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