Your entitlement is showing. If you have or have had significant issues with decisions that have been made regarding COVID-19 primarily because it inconveniences you, then you need to sit down and have a reality check. What is comfortable or preferred is not superior to the overall health and safety of others.
I understand that change isn’t easy and is rarely preferred, but the decisions made were not a personal attack against you or an attempt to derail your plans in life. The decisions made, such as closing schools for the entirety of the semester and regulations put in place for social distancing, were not some master plan to wreck the plans for your film shoots, class events or even showing off your Highbridge outfit.
Instead, these plans were put in place to save lives and prevent sickness from spreading. Developed decisions were made “as there is currently no vaccine or specific medication to treat COVID-19, and because testing is so limited in the U.S., the only way to flatten the curve is through collective action,” according to Brandon Specktor, a writer for Live Science who focuses on the science of everyday life.
He added that “the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended … ‘social distancing’ (essentially, avoiding other people whenever possible) right away.”
While, yes, I agree sitting in front of a screen for six or more hours a day completing online school is not something I love to do, it is necessary.
Some of you will say you’re “joking” about some of the things listed above, but it’s thinly veiled complaining, and it’s not cute. Additionally, your ability to “joke” about this only further shows your entitlement and inability to recognize the depth of the issue at hand. People are losing mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and friends to this pandemic, and your unwillingness to get a grip and move forward with what our reality now entails is insensitive and selfish.
This contrast is especially apparent when you consider having all the necessary resources available to you during this time of social distancing while others are suffering financially as social inequalities are becoming even more pronounced as a result of the pandemic.
“People living paycheck to paycheck in service sector jobs are in a very different position to those working in salaried jobs they can do from home. Stark gaps in wealth, health and work have gone from being chronic problems to acute ones,” according to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit that focuses on solving problems in society at local, national and global levels. “Other inequalities have become even more consequential in a time of social distancing — such as access to a fast internet connection.”
At the end of the day, it is difficult for our sense of normalcy to be altered. However, no matter how much we try to control things, our lives do not bend to our every wish and command. Thus, we must adjust.
So then how should we respond? There is no one quick fix to moving forward, but the first step to moving forward is to let go of any bitterness you harbor toward not being able to do the things that you want to do. Instead, find things in your life that you can look forward to, whether that be through engaging in new passion projects, becoming TikTok famous or spending intentional time investing in relationships (via Zoom or FaceTime, of course).
This is important because ultimately, “if you dwell on hurtful events or situations [or] grudges filled with resentment, vengeance and hostility can take root,” according to an article by the non-profit Mayo Clinic. “If you allow negative feelings to crowd out positive feelings, you might find yourself swallowed up by your own bitterness or sense of injustice.”
It is only through coming to terms with our new reality that we can begin to move forward constructively.