By Rayna Onate
With everything happening to our world, thanks to the Coronavirus, it is difficult to look at our world in a positive light. However, it is important to make do with what was dealt, especially since the light at the end of the tunnel is currently not in sight. With that being said, welcome to the four-part series that will highlight the ‘brighter side’ of Corona.
If anything, the pandemic has helped the world get its priorities straight. For one, it was recognized who were, and weren’t, essential workers – this includes celebrities. In the past, society has almost worshiped or idolized celebrities by following their every move on media and wanting to be just like them, famous and rich. But the pandemic changed this in a way. learned Constant media coverage that the celebrities couldn’t escape… even in a pandemic, showed that even celebrities with their ‘status’ can get in trouble. For example, Entertainment Tonight said the Kardashian’s were in the hot seat a few times because they broke quarantine rules, and this includes the time Kim broke the stay at home rule to go get her hair done for an interview on the Today Show.
Overall, the pandemic awaked the world and helped people realize that celebrities were indeed NOT essential workers. The media also showed that while in quarantine, celebrities couldn’t relate to us well – despite all the ads with celebrities saying, ‘We’re in this together!’ No, we’re not ‘all in the same boat,’ you’re on a cruise ship and I am barely surviving in my rowboat thank you very much.
Ryan Reynolds, in his hilarious and sarcastic way, said it best while responding on Twitter to a social media campaign by saying, “In times of crisis, … it’s the celebrities that we count on most… right after health-care workers, first responders, people who work in essential services, ping pong players, mannequins, childhood imaginary friends… [and] like 400 other types of people.”
But enough about celebrities and why they are irrelevant in our pandemic, and onto the people that really matter – the REAL essential workers. Three essential workers were interviewed, and they spoke on how they’ve been adapting to a new kind of work life as essential workers.
First, Dennis who is a field service engineer for Ford Motor Company. He fixes cars of course, but he fixes complicated problems that he has specialized in fixing, and he helps dealerships with their mechanical mysteries. He said to him an essential worker is “someone that the world can’t function without.” He touches on how during the pandemic the world learned about the people that the world didn’t really pay attention to much before. He is happy that these individuals that our society depends on are finally getting the recondition they deserve for a job well done.
Next, Sandy who an accountant for NAPA. She was deemed essential because she works for a company that was deemed essential. The company would not have been able to operate and stay open without the numbers being crunched every day. She said appreciates that she is able to do her job from home now so she can spend more time with her family and she finds that she is just as productive as she would be at the office She states, “My job has changed a lot, [but] looking at the bright side, I think the pandemic has positively impacted my job and how I do it.”
Finally, from a college perspective, Branden gives his take on essential workers specifically the ones in college. He said that he, along with other college students, are often time looked at like their job is frivolous. And suddenly, for Branden, he became important almost overnight. He finds it ironic that people looked down upon him in the past with his simple ‘college job’ as a Meijer store stocker, but since the pandemic people are appreciating him and what he does for once. Because of him, food and supplies were able to be bought for people everywhere in Indiana. He said things got intense and almost scary with how people were hoarding supplies and trashing the store, but at the end of the day he went back home and felt happy that he was able to contribute to the COVID relief, even if it was in a ‘small’ way.
The pandemic has made the world go insane, but it has also made the world appreciate those who we in the past didn’t even pay attention to. Next time you encounter a worker who was deemed essential, thank them for their service because they didn’t have the option to take a break like many of us did during quarantine. They had to work their normal hours and risk exposure so the rest of the world could stay safe and continue to live life as they wanted.
This concludes part one of four for our Positivity During the Pandemic series, join next month for a glance at how our community spirit has changed throughout the pandemic, in the world in general but also at Marian University.