As we go pass over a month of being under the shelter-in-place rules, the mind tends to wander into the many possibilities once this coronavirus business is over. What would I want to do first once I am able to go outside freely? Anything big I would change about my life now that this once-in-a-generation pandemic has put a mirror to our current lives?
Lots to thing about, honestly. The exercise also provides something to look forward to, that there’s light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, that this too shall pass, and we will get through it relatively okay.
Of course, I speak as someone supremely fortunate enough to have a job where I am able to work from home. The countless people who were laid off these past few weeks certainly don’t have the ability to indulge in the pleasant what-if thinking of the post-coronavirus world. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to worry about finding gainful employment once the lockdown is over, and the other tangential things that comes along with a job, such as paying rent, and having health insurance.
I have pondered about the negative possibilities with my job, steady as it may seem to be working for the State of California at a public university. It’s already a forgone conclusion that the Spring semester will remain completely remote and online; the mystery is what will happen in the next school year beginning in September. No one can say for sure what the situation will look like by then, and regardless I think enrollment will be significantly lower than usual. Less students means less funding for the college, and those of us working there just might have to bear some of that.
We all remember the furloughs following the financial crisis, though from a different perspective, that might be of some assurance. No one (that I know, anyways) got fired; we simply took a 10% pay-cut collectively. I hope it won’t come to that, but it’s certainly something to think about.
Whether good or bad, the best we can do is be ready.
I’m itching to play with cars again.