Life in Quarantine

All around the world people are self-quarantining and doing what they can to help slow down the spread of COVID-19, myself included. When it was announced classes would take place remotely for two weeks after spring break, I did not think of the virus as a big deal. Honestly, I was more excited to see my friends than I was worried about getting sick.

Before everything hit the fan, I made plans to travel to Gulf Shores, AL, with buddies, but as the time to leave got closer, the less enthusiastic I was to go. Every time I got on social media or read the news all I saw were headlines about COVID-19. This forced me to make an executive decision: go to Gulf Shores or go home. Thankfully I chose to go home.

When I first arrived in my hometown of New Braunfels, TX, I was more excited than anything to be there. COVID-19 forced all of my friends from high school to come home also, so in my mind, the situation was not all bad. I know we probably should not have, but a small group of friends and I decided it would be best for us to make our quarantine stand at a lake house on Lake Lyndon B. Johnson.

While this was a cool idea to think about, it was lacking practicality. I had no money for groceries and was missing things I needed for class. However, I made the realization money almost did not matter at the time. I had this epiphany when I took a trip to our local grocery store, H-E-B, for the first time. When I arrived, there was a massive line because the store was only letting 20 people in at a time. As if that was not bad enough, once I finally got into the store it was like having a glimpse at the apocalypse. Shelves were clear, and food was scarce. I got almost nothing I needed and left without any toilet paper.

This caused my perfect plan of holding out at the lake to crumble. I decided to cut my losses and brave the storm at home. At first, everything here was pretty normal outside of the grocery store scramble that occurred daily, but similarly to everywhere else in the United States, things began to snowball.

For a few days, I lived my normal life with a bit of extra hand sanitizer. I would go see friends, but all we would do is stay in the house and play video games. A lot of my friends are service industry workers, so naturally, a lot of our conversations lead to the topics of “How am I going to make money?” or “I don’t know how I am going to pay my bills.”

This was the first time I truly saw the effects of what is happening. Reading headlines is one thing, but seeing people around you struggle because of an epidemic made me realize I have more of a stake in everything happening than I might have thought.

Since then the state of things in New Braunfels has only gotten worse. The city has been put on a stay at home order, so the vast majority of people are couch-bound. I hate to say it, but to pass the time I have been getting ahead on schoolwork, so I guess things could be worse. I have found it difficult to keep a positive outlook through everything going on. Everything I read or hear about seems to be more bad news. This paired with the inability to leave the house is a strong two-punch combo for low morale.

To keep positive, I have been reading a lot and been using writing as a therapeutic outlet. I catch myself thinking all the time about what a weird time to be alive it is and wonder what is going to be written about this pandemic years from now.

I am hoping things get better soon and everyone around me stays healthy.

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