Several weeks ago, I went to the elementary school to pick up some work for my kids. As I parked my car, I noticed a table in front of the school.
When I got closer, I saw a woman wearing a hair net and gloves standing behind the table stacked with boxes.
A young mother stood on the other side with 3 little girls, wearing matching pony tails and cute little pink bows. The girls were looking through boxes to find food for breakfast and to see if there was anything they could bring home to save for later.
“Here, you can take this”, the woman told one of the girls as she handed her a small boxed milk.
Children are receiving free lunches.
I quickly walked back to my car. Aware that my eyes were about to rain waterfalls, I felt my throat closing in. I swung open the door, and let it out.
These weren’t just tears running down my cheek. They were kind that leave your eyes swollen shut. I felt like my heart had literally been ripped out of my chest. And, in that moment, I felt like a piece of, well you know.
The Effects Are Far Reaching
To actually see those little girls picking up, what may be their only meal of the day, did something that changed me forever. I used to be one of those girls. But I cannot imagine how scary this situation must be for them.
Seeing the face of that mom changed me too. I thought back to my mom, realizing how difficult those times must have been, not being able to provide us the basic things we needed.
Goodness Gracious
Before we went into the mandatory “stay at home” order, my town went absolutely insane. I mean bat s*** crazy. And I know it wasn’t only mine. The long lines. The hoarding. The “me, me, me”.
Once everyone was done taking care of themselves, they had some complaining to do, (especially on social media). And they were the exact same people who clogged the Costco lines and hoarded the toilet paper.
Let’s just stop the bickering and remember how important it is to be grateful.
- Roof over my head? Check.
- Car to drive? Check.
- Food in the fridge? Check.
- Hoarding a year’s worth of toilet paper? Check.
Oh yes, how lucky are we.
This pandemic is a test of humanity. What will we do? Will we actually practice social distancing? Or will we spread the virus due to our own self-centered ways?
It’s Not Going To Make Me Sick
This is the one that probably drives me the most crazy. So, let’s just play a little devil’s advocate.
How do you think the 60 and older crowd are feeling? You know, Christina across the street. Or, Uncle Bob who just turned 75. Or, how about your parents?!
Let’s go a little further.
How about your co-worker John that has diabetes? Oh ya, then there’s your best friend Alex who has lupus. And how about your Aunt Mary who’s been battling breast cancer for 2 years? Do you think about her? Do they matter?
Of course, they do!
Social distancing has been in place for some time now. Would you be surprised to hear entire neighborhoods are getting together with their kids having playdates and parties?
Well, believe it. It’s happening everywhere. In every state, community and neighborhood. We live in a world that’s so, “me, me, me”, we get stuck in a self-serving bubble. Let’s change that.
Everything’s Fine
We are revolutionizing the way we communicate.
There has been so much disinformation circulating around the world. No one really knows what is going on and what will happen. We’ve gone from, “It will magically disappear” to “We need to close down the country” in a week.
I’m guessing there will always be the crowd of “everything’s fine”. They really think this is a big nothing burger. I’m still hearing things like:
- “There are more deaths from the flu, this is nothing”.
- “There are 4 million people in our state. It will never affect us”.
- “Don’t worry, we’re on top of everything”.
You might not get sick. That’s true. That would be an awesome blessing. But, you could very possibly be a carrier.
- That means you might pass it to someone else.
- That person will pass it to 10 people.
- Those 10 people will go on to pass it to 100 people.
You see where I’m going here? Just because you don’t feel sick, doesn’t mean you aren’t a carrier. Your actions do matter. Social distancing is important and it appears to be working. We need to work together.
We can save lives, and eventually, get back to some normalcy.