So ever since our life in a global pandemic aka Bizzarro World started, I have forgotten what day it is a few times, worn the same hoodie for a week, been a bit more lax on personal hygiene, and am currently serving my second bid in Facebook jail since the pandemic started. I have perfected my recipes for both cold brew iced coffee and Scottish shortbread, and I think I have watched more British Baking Show than anyone else on the planet. I often lose myself in an afternoon of music, greatly enjoying the Beats headphones I bought with my bribe stimulus. If I wasn't scared to death of catching this plague, my life would seem peaceful and relaxing right now, but remember, not everything is as it seems.
You see I am an "Essential" employee, I work at a local supermarket chain, and everyday I get to witness the film Idiocracy live and in person. I see the hoarding of toilet paper and other items, the gloves and masks left in our parking lot, the cavalier attitudes toward the virus, just how entitled we are as a society, and it sickens me. Customers are rude, supplies are limited, and we are ridiculously understaffed. Many grocery employees have taken medical leave due to underlying health problems, so grocery managers are struggling to fill schedules. Wearing a mask while working a shift is no picnic either, you sweat, and the backside of the mask gets moist and uncomfortable. I once again have acne from hours behind that mask. I am one of the lucky ones though.
You see a few months ago, I was waitressing at a local chain restaurant. Living mainly off tips, and barely making it week to week. My payroll taxes ate up most of my three dollar and change hourly pay, and there was very little wiggle room for saving. This was a big part of the reason I changed jobs, in reality, I dodged a bullet. As of this moment, all of my former coworkers are currently furloughed. Every day I see the Facebook posts of how long the back ups are for unemployment, the waiting patiently for their stimulus payments, and the talk of some people being completely laid off. They are not alone, entire industries of workers have been financially decimated by this pandemic. Many of these employees were barely keeping their heads above water as it was.
The need of furloughed employees and others affected by this crisis is great right now. Local food pantries are already stretched to the limit, and the pandemic only pours gasoline on that fire . One local food program in my town called Project Hand Up has seen their census skyrocket from about 80 families a day to over 300. The line of cars to form a queue in a parking lot reaching about a half mile long. As of right now many states have put a kibosh on evictions and utility shut offs, but what is going to happen to those who get behind on these bills once this is over? Are there going to be mass evictions? People living without electricity, water, or heat? What about the employer based health insurance of these furloughed workers? Cobra is ridiculously expensive, and an extra $600 a week in unemployment will not cover the premiums, copays, and deductibles. I fear these people will fall through the cracks into extreme poverty, homelessness, and possible death from treatable disease.
Make no mistake, I am not calling for society to reopen. We have a long way to go before we are back to what was once normal. I think these douchebags protesting and bitching about haircuts are entitled, self-centered pieces of human shit. When Dr Oz goes on Fox "News" saying that the death of 2-3% of our country's schoolchildren is an "appetizing" option, those justifying these remarks have lost their way as a human being.. Widespread testing and tracing needs to be done before we can even think about putting our children or anyone else in harm's way. There needs to be better options.
While I think the stimulus payments and the extra $600 a month in unemployment for furloughed workers is a good first step, more needs to be done to help people through this crisis. Expedited SNAP benefits, more stimulus payments, and Medicaid coverage should be extended to affected workers. Small business desperately needs those promised loans as well, we can't keep throwing billions at big corporate while Main Street becomes a ghost town. Pass a bill specifically for Mom and Pop operations without loopholes. We will never satiate the robber barons in this country, and the Republicans will do their best to block anything that helps the average Joe.
In the end, I hope the loss of life, economic hardships, loneliness, isolation, and chaos will not be in vain. I hope we can rise from this stronger as a country, and more aware of how important every worker is. I hope we can build a future where we are better prepared for the next wacky virus that comes our way. Where our children and elderly aren't sacrificial pawns for a political pundit. Where a couple weeks without a paycheck won't financially, medically, and socially destroy the American service worker. We all need to come together and vote like our lives depend on it, because this pandemic has proven that it does.
