By Maura Trivette, Staff Writer
Remember when you could go up to a friend at the beach and hug them without feeling like you were breaking the law? Or when you could sneeze or cough without getting death glares? When there were classes filled with kids at school, and you would walk down the hallway and see people’s faces.
Now, I sit inside wondering if I should ask my parents if I can see my friends and knowing the answer they’re going to give me: “As long as you’re outside and wearing masks.”
Now, I sit in front of my computer and procrastinate on all of the school work I have.
Who would have thought we would have had to live through a pandemic for a whole year? So much has changed since then. Do we even remember what “normal” is?
One year ago today: March 13, when the shutdown first began, it felt like a movie, not something we should be experiencing in real life. It was so weird and unreal. No one knew what to do because we had ever experienced this – a pandemic.
At first, mostly everyone was so excited. Two weeks off of school was just what we needed. I hung out with all of my friends that weekend, not even thinking about what the pandemic was actually going to bring. Then, left and right, events were canceled, stores were closed, and in-person school was shut down for the year. And finally, the stay-at-home order was set in place, and that’s when the excitement left. I realized I would have to be stuck in a house with my family for more time than I would like.
Who would want to be stuck in a house with nowhere to go for months at a time? Not me, that’s for sure. Being cooped up with barely anywhere to go. Maybe going on a bike ride when the weather was nice for a short escape was not enough. All you wanted to do was hang out with your friends and do normal things, but having anything normal wasn’t an option anymore because we were in the middle of a pandemic.
In the beginning it was like a “Coronacation.” No school, no work, no priorities. Until you wound up missing your friend’s birthday because everyone was quarantining. Or your cousin was getting married, but you had to watch the wedding through a computer screen. Maybe you had to cancel your annual family reunions that you were looking forward to. You couldn’t even bike to the beach with a big group of your friends. And going out to eat wasn’t in the picture, same for going to the movie theatre. There were also no sports because of COVID restrictions, so it felt like there was absolutely nothing to do.
We had to get used to working from home and seeing our friends through our phones and computers, which took some time to get used to. We were thrown completely out of whack and lost most of our routines. Maybe a new routine you picked up was sitting on your couch all day watching Netflix, I know that was one for me.
Aside from getting used to not seeing people we have heard many new sayings that we have come to use and hear daily. For example, “social distancing.” Nobody ever used that word before March of last year, and it’s a word I have grown to really hate. A year ago, I didn’t know what that meant, but honestly, now that’s all anyone hears. How many times in the past year have you heard someone say, “stand 6 feet apart,” or “don’t forget your mask?” And I will tell you, I am sick of getting yelled at because I’m not socially distanced enough.
“New normal” is also a phrase I’ve grown to hate. Nobody wants this to be “normal,” so why do we still continue to say it?
I’d say 85 percent of us have never worn a mask for safety purposes in our entire life before March 13. Unless your mom or dad is a doctor and you just happened to have some laying around the house, you’ve probably never worn one. I am most likely going to burn mine when the pandemic is over. But, again, trying to be positive, masks do have some entertainment value. Especially when I’m watching a show and I catch myself thinking, “Why aren’t those people wearing masks?”
At the beginning of the pandemic, masks were boring. They were mostly the basic surgical mask. Then basic cloth masks appeared, but they were still pretty boring. Then mask fashion started getting more interesting. Masks became colorful, with patterns, tie-dye colored, and people started to color coordinated their masks to their outfits. And then there are the masks that aren’t really masks; bandanas, towels, gaiters, and the clear plastic face shields.
Many things have changed throughout the pandemic that have made us adapt. For example, playing sports during a pandemic certainly has been interesting, with social distancing at practice, and having to wear masks. Competing without spectators was also very strange because it was weirdly quiet, there was no yelling and screaming for the home team – and don’t forget constantly being nagged to social distance. Using a mask at the gym was like working out with a plastic bag on my head. At least they didn’t make the swimmers swim with a mask on. I don’t think that would’ve been fun.
Moreover, March 13, 2020, turned the world upside down. I am sure there will be lots of books written about how life changed so drastically over one weekend. I honestly can’t wait to see what the movie industry will make out of 2020. Though this past year is a year no one wants to relive.
We are in a pandemic right now and nothing feels normal, but we are slowly making our way back. Soon it’ll be summer and along with that, it’ll probably bring some normalities. I know this will not be our new normal and soon March 13 won’t be such a hated day to remember. Maybe we should turn March 13 into a holiday when this is all over to remember the 500,000 people who have died from COVID-19, to remember a day that had an impact on everyone’s life and the celebration of our return to normalcy. We’ll look back on it and think, “that was crazy being in a pandemic” and we’ll be glad we’re not in one anymore.
Sophomore Maura Trivette can be reached at 23trivettema00@daretolearn.org.
