should we really sacrifice our survival skills and knowledge of manual labor just to be wholly dependent on technology while spending a huge chunk of our lives away from home and our families. Remember, we are all in this together, the entire world.  Oh, and one more thing...Stop Being Racist Towards Asians!