By Marizel Urdiales
Pulse Staff Reporter
Waking up to the constant barrage of news about the coronavirus, a global pandemic, can be exhausting. It feels not only overwhelming, but it elevates the fear factor. As I turned off the TV, I headed to my room to video chat with friends and went through my contact list to check on my three closest friends. They mean the world to me.
My best friend Gio Ramos, who is in the U.S. Navy, is someone I chat with daily. I waited for him to answer his cell so we could talk about our day, even though we know how our routines go.
“Hey! I just got out of work, and I’m only working four days now, which means we can stay up longer on the days I’m off! Work has been the same but more slow since we’re caught up now,” Ramos said.
He added, “We also wear masks and keep social distance, which means that we don’t have a lot of people working, and we rotate more frequently to make sure not many people are in the room.”
It was reassuring to know that my best friend was safe and keeping grounded.
The next person I called was my other best friend, Melody Peña, who lives closest to me. We maintain our safety by keeping social distance. Painting my nails and hearing her talk makes me feel like we’re doing our monthly sleepovers again.
“Being in quarantine is not helping me or anyone at all. My girlfriend and I are fighting, and not being together isn’t helping. I got laid off from my job, and I’m worried about my parents. I feel this huge pressure on me, and seeing people still go out makes me upset, like this is a joke to people,” Peña said.
Hearing the pain in her voice made my heart ache.
I made my way to the room of my sister, Raquel, to hang out with her and talk about her feelings about this coronavirus and quarantine. Raquel works at the Doseum, and she has been home since Spring Break.
“One of my co-workers actually got the virus! She told us in our work group chat. I go back to work in June. Being away from work was fine at first, but going back after being away for so long is going to be weird, especially working at a museum. I feel like that’s the last place anyone wants to be right now,” Raquel said.
Laying on her bed, I thought about how off I felt to see places open again. My plans for school are in limbo. But I guess at the same time, people need to not live in fear and have coronavirus take over our lives.
Instead, we have to be more cautious and mindful of our time outside since we’re all living through this pandemic together. Maybe next year we’ll see a whole new world?
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