It's the wake-up call we all needed

Kasandra Brittenburg, Are You Kidding Me?,

Graphite, pencil, and charcoal, 18” x 24”,

2020, Figure Drawing

This is something I’ve never experienced in my lifetime. I remember the swine flu happening when I was in elementary school; our schools didn’t close. Grocery stores weren’t empty; people weren’t wearing masks. Social distancing was unheard of. Why were we not worried, living in fear? Why do I not remember anyone being sick? Did our society develop ‘herd immunity’ then?

I miss my friends and coworkers. I miss freedoms like simply going outside without preparation. However, I am saving money staying home, making my own coffee, watching movies, and cooking dinners instead of eating out.

Being stuck at home gives you a lot of time to think and reflect about yourself and life. I think deeper these days about my future, if I am choosing the right major, and how I can benefit myself, my family, and the world. There’s nothing to snap us out of our daily, monotonous routines, like a worldwide pandemic.

I realized it took the coronavirus to suspend interest and payments on college loans, feed children for free, and house the homeless.

It took a deadly emergency to appreciate and respect grocery store workers, hospital staff, garbagemen, and restaurant staff.

It took a stay-at-home order to temporarily prevent pollution and clean our earth. Imagine if everyone stayed at home more how our world would change and benefit.

A pandemic was the wake-up call we all needed to reconnect with ourselves and families, be kind, help our neighbors, and respect the elderly. We could all use a wake-up call to be safer and look after our health and earth. We got a wake-up call to be grateful for our taken for granted lives and freedom.