Item
Case X Oral History, 2020/09/20
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Case X Oral History, 2020/09/20
Description (Dublin Core)
Life during COVID
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
Interview
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
Collection (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
9/20/20
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
11/19/2020
11/20/2020
02/3/21
05/22/21
04/28/2022
08/29/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
09/20/2020
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Omesi X
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Case X
Location (Omeka Classic)
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
.mov
.mp3
video
audio
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:12:48
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Omesi interviews Case about his experience with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Omesi X 0:02
Hi, my name is Omesi, and I'm interviewing Case. Case, What's the date today?
Case X 0:07
It is Sunday, September 20, 2020.
Omesi X 0:12
Do I have your full consent to record this video?
Case X 0:15
Yes, you do.
Omesi X 0:16
Okay, great. So I'm just gonna get right into it and start with my first question. And my first question is, I feel like, you know, most of my experience with COVID has been similar to many of my peers. But I also have had some experiences that were irregular. Like, has there been anything that's out of the ordinary and kind of different in your COVID experience than other people's?
Case X 0:39
Um, honestly, I don't, I don't really think so. A lot of the same stuff. I mean, I've definitely had to be more careful around like my grandparents, things like that. But I don't think there's anything that really separated my experience from, from everyone else.
Omesi X 1:01
Right. Do you, do you live with your grandparents? Is that why you had to be careful?
Case X 1:06
I don't, I don't live with them. But they live, they live pretty close. They live like 15, 20 minutes away.
Omesi X 1:15
Right.
Case X 1:15
And they weren't in like, super great health before. So it was a little bit hard not just to say hi to them, but like, you know, just to help them out with things and stuff like that.
Omesi X 1:29
Yeah.
Case X 1:29
Okay.
Omesi X 1:30
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. All right. Well, um, my next question is about, you know, your ex-, the learning of it, you know, I felt like COVID is a learning experience. And I feel like a lot of times the most valuable life lessons come out of nowhere. And I feel like COVID-19 taught a lot of people things. So what do you think like, what are some important lessons you've taken from the pandemic? And how do you think these lessons have changed you as a person?
Case X 1:55
I think, for me, COVID taught me not to take things for granted. And I think that applies to lots of things like, there are things that I would never have, have thought about not being able to do, like, even just walking outside without a mask on, you know, yeah. So I think it's kind of, I think it's kind of humbled me a little bit, sort of just like, enjoy things, don't take things for granted because you never know when that might all change.
Omesi X 2:29
Yeah, yeah. That's, that's a good response. Like, same for me. I didn't realize just how easy I had it until COVID kind of came around. Alright, next question. My quest-, like the next question, like, it's kind of simple, but I feel like it varies for a lot of people. I just want to ask you, what do you think of COVID? Do you think it's just like, a nuisance or like an inconvenience or is it something you actually scared of, you know?
Case X 2:55
That's a good question. I think, I don't know. I feel like, there are times when COVID scares me, and there are times when it's a nuisance. And I think honestly, I don't really think there's like, a right or wrong answer because for me, it's been, its been the same. I remember it scared me when it when, when things first started getting bad. I remember, I remember going into, I think it was a supermarket across the street from my house, and there being no toilet paper, no hand sanitizer, everything just off the shelves. And I was like, “Wow, like, this is crazy. This is really happening.” But you know, at the same time, like, I'll just be like, walking around and be like, I forgot my mask like, Yeah, I don't know. Like, I-, there are times when it's like scary, and you realize how bad it is. And then there are also times when you just be like, this is such a nuisance like…
Omesi X 3:59
Yeah, I know what you mean. There's definitely a part of me that feels like it should definitely be taken seriously. And there's another part in certain situations that feels like, Oh, my God, like, yeah, I think it just ended like, it feels kind of like it's being dragged out. But, you know, it is what it is. Um, next question. Next question is about mental health. And I think this is an important one because, you know, the issue of mental health has come up a lot during this time. And I want to just ask you, has your mental health kind of been damaged during this time? Or do you feel like, how do you feel like, how do you feel like what, how do you feel like you coped during quarantine not being able to see as many friends or like, were you able to see a lot of friends or how is that for you mentally?
Case X 4:42
You know, it, it was, it was, it was definitely hard, I think, partly since for us, COVID kind of came into our senior year, which I think is a kind of really important and memorable time for, for most high schoolers. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna say yes, I'm going to say yes, it was damaged. But at the same time, I was able to, like, find joy in like, in the little things.
Omesi X 5:11
Yeah.
Case X 5:14
I think, so at my school, we didn't have like a normal graduation obviously. But we were still able to sort of have like a kind of graduation ceremony socially distanced. Um, and I, it also made me appreciate the people around me more because I took for granted like when I was able to see them and hang out with them. So when I was quarantined it, they attacked on my mental health. So when I was seeing them again, it, it really made me realize like, how I've been with these people and how important they are to me.
Omesi X 5:50
That's, that's, that's it, that's good. You know, we all even for me, just being in my house for so long, not being so many people, like was kind of annoying. And there are times where I kind of felt lonely, but you know, it makes you really see that, you know, you have really good people around you and you care about them a lot and stuff like that.
Case X 6:09
Yeah.
Omesi X 6:09
All right. The next question is, so, the pandemic, what, what do you think the pandemic signifies for you? For some people, it's a learning experience. For some people, it's something that they wish never happened. For some people, it's just a time to reflect and be alone with your own thoughts. What do you think the pandemic represents? What do you think it represents?
Case X 6:32
What the, what the pandemic represents?
Omesi X 6:34
Yes.
Case X 6:37
Wait, can you repeat the question again?
Omesi X 6:39
Like just whatever comes to your mind? Like, for me, if I were to answer that, I say, for me, the pandemic represents, for me, the pandemic represents human failure to act quickly.
Case X 6:49
Oh, okay. Yeah, I got you.
Omesi X 6:50
What do you think the pandemic represents?
Case X 6:52
For me, I think the pandemic represents. I think, I think it represents how key leadership is, in, in sort of, like a crisis like this. I think it shows how, if people are united together, they can help other people and do great things. But also, if people are divided, then they'll suffer the consequences. Because I feel like this pandemic is, the only way this pandemic we're going to get through this is if everyone follows the restrictions, is on the same page, understands that they need to have a mask on, all this stuff. Because people who maybe don't believe that, then it sort of kind of ruins it for everyone because all it takes is one person to spread it and it could just keep going on and on.
Omesi X 7:50
Yeah, I know what you mean. I know what you mean. Yeah. Leadership is important. And the way we handle the pandemic definitely is important during this time. I agree. Um, next question. As a student has the pandemic effected your education? How did you feel like those, that whole online school thing? How do you feel…[unintelligible]
Case X 8:09
Oh, my god. Yeah, well, online, okay. So it was, okay. It was already senior spring. So like, my schoolwork was kind of like winding down, like everyone was into college like, and then online learning happened on top of that. So if I'm going to be honest, I didn't really learn anything. And like, during online learning, I'm just being honest. I didn't really… but yeah.
Omesi X 8:40
I felt like a lot of it was just busy work. And they're just giving us minutes for the [unintelligible]. Just because they had to feel like they were doing something. I don't feel like I was learning too much in online school. I kind of just used it as a way to just wind down at the end of this at the end of the year, rather than something like, you know, it was kind of hard to learn over that, over that whole like structure. Like with everything going on, it was kind of difficult.
Case X 9:03
I could see how it could be like difficult though like, if you're like maybe like a junior and need those grades.
Omesi X 9:08
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. I felt so bad for juniors, you know, because it’s an important year, junior year.
Case X 9:13
Yeah.
Omesi X 9:14
So yeah, it's definitely important. Um, okay, uh, next question is about the world before and after COVID. Do you think things are going to be different? And do you think like, people are going to do different things? Or do you think after, and do you think like, after, after time goes by, like people just stray back to the same old practices again, and forget all about the lessons we learned during COVID?
Case X 9:43
You know what, I think, honestly, I think that everyone's gonna like, regardless if they should or not, I think everyone's going to try to go back to normal, just since. I think that, that was just like the default before the pandemic.
Omesi X 9:59
Yeah
Case X 9:59
Also I think everyone kind of misses those aspects of normal life.
Omesi X 10:04
Yeah.
Case X 10:05
But then again, now looking at it, there might not be that normal again. It might, might be, honestly, years until people can go to concerts and stuff like that. But I think people definitely will try to go back to normal, but I don't know if that will be able to happen.
Omesi X 10:27
Yeah, I know what you mean, um, people want things, people want things to go back to, to how they were. And although like, obviously, I think people are going to learn a little bit from COVID, I feel like after time passes by, people are just going to kind of want to have their old lives back, you know? But we'll see, we'll see. No one can tell because, you know, we're still going through [unintelligible] We'll see when it's over. We'll see. Um, final question. If COVID wasn't a thing, do you think it would have been better for you, better for people, better for just society as a whole if COVID never happened? Or do you think COVID needed to happen for some certain things to progress and some certain things to be thrown out into the world, you know?
Case X 11:10
That's a good question. Hmm. Okay, I, I think it's a little bit of both. I think, obviously, if you asked anyone today, they'd be like, no, I wish that didn't happen. But at the same time, when things like this happen, I feel like it creates sort of, like, heroes, and people will kind of take advantage of the situation to learn, help out other people. Yeah, I don't know. I think, yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, just kind of depends how you deal with the situation.
Omesi X 12:00
Yeah, I feel like yeah, I feel like it's just depending on perspective, what your experience was, you know, if your experience was especially bad during this time, obviously, you're not going to like it. But for me, I feel like, as a whole, society, somewhat did need COVID to happen just to like, just so for us to know, you know, a bunch of different things popped off, you know, BLM movement there was, even when it comes to like, just dealing with pandemics, you know, we were never even thinking of something like this.
Case X 12:29
Never.
Omesi X 12:30
You know, the fact that now that we can actually understand that this, like when these things happen, we need to be serious and not just mess it up is very important. All right. Anyways, that's that was my final question thing. Thank you for engaging my interview. And yeah, hopefully you can speak again. All right.
Case X 12:46
All right, bye.
Hi, my name is Omesi, and I'm interviewing Case. Case, What's the date today?
Case X 0:07
It is Sunday, September 20, 2020.
Omesi X 0:12
Do I have your full consent to record this video?
Case X 0:15
Yes, you do.
Omesi X 0:16
Okay, great. So I'm just gonna get right into it and start with my first question. And my first question is, I feel like, you know, most of my experience with COVID has been similar to many of my peers. But I also have had some experiences that were irregular. Like, has there been anything that's out of the ordinary and kind of different in your COVID experience than other people's?
Case X 0:39
Um, honestly, I don't, I don't really think so. A lot of the same stuff. I mean, I've definitely had to be more careful around like my grandparents, things like that. But I don't think there's anything that really separated my experience from, from everyone else.
Omesi X 1:01
Right. Do you, do you live with your grandparents? Is that why you had to be careful?
Case X 1:06
I don't, I don't live with them. But they live, they live pretty close. They live like 15, 20 minutes away.
Omesi X 1:15
Right.
Case X 1:15
And they weren't in like, super great health before. So it was a little bit hard not just to say hi to them, but like, you know, just to help them out with things and stuff like that.
Omesi X 1:29
Yeah.
Case X 1:29
Okay.
Omesi X 1:30
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. All right. Well, um, my next question is about, you know, your ex-, the learning of it, you know, I felt like COVID is a learning experience. And I feel like a lot of times the most valuable life lessons come out of nowhere. And I feel like COVID-19 taught a lot of people things. So what do you think like, what are some important lessons you've taken from the pandemic? And how do you think these lessons have changed you as a person?
Case X 1:55
I think, for me, COVID taught me not to take things for granted. And I think that applies to lots of things like, there are things that I would never have, have thought about not being able to do, like, even just walking outside without a mask on, you know, yeah. So I think it's kind of, I think it's kind of humbled me a little bit, sort of just like, enjoy things, don't take things for granted because you never know when that might all change.
Omesi X 2:29
Yeah, yeah. That's, that's a good response. Like, same for me. I didn't realize just how easy I had it until COVID kind of came around. Alright, next question. My quest-, like the next question, like, it's kind of simple, but I feel like it varies for a lot of people. I just want to ask you, what do you think of COVID? Do you think it's just like, a nuisance or like an inconvenience or is it something you actually scared of, you know?
Case X 2:55
That's a good question. I think, I don't know. I feel like, there are times when COVID scares me, and there are times when it's a nuisance. And I think honestly, I don't really think there's like, a right or wrong answer because for me, it's been, its been the same. I remember it scared me when it when, when things first started getting bad. I remember, I remember going into, I think it was a supermarket across the street from my house, and there being no toilet paper, no hand sanitizer, everything just off the shelves. And I was like, “Wow, like, this is crazy. This is really happening.” But you know, at the same time, like, I'll just be like, walking around and be like, I forgot my mask like, Yeah, I don't know. Like, I-, there are times when it's like scary, and you realize how bad it is. And then there are also times when you just be like, this is such a nuisance like…
Omesi X 3:59
Yeah, I know what you mean. There's definitely a part of me that feels like it should definitely be taken seriously. And there's another part in certain situations that feels like, Oh, my God, like, yeah, I think it just ended like, it feels kind of like it's being dragged out. But, you know, it is what it is. Um, next question. Next question is about mental health. And I think this is an important one because, you know, the issue of mental health has come up a lot during this time. And I want to just ask you, has your mental health kind of been damaged during this time? Or do you feel like, how do you feel like, how do you feel like what, how do you feel like you coped during quarantine not being able to see as many friends or like, were you able to see a lot of friends or how is that for you mentally?
Case X 4:42
You know, it, it was, it was, it was definitely hard, I think, partly since for us, COVID kind of came into our senior year, which I think is a kind of really important and memorable time for, for most high schoolers. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna say yes, I'm going to say yes, it was damaged. But at the same time, I was able to, like, find joy in like, in the little things.
Omesi X 5:11
Yeah.
Case X 5:14
I think, so at my school, we didn't have like a normal graduation obviously. But we were still able to sort of have like a kind of graduation ceremony socially distanced. Um, and I, it also made me appreciate the people around me more because I took for granted like when I was able to see them and hang out with them. So when I was quarantined it, they attacked on my mental health. So when I was seeing them again, it, it really made me realize like, how I've been with these people and how important they are to me.
Omesi X 5:50
That's, that's, that's it, that's good. You know, we all even for me, just being in my house for so long, not being so many people, like was kind of annoying. And there are times where I kind of felt lonely, but you know, it makes you really see that, you know, you have really good people around you and you care about them a lot and stuff like that.
Case X 6:09
Yeah.
Omesi X 6:09
All right. The next question is, so, the pandemic, what, what do you think the pandemic signifies for you? For some people, it's a learning experience. For some people, it's something that they wish never happened. For some people, it's just a time to reflect and be alone with your own thoughts. What do you think the pandemic represents? What do you think it represents?
Case X 6:32
What the, what the pandemic represents?
Omesi X 6:34
Yes.
Case X 6:37
Wait, can you repeat the question again?
Omesi X 6:39
Like just whatever comes to your mind? Like, for me, if I were to answer that, I say, for me, the pandemic represents, for me, the pandemic represents human failure to act quickly.
Case X 6:49
Oh, okay. Yeah, I got you.
Omesi X 6:50
What do you think the pandemic represents?
Case X 6:52
For me, I think the pandemic represents. I think, I think it represents how key leadership is, in, in sort of, like a crisis like this. I think it shows how, if people are united together, they can help other people and do great things. But also, if people are divided, then they'll suffer the consequences. Because I feel like this pandemic is, the only way this pandemic we're going to get through this is if everyone follows the restrictions, is on the same page, understands that they need to have a mask on, all this stuff. Because people who maybe don't believe that, then it sort of kind of ruins it for everyone because all it takes is one person to spread it and it could just keep going on and on.
Omesi X 7:50
Yeah, I know what you mean. I know what you mean. Yeah. Leadership is important. And the way we handle the pandemic definitely is important during this time. I agree. Um, next question. As a student has the pandemic effected your education? How did you feel like those, that whole online school thing? How do you feel…[unintelligible]
Case X 8:09
Oh, my god. Yeah, well, online, okay. So it was, okay. It was already senior spring. So like, my schoolwork was kind of like winding down, like everyone was into college like, and then online learning happened on top of that. So if I'm going to be honest, I didn't really learn anything. And like, during online learning, I'm just being honest. I didn't really… but yeah.
Omesi X 8:40
I felt like a lot of it was just busy work. And they're just giving us minutes for the [unintelligible]. Just because they had to feel like they were doing something. I don't feel like I was learning too much in online school. I kind of just used it as a way to just wind down at the end of this at the end of the year, rather than something like, you know, it was kind of hard to learn over that, over that whole like structure. Like with everything going on, it was kind of difficult.
Case X 9:03
I could see how it could be like difficult though like, if you're like maybe like a junior and need those grades.
Omesi X 9:08
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. I felt so bad for juniors, you know, because it’s an important year, junior year.
Case X 9:13
Yeah.
Omesi X 9:14
So yeah, it's definitely important. Um, okay, uh, next question is about the world before and after COVID. Do you think things are going to be different? And do you think like, people are going to do different things? Or do you think after, and do you think like, after, after time goes by, like people just stray back to the same old practices again, and forget all about the lessons we learned during COVID?
Case X 9:43
You know what, I think, honestly, I think that everyone's gonna like, regardless if they should or not, I think everyone's going to try to go back to normal, just since. I think that, that was just like the default before the pandemic.
Omesi X 9:59
Yeah
Case X 9:59
Also I think everyone kind of misses those aspects of normal life.
Omesi X 10:04
Yeah.
Case X 10:05
But then again, now looking at it, there might not be that normal again. It might, might be, honestly, years until people can go to concerts and stuff like that. But I think people definitely will try to go back to normal, but I don't know if that will be able to happen.
Omesi X 10:27
Yeah, I know what you mean, um, people want things, people want things to go back to, to how they were. And although like, obviously, I think people are going to learn a little bit from COVID, I feel like after time passes by, people are just going to kind of want to have their old lives back, you know? But we'll see, we'll see. No one can tell because, you know, we're still going through [unintelligible] We'll see when it's over. We'll see. Um, final question. If COVID wasn't a thing, do you think it would have been better for you, better for people, better for just society as a whole if COVID never happened? Or do you think COVID needed to happen for some certain things to progress and some certain things to be thrown out into the world, you know?
Case X 11:10
That's a good question. Hmm. Okay, I, I think it's a little bit of both. I think, obviously, if you asked anyone today, they'd be like, no, I wish that didn't happen. But at the same time, when things like this happen, I feel like it creates sort of, like, heroes, and people will kind of take advantage of the situation to learn, help out other people. Yeah, I don't know. I think, yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, just kind of depends how you deal with the situation.
Omesi X 12:00
Yeah, I feel like yeah, I feel like it's just depending on perspective, what your experience was, you know, if your experience was especially bad during this time, obviously, you're not going to like it. But for me, I feel like, as a whole, society, somewhat did need COVID to happen just to like, just so for us to know, you know, a bunch of different things popped off, you know, BLM movement there was, even when it comes to like, just dealing with pandemics, you know, we were never even thinking of something like this.
Case X 12:29
Never.
Omesi X 12:30
You know, the fact that now that we can actually understand that this, like when these things happen, we need to be serious and not just mess it up is very important. All right. Anyways, that's that was my final question thing. Thank you for engaging my interview. And yeah, hopefully you can speak again. All right.
Case X 12:46
All right, bye.
Item sets
This item was submitted on September 20, 2020 by Omesi using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.