Covid Collective memory: Interviews and Reflections
Interview with a Nurse Aid
Q1- Working in medicine, how did covid affect you differently than others? “It affected me very differently than others because my workload was dramatically increased as opposed to people in other fields who had their workloads decreased or even saw their jobs go away. While I was happy to have a stable job throughout the heart of the pandemic, it was quite difficult for me to see so many vulnerable people so dramatically affected by the virus. Elderly people practically on their deathbed without their families to comfort them was probably the hardest thing for me.”
Q2- Through the heart of the pandemic, where did you spend most of your time working?
“At the very beginning I worked in my normal unit, but when cases began to rise in central New York, the hospital had to open up a covid unit. As soon as they opened that up, that is where I spent a majority of my time working, and it was only a couple months ago where they closed the covid unit, and I went back to my normal unit. My job was to take vitals of the people in the unit and ensure that they were as healthy as they could be. I was scared a lot of the time because covid is such an easily passed disease and the hospital had us reusing our equipment rather than providing us new clean equipment, since they were never sent many replacements. So I was working in the heart of the pandemic, with reused equipment, and all around me was suffering and death. It was incredibly difficult for me psychologically, and I found myself leaving work crying on more than one occasion because of how terrible the whole situation was.”
Q3- Did you ever fear that you would endanger your family by working in the covid unit?
“Yes. Both my parents are vulnerable, and one of my biggest fears was exactly that, bringing the virus home. Especially being so deep into it, that was always at the back of my mind, that horrible what if? Thankfully, I never brought it home to them, and since I was working right in it I was one of the first to be vaccinated against it so it really cut down my chances of bringing the virus out of the hospital and into my own home. Beyond that, my mother was helping out with my sickly grandfather, and I was really scared that if I accidentally brought home the virus, that she could transmit it to him, and he would not have been able to fight it off. That weighed heavily on me every time i left the unit.
Q4- What did you do on your offtime?
“Honestly? Not much. Working in the covid unit was absolutely exhausting, and on my days off I didn’t do much of anything. Keep in mind that most of anything to do was shut down, so I really couldn’t leave my house anyways, and when I did, it was mainly to get groceries. I was scared to see any of my friends for the same reason I was always worried about coming home- I was petrified of potentially giving the virus to somebody that I cared about. Even now, it’s a completely different world than it was just a few months ago. I can see friends, I can go to restaurants, there is so much more to do. I’m really really glad that things are opening up and people are getting the vaccine because nothing would do more for my mental health than to be able to go back to our normal way of life. This whole thing has been exhausting, trying, and extremely difficult. I am certainly glad that I was able to fight on the front lines of this virus, but it was taxing both mentally and physically. My main hope is that we can look at this a year or two down the road and be proud of how we beat this
Interview with a Quality control employee at a galvanizing plant:
Q1- How did Covid affect your industry?
“It was interesting because galvanizing falls in a weird category. We shut down for a while, but were one of the first to open back up, because obviously infrastructure is an essential service, and things like road signs and bridges need galvanized steel. But even though the office was closed, we still had to galvanize the steel in the plant out back. So I was working from home, but we were still getting steel out.”
Q2- Did you go right back into the office after the company was given the ok to open back up?
“Not directly. First there was a work from home period that lasted a long time. After that I would come in to inspect the galvanizing once a day, then go back home to do paperwork and email clients. The last step was finally getting back into the office and doing everything normally, which felt really good. It was nice to be with family but I found it hard to get productive with everything at home going on around me.”
Q3- Was it hard to go back to work? Did you worry about bringing it back to your family at all?
“It was difficult to be sure. Mostly because my wife is immunocompromised and her mother lives with us. It was a challenge to go back but I had to.Thankfully I didn’t bring it home, but the virus did get into the house. Thankfully everyone was able to fight it off, but I was very very worried about everyone. Once I got back into the swing of being in the office it wasn’t as hard, but it was definitely difficult and awkward at first. Everyone in the office was super cautious, so not much talking was done, but as the weeks went on we got comfortable again and got back to the way things used to be.”
Q4- What did you do on your offtime?
“Well being on lockdown there was not exactly much I could do for leisure besides read. I did a lot of reading when I wasn’t working. However, my young daughter was home and I had to help her with her schoolwork from time to time. And her being 10, she was not exactly motivated to do her schoolwork, so a lot of it was a struggle, but it got done. Other than that it was mostly taking care of the house and everyone in it.”
Interview with a stay at home mom:
Q1- How did the lockdown affect you differently than others?
It was more of an isolation for me than many people. Unlike those with jobs who got to go out to work, I was stuck inside, in the house for 90% of the lockdown. It was draining on my psyche as well as my health. It was just me and my kids in the house for a very long time. Having to constantly take care of them and make sure they were doing their online coursework was exhausting- especially since I really couldn’t leave unless I was getting groceries, or something else that made it so I had to go out.”
Q2- Did you notice a change in your kids during the lockdown?
“Yes, for one more than the others. My one son is in college and worked, so he was always keeping himself busy. My daughter is 10, and she has all the means to communicate with her friends and stay on top of things, plus her being so young really made it so it wasn’t as hard for her. My middle child, who is 18, has really struggled. I have noticed a sharp change in his mental health as well as his physical health and it worries me. As a mother I always want what is best for my children, so seeing him in such a way was truly heartbreaking for me. He is so social, and was always with friends before the lockdown, so the swift change to not being able to see any of his friends was so hard.”
Q3- Your mother lives at home with you. Did that complicate things at all?
“Absolutely. She is 78, and one of those at risk of having a bad reaction to the virus. Every time I went out grocery shopping I was so worried that I would bring it home on accident. Not only for her sake, but for mine as well. I suffer from an autoimmune disease and that puts me at a high risk. So for the sake of myself and my mother I stayed home as much as I possibly could. Unfortunately, The virus did get into our house. Thankfully my mother didn’t get infected, but I did. It was two solid weeks of me being bedridden and sick. I was so scared, but thankfully I was able to fight through it. My daughter also got it, but she really didn’t feel the effects of it, she was just nauseous on the first day.”
Q4- How did you spend any time you had to yourself?
*laughter* “Time to myself? That was nonexistent. Being at home, either my mother, my husband or one of my kids were there all the time. I did not have alone time, and if i did, I was either cooking dinner or cleaning something up around the house. At night, I was able to watch TV before bed, but that was just about all the leisure I had, especially when my autoimmune disorder flared up- that knocks me right out for a whole day where I can’t even get out of bed. It is extremely difficult especially with a young daughter who is full of energy and constantly trying to move and play.”
Interview With a college student:
Q1- How did the virus affect your studies?
At the worst of the pandemic, I was finishing up my senior year in high school. It was really hard to be separated from my close group of friends, and it was even harder to do my work from home. I effectively learn visually and in person, and the online courses were incredibly hard for me. Especially since I was in the second semester of my senior year where my attention span was already starting to falter, to put me in a situation where I was in my room full of distractions was difficult. My grades took a hit as a result of this, thankfully not to a point where it affected my chances of getting into college. Graduation was not even worth it because I didn’t get to celebrate it with family and friends. It was depressing, and I really didn’t even want to celebrate it.”
Q2- Once you got into college, restrictions were still pretty intense. Did that affect you?
“Yes. That first semester was very very difficult. The coursework was harder than high school, and I had no in person classes. Everything was online. I fell behind quickly, and I did not get along with my roommate, which made things twenty times harder than they already were. It was really difficult and before I knew it I was really far behind. I was not enjoying the experience and my grades were taking a massive hit. On top of all this, my mental health was taking an immense hit. I was finding it harder and harder to get up and motivated, and everything was a chore. After the first semester of college I transferred to a community college back home, and took classes right from home. That’s where I’m at now.”
Q3- So since you are taking your classes at home, have you picked up a job to get out of the house?
“I’ve tried. I have sent out so many applications that I’ve lost count. One of the worst things about the pandemic is that really nobody is hiring. So I am stuck at home, taking more online classes, which like I said, I don’t like, and I’m barely able to see any of my friends since many of them are away at school. One of the hardest things is that my parents have been really getting on me to get a job. I tell them that I’m really trying my best, but sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. They don’t understand that not many places are hiring right now, and it’s really hard to find a job. Everything has just piled up and piled up on me and the weight is really hard to bear. My mental health is taking a massive hit and I don’t know what to do. It’s really hard,”
Q4- What have you done to keep yourself entertained during all of this?
“Its been a mixture of watching videos and playing Video games. Playing video games is like the only way that I have been able to keep in touch with my friends, so that has been really important to keep myself happy. Beyond that I take care of my dog and my older brother’s turtle while he’s away at school, and I will go downstairs to be with my family. Unfortunately though, sometimes too much family time can get exhausting.
Reflection
The interviews that I have compiled here truly show the vast differences of experiences that people have had in the pandemic. Along with these differences, however, many people have struggled with many of the same things: isolation, fear for loved ones, fear for their job, and mental health declination.
What shocked me the most was simply that: the amount of similarity between all of these people, despite their different backgrounds and jobs. After interviewing a nurse’s aid, a QC, a stay at home mom, and a college student, I found that despite their different experiences with the virus, many of them felt the same, and had similar fears and problems as a result. The main concern that all of my interviewees had was bringing the virus home to their loved ones, and many of their loved ones were in the bracket of vulnerability when it came to succumbing to the virus. Understandably, that scared those I interviewed and caused them to be ultra careful around others and limiting their interactions with other people in crowded situations like grocery stores. Another theme that I noticed when It came to those that I had interviewed was a somber tone to all of their answers. It showed most in the college student that I interviewed, but all of the interviewees showed a serious and troubling decline in their mental health. There was a theme of depression and sadness through all of the interviews and I truly believe that that has been the overlooked side effect of the virus and the following lockdown.
Most people, understandably, have focused on the physical health of those affected by the virus and exposure. But many people are suffering internally as well. Humans are notoriously social creatures, and when you strip that from us, there is a serious effect on mental health. So many young people are struggling immensely with their mental health. Depression cases have absolutely skyrocketed ever since the beginning of the virus and lockdown, and I can safely say that I don’t believe that is a coincidence. Life during covid has truly been an unreal struggle. People stuck in their homes with the constant fear of infecting and harming their loved ones is nothing to simply ignore. The results of a pandemic truly go deeper than simply the health aspect. The fear and uncertainty of the virus has truly factored into the overall pandemic experience. Especially with those who have immunocompromised loved ones and friends, this has been a truly challenging time. The most challenging, I would say, has been to that of the healthcare workers. My interview with the Nurse aid truly opened my eyes to what fighting covid on the front lines was truly like. It was a constant struggle, workers were running ragged, and on top of all that, they had to worry about taking the virus home to their families due to the lack of quality personal protection equipment. I was absolutely dumbfounded to learn that many healthcare workers were forced to reuse old gear while fighting one of the most contagious viruses the world has ever seen. I was saddened to learn of this. The weight on the shoulders of the healthcare workers was immense, and I simply cannot fathom how hard that had been on them. These Interviews truly opened my eyes to the different experiences that everyone had, and what’s more, how shockingly similar their experiences truly were. I learned so much having done these interviews, and I am happy to have had the opportunity to look into all of their lives during this troubling time.
