Category: Personal

The post I wrote at the beginning of the pandemic ended with “But we’re going to be alright.”

It sounded half-hearted then, and I was considering whether to put it in or not. Still, in the end, I decided that the purpose of the post was to reduce my anxiety, so I kept it.

Since then, I tried to write several posts just as a memory checkpoint but could never finish. They’re still in the drafts but unlikely to be seen by anyone but me.

Back then (a year ago), I chose to focus on the positive outcomes that the pandemic may produce. Now it’s time to check how it unfolded in reality.

Remote Work

This was a no-brainer, obvious thing to me. I worked remotely for at least half of my career and always thought that remote work share will just slowly inch up. The pandemic significantly accelerated the process. 

However, I failed to see how many will struggle to work from home. Some couldn’t focus because it was too big of an adjustment for them. Others would struggle because they live in smaller places where there are just too many people around to be productive. Top it up with children not being in school to make it extra hard to stay productive. 

Each of us probably had a video call where someone’s kid walks in, or a spouse makes a guest appearance in a washed-up hoodie and sweatpants.

Still, I think this is the most favorable consequence of the pandemic. It’s not for everyone, but more people will be able to work remotely should they wish to do so. 

Remote Learning

It didn’t work. In fact, this one is a total shit-show. The change was so drastic and abrupt, it was not a pleasant experience. My child is not in school yet, so I was/is merely a spectator of others’ struggles on this one. I saw that kids couldn’t focus, parents couldn’t work, teachers hadn’t had curriculums prepared, everyone was scrambling.

Then, of course, there’s inequality. I failed to see how for some kids, the school means a meal, and not going to school may mean they will be hungry that day. If one’s in that situation, chances are they don’t have a laptop to do the remote learning either.

But even the kids who are fortunate to grow up in a well-off household are struggling. Turns out, having peers and teachers close-by plays an essential part in the overall learning process. Some children don’t mind, some are thriving, and many are struggling.

There are programs to provide meals to students and the necessary technology for e-learning. But those are not real solutions, more like mitigation.

Carbon Footprint

Yes, carbon dioxide emissions had dipped, but it likely won’t have a pronounced long-term impact.

Global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 2.6 billion metric tons in 2020, to 34 billion metric tons — a projected decrease that puts it at about 7% below 2019 levels, carbon-tracking research shows.

Regardless, one year of nose-diving emissions isn’t enough to make a serious long-term impact, Le Quéré and her coauthors wrote. To meet the Paris climate targets, the U.S. and the rest of the world will need to cut their emissions by about 1 billion to 2 billion metric tons per year — near-pandemic-level reductions — for every year throughout the 2020s.

https://news.yahoo.com/covid-19-helped-slash-2020s-160017912.html

Yet, it may as well be the global oil demand has peaked and will only decline from now on.

Healthcare And Worker Rights (U.S. Specific)

Hahahahaha, nope, that totally didn’t happen. 

The average cost of hospital care for COVID-19 patients without insurance or who receive out-of-network care varies greatly by age – from $51,389 for patients between 21- and 40-years-old to $78,569 for patients between 41 and 60 years old, according to updated cost analysis data from FAIR Health.

https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/average-cost-hospital-care-covid-19-ranges-51000-78000-based-age

Really it’s hysterical (not in a funny way, of course). Imagine almost dying and then being hit with a bill like that. For some, it’s gruesome reality.

Personal Hygiene

I was so-so-so wrong on this one. I couldn’t imagine that masks will become such a polarizing issue. I thought (and think to this day) it’s such a simple, effortless thing to do. Yet, some people would be ready for a physical confrontation to not wear a mask, and others would take it to the streets. 

Food Waste

Honestly, hadn’t paid any attention to it on a global scale. We certainly got better around not wasting food at home, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t happen at all.

Personally

Juxtaposed to global misery, we’re doing just fine. We never got infected (at least to our knowledge), did 3 tests total, all were negative, so even if we had it, we were asymptomatic. I’m going to do an antibody test just to be sure the next week, when I’ll finally go to my annual medical exam (the last one was in 2019).

It was rough. It still is. During the initial lockdown, mental health took a hit. Mostly it was around the fear of the unknown and crushing apathy. Apathy is the reason why I never finished any of those previous posts.

Since then, the fear of the unknown got replaced by the fear of the known. That’s marginally better for me because when I fear something known, I can take steps to avoid it, thus maintaining an illusion of control.

Enter “risk budget calculation”! Something I get to do every day, so much, so it’s like a background process now. Is this thing I want/need to do really worth the risk of doing it? How big is the reward for me to considering taking this risk? 

There’s not a single day when I’m not grateful for what I have. I recognized that I live a privileged life, I realized how lucky I am. 

What’s next?

Since the beginning, I put all my faith in science, humans – not so much.

The science came through. We got efficacious vaccines, and everyone who wishes to get vaccinated will get to do it soon. 

Humans, though, made it so much worse than it could’ve and should’ve been. I’m looking at some Asian countries which crushed it and can’t help but shake my head at the total self-inflicted mess we have here in the U.S. or back home.

Many people could’ve been alive today if more of us put the public good first. Instead, freedom to do the wrong thing prevailed. Unsurprisingly to me, really. Humankind likes to think of it as the pinnacle of creation, where in reality, we’re just a bunch of evolved primates driven by the same primal instincts.

I’m optimistic the worst is over, but I’m not getting my hopes too high.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably tired, and a bit scared about the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation evolves quickly and dramatically, but I think we can all agree that the writing is on the wall: either us or our loved ones will likely contract the virus (current estimates are 20% to 70% of the world population will get it). Most of us will be okay, but some will die. 

Confirmed cases keep growing exponentially. At the moment of this writing, there are 145,637 cases with 72,529 recoveries and 5,436 deaths (according to Worldometer), 91% are in Mild сondition. 

So, yeah, it’s exhausting to keep up with the coronavirus news. It’s taking a mental toll: even if you think you’re not at risk of becoming “the Severe case,” you have older and immunocompromised people in your life. Unless you’re a psychopath, you’re anxious about them right now.

I found myself in a feedback loop. I scroll through the Twitter feed, see bad news, get anxious about it, go do something else. Still, my mind is preoccupied, so I go back to Twitter to read more scary news stories. Ad infinitum.

My usual coping mechanism is humor: crack a couple of jokes, make some memes, feel a bit better. This time it doesn’t work, it’s just too much. So I decided to try something else, specifically, a thought exercise. I asked myself: “what positive changes we, as a species, may create in the aftermath of the pandemic?” 

Change Is In The Air

Historically, tough times drastically change the way of life. Be it a world war or a deadly pandemic, humanity reacts, responds, and adapts. I feel like we’re in the moment that can cause profound change.

The following is a speculation based on the feelings and thoughts I have. It’s not scientific or backed by any data, but I really wish some of it becomes a reality.

Remote Work

Out of the few positive changes I came up with so far, this one seems the most realistic. As the pandemic has already shown, going to the office is absolutely not required for many modern-day jobs. All of a sudden, huge corporations don’t have issues with their employees working remotely. 

Remote work will enter the mainstream, it no longer will be a gimmick reserved for tech companies and freelancers.

Remote Learning

Just as with the remote work, people will realize that going to a school is not a hard requirement. It’s already a thing, but it’ll become more pronounced.

Carbon Footprint

This one stems from the previous two (and the travel industry having near-death experience). As more people work and learn from home, they will use their cars less. This will help with traffic congestion in the bigger cities and give our planet some much-needed breathing space. 

Healthcare And Worker Rights (US Specific)

My hope is that the currently unfolding situation will put inadequacies of the current system in a very intense spotlight. Thus, shifting the public opinion from “universal healthcare is communism” to “I can’t believe we were dealing with this for-profit insurance nonsense for such a long time.”

Another positive might be the guaranteed paid medical leave for every employee. No one has to go to work when they’re sick. It’s a straightforward concept, and the lack of grasp on it in the US is dumbfounding.

Personal Hygiene

For the last couple of months, I’ve been becoming increasingly aware of people coughing around me, and I watched them closely. Many don’t cover their mouth at all, and some do it wrong. 

I must admit, until recently, I have never washed my hands properly. I did it, but half-assed the whole thing: missed spots and rarely (if ever) did it for more than 10 seconds. If my parents ever taught me how to do it right, I totally forgot. 

I hope we collectively learn how to wash our hands thoroughly and cover our coughs or sneezes. This will help prevent or mitigate local/global outbreaks of various diseases.

Food Waste

My granda used to discipline me each time when I was playing with food. As a child, I didn’t understand it. I found it quite entertaining to kick a bread bun or throw an apple. She’d become furious and said something like, “You have to respect the food! Bread is not a toy!” Those memories came back to me as I was watching people panic-shopping on the Internet and, two weeks later, in real life. 

We toss an astonishing amount of food in the garbage. I hope this crisis will make us more mindful of what we eat and what we throw out.

Conclusion

Only time will tell how much of the above will become a reality and how much will stay wishful thinking (or a pipe dream, depending on one’s perspective).

I know one thing. The harder we’ll get hit in the following weeks, months, and maybe years (see the Spanish Flu), the likelier the changes will stick. If one cuts a finger with a knife, they might learn how to properly hold it; losing a finger will have a lasting effect for the rest of their life. 

But we’re going to be alright.