By: Morgan Jacobus, Staff Writer
In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, I can’t help but marvel at how the people around me are reacting. I, personally, have not had too much worry about this situation, as I am not in the high risk demographic for contracting the disease. I have faith that we will work through the complications - as a country and as a college. However, I have gotten more and more concerned about the people around me. My apprehension began with people’s reactions, concern, and expression of worry over this sudden change in daily life. It quickly escalated last week as people awaited the official guidelines. On Thursday, Regis finally released their highly anticipated decision regarding the virus. At that point, people’s anxieties skyrocketed as the time without information lengthened, and their frustrations reached a breaking point. The frustrations only seemed to continue and exponentially increase as they released their frustrations on Regis’ instagram post announcing their decision. Frankly, I was shocked and dumb-founded by the outpour of sheer anger.
Now, I am not saying I agree 100% with the way that the institution handled the situation, but I did not think that the student body handled it in the best way either. The blatant attacks that happened were so uncalled for, and were frankly immature. What shocked me even more was how I saw people I was friends with, including my roommate, all join in on this mob mentality. It was excessive and unnecessarily aggressive.
Not long after following the announcement, the university sent out an update declaring that they had revised their plan so that in-class meetings would be suspended for three days, and online classes would begin after that period. I believe this was a better course of action, due to the nature of the pandemic, however I think that this change was a result of RUSGA’s address about the decision, not the hateful comments from various students. At least, I would like to believe that.
Now, fast forward a few days when I am able to come home, being fortunate enough to have my home not too far of a drive away. My mama and I bravely voyaged to none other than Sam’s Club. Never before had I seen such barren shelves at this store. People were grabbing anything they could get their hands on, whether or not it was what they were after originally. You could sense the sheer panic and frustration hanging in the air. Everyone was on edge. We somehow made it out alive, with some groceries in hand.
Seems like all over social media there are people posting about empty grocery shelves as more information about the virus circulated. I understand that being told to stay at home if you can for a few weeks can result in stocking up on some essentials, but the sheer volume and ferocity with which people chose to stock up was outrageous. I mean, is it necessary to buy out all of the toilet paper??
Once again I found myself in awe at people’s behavior. I tried to practice understanding, like how I did with my college when they were having to handle a difficult situation, but I couldn’t help but see a lack of empathy and kindness. Even grocery decisions aside, I was aghast at how many people weren’t taking this situation seriously. While I didn’t have many worries myself, I still understood the sheer urgency and importance of following government guidelines to stay home. The fact that they had to explicitly call out millenials to avoid discretionary trips and social gatherings made me so disappointed that that was what it had to come to.
I saw a post on Instagram recently that said how our elders were called to war to save lives, we are being called to sit on the couch to save theirs, which I think is important to keep in mind as we struggle through this change in our daily lives. Yes, I know there are some things you would rather be doing, but put it in perspective for a second: this is not for us, who are young enough and healthy enough to fight this disease, it is for the people who can’t. And come on, I’m sure there are plenty of us who didn’t need an excuse to stay home beforehand, so why not now? Make the best of the situation you are in; watch that show you haven’t had time to watch, read some books, snuggle your dog, and do what you can to not make this situation worse.