Living and staying self-isolated during this huge pandemic has created a very interesting timeline for everyday people like us to reflect and dramatically change our outlooks on the world. Some of us hopefully are staying safe and healthy and trying  (keyword here being trying) to maintain healthy habits while doing fun activities at home. After this is all over I’m sure every public place is going to be crowded with people reuniting with old friends and family that looks like those emotional welcome home videos that we all see online. While this is something to look forward to when we eventually return to the outside world, I hope society as a whole has learned something from this and actually becomes well prepared to handle these type of situations. A personal gripe I have with this self isolation is how we see society react on different levels and what I hope people will realize so we won’t ever have this situation happen again.

I want people to better understand that blaming a group of people for the virus is never ever effective and never will be. In fact, it does more damage to groups of people and can make people do violent acts against innocent people. I am talking about the Asian American communities throughout the United States, who have seen a huge increase in xenophobic attacks in the past month. Major cities are seeing racially motivated attacks and for severe cases like in New York, “state’s attorney general, Letitia James, also recently launched a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes related to coronavirus.” (Sullivan). Imagine how terrible it must be in New York for the authority to need to set up a hotline for attacks and to see the number of attacks grow everyday. Other statistics include “In Bellevue, Washington, police chief Steve Mylett said he’s seen a 178% increase in the number of applications for firearm transfers. Mylett said a significant number of applicants appeared to have last names consistent with Chinese heritage.” (Phillips). It is heartbreaking to imagine people living in fear of going outside and having to resort to firearms and physical means to protect themselves. To hear about the daily number of hate crimes on the news is disgusting to me and I wish people would change and actually look at it with some common sense rather than finding the first scape goat that comes to mind.

Another lesson I want people to learn from is how scummy it is to hoard what is more than necessary. It just doesn’t make sense, What? all of a sudden you need to buy a decades worth of toilet paper because of self-isolation? Online I see reports of people trying to resell toilet paper or hand sanitizer at outrageous prices to scam the people who also need it. “The panic is largely unnecessary because most retailers are able to replenish products fairly quickly” (Jones & Tyko). These types of people are creating more problems than necessary which is very frustrating, but once in a while we get gems like these where “A man in Australia who purchased around $10,000 worth of toilet paper and hand sanitizer was recently denied a refund by a supermarket owner. I had my first customer yesterday who said he wanted to get a refund on 150 packets of 32-pack toilet paper and 150 units of one-liter [hand] sanitizer. I told him that,” Drake said as he showed his middle finger to the camera.”(Impelli). It makes me happy for retailers now to implement policies to prevent hoarding and even creating safe opening hours for the elderly to shop when the store first opens. 

I understand that most of my blog post is negative and kind of depressing, but I just wanted to find a way to vent out my frustrations with the things in the world I can’t change. After this is done I hope we become better as a society to show more care and attention for the people in need. I imagine we as humans become more considerate of one another’s needs and feelings. Although this virus has brought up the ugly underbelly and malicious intentions of some people, we still see caring people who are carrying society on their back by providing medical care, offering their services to help people stay indoors and prevent the spread. I also appreciate people who are doing their part by being responsible. One of the most important things I want others to understand from this is that we are all in this together and although it hurts now the worst of it is behind us and there are better days to come.

~ Nelson N

Works Cited

Begley, Sharon. “Medical Staff Waiting Outside Patient Rooms at the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, Earlier This Month.” Statnews, 16 Mar. 2020, http://www.statnews.com/2020/03/16/lower-coronavirus-death-rate-estimates/. (Picture)

Impelli, Matthew. “Man Who Bought $10,000 Worth of Toilet Paper and Hand Sanitizer Denied Refund.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2020, http://www.newsweek.com/man-who-bought-10000-worth-toilet-paper-hand-sanitizer-denied-refund-1498343.

Jones, Charisse, and Kelly Tyko. “Preparing for the Coronavirus: Shoppers Are Finding Empty Shelves, Long Lines at Stores Nationwide.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 26 Mar. 2020, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/13/coronavirus-toilet-paper-selling-out-costco-walmart-target/5041064002/.

Phillips, Kristine. “’They Look at Me and Think I’m Some Kind of Virus’: What It’s like to Be Asian during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 28 Mar. 2020, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/28/coronavirus-racism-asian-americans-report-fear-harassment-violence/2903745001/.

Sullivan, Kate. “Yang: Asian Americans Being Attacked over Coronavirus Is ‘Heartbreaking’.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3 Apr. 2020, http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/andrew-yang-asian-americans-attacked-coronavirus/index.html.