One of the issues with this pandemic being so politicized is that there has created an entire spectrum of emotions regarding opinions on mask-wearing, social distancing, and reopening the country. On one side (the one that President Trump supports), we have anti-maskers who rely almost entirely on social distancing, although they rarely do that, and believe that this pandemic will all go away soon. They really emphasize the importance of the fallen economy and getting back to work. On the other side, despite the economy hitting an extremely low point, those people still want businesses to stay closed, have travel restricted, and take all the precautions until this is gone for sure.
I honestly don’t think that any side is particularly wrong in their thinking. I certainly believe that keeping people safe is a priority but I also know that it’s hard to wear a mask all the time and that restoring the economy is a priority as well. There is a delicate balance between the two that is a thin line to walk. Coming from a rural farm town in New York, we are a very red area that always elects a Republican for our congressional district.
My parents have kept a very lax opinion on the whole pandemic. We were always compliant and wore masks everywhere we went, socially distanced, washed our hands, and disinfected our house regularly, but when it came to hanging out with a small group of friends, there was never a fear of getting sick from them.
But like I said, every family had a different way of doing things. My boyfriend’s stepmom that he lives with has health issues and immediately refused to let company over and I was no longer allowed to hang out with him. This caused a lot of friction in our relationship. He was still working as an essential worker at a grocery store with all his friends. I was angry that he was able to interact with multiple strangers every day and hang out with friends before and after work, but I was not allowed to see him. It especially frustrated me that my job was taking much greater precautions to keep us safe while he was more exposed yet could continue to work by her standards. It was difficult going months without seeing him and feeling like I was in a long-distance relationship when his house was a 20-minute drive away. Eventually, as things started to look better I was allowed to go to parks with him and hang out in public. By the time I left for college in August, five months after the pandemic started in March, I had gone to his house one time while she was visiting her dying brother in another state and he could come over to help me pack. Things got worse when I came to campus; I found out after about a month of being here that his older brother invites girls over to the house all the time and his stepmom doesn’t care. It’s hard to not take that personally even though we’ve always gotten along great.
Again, relationships were tested with this pandemic.
It wasn’t even just his stepmom; I also struggled to make friends. The dynamic is completely different on campus than back home – people really follow the rules here and lean towards the latter approach of using caution. I was scared to try and make friends even though it was my first semester of college and I knew no one. I worried about reaching out to people and overstepping their boundaries and I started to worry about my own health and the impacts of possibly contracting the virus here. Not only did I feel that coronavirus caused strain between my boyfriend’s stepmom and me, but also between all possible friends that I could’ve made, and even with my roommate when there was an exposure scare (I thought her sister contracted the virus but it was actually the babysitter that did and she ended up testing negative). The true character of those I know has come out during the pandemic and I’ve learned where people really stand. I’ve gained a great deal of disrespect for those who continue to hang out with large groups of friends maskless or host parties, while I’ve fostered a greater appreciation for those who genuinely stayed home and quarantined for months.
I’m sure everyone has their own stories about conflicting opinions on visitors and who they were allowed to see vs. who they weren’t allowed to. Despite any relationships that may have gone astray because of the pandemic, it’s important to remember who really means something to you and not take it personally like I did when they were trying to protect themselves. We all have our own boundaries. Now is the time to respect them and those around us. It is our job to keep each other safe.
