May 2020 – iblamethequarantine

Social Club

I still have four bosom friends from high school. Back then, the SC, as we called ourselves, short for Social Club, started a tradition of gathering for round robin dinners. The idea is that each person is responsible for part of a meal. You go house to house and dine and drink. In high school, we actually did the house-to-house thing because we all lived closed enough to each other. Our parents got a great kick out of it.

As we got older and moved away from each other, we started giving the dinners themes. The best ones had natural fours to them: For example, the elements

Lisa –earth, Mississippi mud pie;

Sue – air-puffed cheese filo triangles;

Judy – water-homemade soup;

Me – fire-flaming shish-kabab.

You get the idea. Other themes we’ve used include the seasons, colors, numbers, cities we currently live in, countries, holidays, movie genres, festivals, years in high school (for our 10-year high school reunion). The list is pretty long.

We have gathered around the country for over 30 years to celebrate birthdays and pregnancies, marriages and jobs, often, although not always, creating these fantastic meals (except for theme Terribly Tacky, bleh, Jello with carrot bits) for each other. Tasting together, preparing for mutual piquancy, sourness, sweetness, even bitterness, they’re the metaphors for our long relationships, which have had their ups and downs as any long-standing friendship does.

We planned to meet this summer to celebrate double nickels, 55, in Lake Geneva, WI. Talking about whether or not to gather has caused us to video-conference from the four states we live in: Rhode Island, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota. Gathering in person this year seems hard though. Wearing masks while we cook for each other, staying 6 feet from each other in a rented condo, two of us flying to get to our destination.

Whether or not we gather this year, I realize how hard it would be for a group of friends in high school to create such a tradition in a pandemic. Yes, they can do it virtually, but how to taste each other’s food. High schoolers are looking forward to finishing for the summer, some finishing their high school careers under pretty lousy conditions.

Yet what I find from the flashes sent to me is that there is a pretty sophisticated understanding of our current situation from young folks. They’re putting up with, getting on with, taking advantage of, empathizing, lamenting, thanking, and dreaming. I wonder if I would have been as mature.

Here are youth flashes from Clarksburg, WV; Norman and Oklahoma City, OK; Cleveland, OH; Skowegan, ME.

–KLB

Summerfest, Milwaukee, 2017 – Last S.C. Live Gathering

The Cut

Snip. Snap. Hair falls in small wet clumps. A bead of water slowly rolls down my forehead. Small sharp strands poke everywhere, mostly around my neck. Snip. Snap. I stay as still as a statue. My joints are made of marble. I resist the urge to twitch, or move my hand to seek some relief from the itchy strands. Snip. And a pause. A sweet smell hits my nose as she leans forward. Another drop rolls off my bangs. Snap. A word of self-doubt. I return a word of confidence in a quiet voice hiding the fading hope. Snip. Snap. A step back. My eyes study the scrunched up face. I shift, my back aches from the kitchen chair. She leans forward and the smell hits me again. Snap. One more peak of wet dark hair tumbles to rest on my white shirt, dotted with dark clumps and wet drops. A small mirror in my hand and two eyes studying my face. I beat back a double take and drag a smile forward. The two eyes are asking me. I push the retreating smile back in front. I thank them and tell them I love them. She smiles, satisfied, and turns away. Quickly I look again. The hair pokes with a new viciousness. I blame the quarantine.

–Matush Prokop. I am a senior at Skowhegan Area High School in Skowhegan, Maine.

Patient and Creative

We are living in a pandemic situation, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) calls the Coronavirus. I am 14 years old and the closest I have ever been to a pandemic was watching movies. Suddenly, people everywhere are wearing masks, practicing safe distancing and watching what they touch. A typical trip to the store is no longer normal as businesses run out of stock items, customers hoarding toilet paper and tempers are flaring. Confusion, fear, and worry are replacing the happy smiles of the general public. How many times do I touch my face each day? Is that person infected as I back up from their raspy cough? Are there enough tests? This whole quarantine thing is starting to get old.

My family has health conditions that make them vulnerable to this unseen potential killer. A parent on the hospital quarantine ward brought this virus to a serious level in our house. Thankfully the test was negative and they returned home in a couple of days. For me the hardest part was having spring break turning into an isolating struggle, no longer being able to hang out with my friends at school and gossip over the latest horror story of public shame. Now I am reduced to texting and the occasional phone call.

Just the other day, my girlfriend came to give me souvenirs from her recent trip to California. We could not even come in contact, her parents drove her to my house and I stood inside, behind a glass door and watched as she set the gift down. Before she ran off, we stood there for a minute, realizing this was a new normal and cried about it.

Everyone tells me to blame China. I can’t even go to the store to get a dang video game, because apparently video games are now a “Non-essential item” and the aisles are completely blocked off. My generation is used to the speed of technology and instant pleasure, now we are forced to be patient and creative. I blame the quarantine.

–T. Branham, Norman, OK; sent by his Grandmother Jean Wood

Believe

I blame the quarantine, I have been out of school I believe since the 19^th of March two days earlier than the Coronavirus 19 because I wasn’t feeling to well. Than all of a sudden the world was shutting down before my eyes at 1^st I thought it was a joke not real I kept telling my granny and mom this is not that serious its fake.

Well I was mistakenly wrong my mom & grandma job shut down my mom was fortunate enough to be able to work from home. Schools around Ohio shut down than I was told that we had a stay at home order in the back of my mind me being me still didn’t believe this virus was hurting and killing people, I kept saying it’s just like the Flu so why are we shutting everything down. Then I started seeing people wearing mask outside on TV, I think I started to really believe when my cousins one in college & one in high school didn’t like the past classes that was wrong in my mind and sad. The few times that I had to go out which was in the car only I noticed the streets the city was like dead no one was really out not that many cars on the street. I also started to believe and feel bad because my mom told me how many people lost their jobs and couldn’t feed their families & finally when my school announced that we would have to finish school online through google class room. I also seen people in long lines waiting for food in their cars, I guess you have to count your blessing because my house was very blessed not to experience that type of lost. To see the numbers of all the lives that were lost people not able to live normal and see there families as they wish is very believable and hurt broken and I hope this all go away very soon I blame the quarantine.

–Joseph P Armstrong III, Creative Writing Class, Teacher Alexandra Cardille, 10th Grade, North Eastern Ohio Prep, Cleveland, Ohio

The Crisis that has Changed our Lives Forever

 
I blame the quarantine
For my messed-up routine
And the missing memories of me being sixteen.
But this was something no one could’ve foreseen.
 
Everyday is the same mixture of boring activities.
My diet just gets worse
And I continue to lose my creativity.
Being stuck in the house seems like a curse.
 
But I do feel this time has allowed for great family bonding,
Like having conversations where everyone is actually responding.
We play board games, watch TV, and go on walks around the neighborhood,
And surprisingly only have a few fights from being misunderstood.
 
Having school online and having the opportunity to sleep in seemed like great fun,
Until I realized it had become a hardship for everyone.
It is obvious that technology can be very irritating,
The annoyance of communicating with teachers can be permeating.
 
I do understand the importance of staying home, however,
As these precautions protect the brave people on the front lines in their endeavors.
While it is frustrating to give up the luxury of leaving our homes when it was optimal,
This ensures life will resume as normal as it can, as soon as possible.
 
Once this is over, I think we’ll understand
How much we took for granted when we still had command.
From now on, I hope we learn to appreciate the present
And look back on our days with happiness and content.

–Sophia Freedman, Age 16, Clarksburg, WV

Who Counts?

Covid-19 has affected everyone’s life so much more than we can understand because we are all going stir crazy, but how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected my life is not the same as everyone else’s! Honestly, my life has barely changed, I have more time to ride my horse than I ever did during school. While everyone is stuck inside I have been going outside more than I have in awhile. I h ave been helping my sister and I sometimes work with her at the large animal vet clinic. While everyone else is parting their life from doing things that they still can or getting out and doing yard work, I have been living my life to the fullest (or as much as I can) I couldn’t every imagine being cooped up into a house all day.

Our sad society

What is really sad about this whole Covid-19 pandemic is that people are dying, but the only people we care about are the more popular people.

For example- Tom Hanks has been infected by Covid-19 and it is terribly sad to hear, but what people don’t know is, that a 90 year old woman whom might have been the sweetest, kindest and loving 90 year old woman you could ever meet, she might even have on coming grandchildren that she might never get to meet, even if she has grandchildren, those grandchildren might not be that old and don’t want to go the rest of there live no knowing there grandma as much as they hoped too.

The worst thing is, is you would never know about that women, but everyone knows that guy named Tom Hank. It’s sad how our society is based on popularity! And not about the small things like that 90 year old woman.

–Cole Ramsussen, English 9

The Spaces Between

May is a liminal month, stuck in the dewy interstices: buds and blossoms, winter jacket and shorts.

Beaming pride and grave concerns. I turned in my seniors’ grades yesterday.

Creative writing classes are more intimate than most college classes, especially my nonfiction workshops where young writers reveal themselves on the page in autobiographical writing. They write of their families, who are fish mongers or immigrants from South Korea. They chronicle their struggles with depression, drugs, fear of coming out to parents, or recovering from traumatic experiences. They share their knowledge of things like beekeeping, skateboarding, comic-book history, otaku, marching bands, touring with their own bands, and traveling on the cheap. They chronicle their work as line cooks, security guards, cashiers, bus drivers, servers, Lyft drivers, and paralegals. They are my entrée into current slang, fashion trends, music, movies, comicons, even video games and the occult. One semester I had five “out” witches in my workshop.

I’ve always said my student-writers’ fiction is the finger on the pulse of culture. Over a decade ago, coming-out stories were common. For a while, there were at least a few best-friend-coming-out-and-coming-onto-you stories each semester. Vampire stories went on way too long, mutating into werewolf stories, then zombies. Fantasy is still hip, not that they’d describe it as such.

Dystopic stories had been waning lately. But now . . .

Fiction. Nonfiction. The space between.

This year, my seniors are stuck. Quarantine is loosening, but the pandemic persists.

Now that they finally have a moment to look away from their computer screens, it may be hard to absorb that their efforts educating themselves have been worth it, especially if a different job is not immediately forthcoming.

Here’s the touchstone I hand back:

Education matters. Education transcends.

Congratulations, Writers!

Congratulations, Class of 2020.

Keep Writing.

–KLB

Senior Year. Cancelled.

I blame the quarantine for my senior year ending, graduation getting cancelled, and an unknowingness of what’s to come next. I blame the quarantine for the anxieties, the paranoia, and panic surrounding everyday life as we take on the world one day at a time. I blame the media for causing an uproar throughout the world though I believe my governor is holding the state down and safe to the best of her abilities. I do not understand why I cannot find toilet paper, paper towels, and common household items as I have been following CDC guidelines my entire life.

“Am I the only one not in a panic?” I question myself quite often because I feel nothing. I feel the anxieties of others but not my own.

I worry for the health of my mother the most. I worry for the healthcare workers who risk their lives everyday because that’s what they “signed up” for. I worry for all the essential workers who put themselves on the line so I can get my groceries, my prescriptions, and order take out on the days I’m too tired from “quarantining” to cook.

I think about exercising often; I think about what it will be like to teach my first spin class when we all return to our new normal. I think about returning to my waitressing job; will people actually respect food service workers as a part of our new normal? How will people respect one another during our new normal? Will we say “excuse me” as we pass by one another in the grocery store? Will children return to the worries of children instead of adults? I blame the quarantine for the change we never knew we needed.

–Jenna Cipriano, Rhode Island College Student

Plants

“I blame the quarantine.” I sighed while cracking open a cold one.

It was a rainy day on a Sunday, which is ironic since my plants died because I lost all motivation in taking care of them. The first day I got them they were delicate little things. Over time, their beautiful petals started to blossom, varying from orange marigolds to yellow daffodils. As my flowers died so did my feelings, I felt nothing.

Mom and Dad’s way of checking up on me was shooting me a quick “how are you honey?” text every now and then. Still appreciated the effort though.

My girlfriend left me and took our dog, that one hurt like hell. Poor Beverley is forced to live with the Wicked Witch of the West and her new boyfriend.

The only good thing that came out of this break up is the apartment. Although it does get lonely sometimes and considering my only type of comfort is dead, I am forced to be alone with my thoughts. Maybe this is what I needed, was some alone time. Time to collect my thoughts and make room for some change. This whole virus has made me rethink all my life choices. I know it’s sad to use a virus outbreak as an excuse to change, but at least it knocked some sense into me. People are dying and I’m over here, flesh and blood, with a heartbeat, complaining about my girlfriend that cheated on me and taking my dog.

The more I thought about it the more regret I felt. The more I went outside the faster reality had hit me that this is serious, and people are dying. That I needed to text my mom and dad that I loved them and that I hoped they’re doing okay.

When am I ever going to be able to see them again? What about grandma or grandpa?

My heart instantly sank into my stomach and I attempted to sit up straight on the couch. Looking over at my dying plants I shook my head and forced myself to get up while looking out my window.

It’s sunny today, which is a sign I need to buy some new plants.

–Nadia Xavier, Rhode Island College creative-writing student

Valley Girl of the Dead

I totally blame this quarantine for messing up my life. I mean seriously, all the healthy people crammed into one place while the hordes of sick people are outside shielded by just a wall of concrete? Yeah, if only I could roll my eyes at the genius at the guy who came up with that idea. Such a great idea, except they forgot about the people who got bitten already.

Now all my friends are totally zombies. I guess it’s a good thing my daddy is in the military, because not only did I have a super cute rifle that I decorated myself, but the military guys took me in, and some of the guys are totally hot.

I just like, don’t get why they got so mad I flaked on training to give some of my fellow cadet girls makeovers. Like, it’s not my fault the clothes they give us are hideous! What was I supposed to do? Not cut up my uniform to actually look cute? As if!

That Colonel Whatever is totally unhinged if he thinks I’m gonna quit finding stuff to accessorize my boring bed with. Who wouldn’t use their boot laces and bullets to make some decorations? It’s like my fairy lights at home, except without the light up part.

I think the worst thing has got to be the signal here! I get some of the cell towers or whatever might be down, but like, I can’t even access Insta! How will everyone know I’m totally kicking butt while looking cute in the army now? Plus it’s totally lame I can’t text the couple of friends that didn’t get slobbered on by those wanna-be zombies.

Oh, and if anyone asks, I totally don’t have my phone. If Colonel Whats-His-Face found out he’d blow up majorly.

Ugh, I’m so over this whole zombie outbreak.

–Caroline Connole Sutherland, Rhode Island College Writing 100, Professor Hardmon’s Class