My Coronacation Part 1

This spring break started out just like any other break. I packed up just a few things since I would only be home for a week. Then, I headed off to my house. I live fairly close to campus so I was sure that if I did forget anything, I could easily pick it up.

Around this time, COVID-19 was really starting to ramp up. Some places were even totally shut down, not allowing anyone in or out. At this time, though, I really didn’t care. I wasn’t super scared and I was still working at the Piercing Pagoda. So I had to convince myself that I was fine.

I also had a lot of very interesting things going in my life to keep me pretty distracted. Like I mentioned earlier, I was working—typically about eight hours three days a week. I was also spending time at home visiting family and old friends. Not to mention, I was also having a flirtatious exchange with a guy I liked. So yeah, I would say I was pretty distracted.

Everything was going as it was supposed to up until about the halfway point of break. Around this time, the university announced that the break would be extended by a week. Social distancing was starting to become a norm. This is when I started to become anxious. This whole ordeal was very scary and was now starting to become a reality. So I did what any sane person would do at a time of crisis: dye my hair red. At this point, new protocols were being enforced at work. We were required to wipe down the kiosk every other hour and to even take breaks to wash our hands.

All of the local high schools were shut down and many colleges were sending students home and implementing an online alternative as opposed to offering on-campus classes. Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and any Lysol product were all ripped off the shelves of stores. People began to wear masks and gloves while going out. Meanwhile, as anxious I was, I still didn’t put much thought into the severity of the virus. I went to visit friends, I continued to shop, and I acted as though everything were normal.

Then, came my day of reckoning. I went into work on Monday, I only worked a 12-5 that day. Governor Wolf announced that all non-essential business were to be closed as of midnight that night. We then got a message from our boss stating that the situation was being handled but that we would not be opening the next day because we are considered non-essential. This shook me to my core. I was so scared. I didn’t know what my next steps would be. I didn’t know where I would get income from. Throughout this whole time, I was treating COVID-19 as if it were no worse than the flu, when in all reality, this was far from the truth. It took me so long to realize just how real it was.