Item
Ludo and Ben Oral History 09/21/2021
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Ludo and Ben Oral History 09/21/2021
Description (Dublin Core)
We completed this interview for our History of Global Pandemics class, which we take at Northeastern University.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
Partner (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
Audio Interview
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Health & Wellness
English
Government Federal
English
Public Space
English
Social Issues
English
Public Health & Hospitals
English
Social Media (including Memes)
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
09/21/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
10/01/2021
11/28/2021
06/03/2022
06/08/2022
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Ludo
Ben
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Ludo
Ben
Format (Dublin Core)
audio
Coverage (Dublin Core)
March 2020 - September 2021
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:07:16
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Two current Northeastern students discuss their experiences in Covid. One of the individuals recalls London during Covid and the strict nature of the stay at home orders while the other participant in the interview contrasts this experience with the mandates and orders in parts of the US.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Ludo
I'm Ludo and I'm interviewing Ben for the COVID-19 archive project. Ben, do you give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19? archive project?
Ben
Yes, I give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project
Ludo
Can you please state the date and time?
Ben
The date is September 21 2021. And the time is 12:34pm.
Ludo
I am going to ask you some questions now. So how did schooling change once you went online?
Ben
For the most part, schooling became a lot easier, everything was online, things became a lot more consolidated, you didn't have to deal with handing things into teachers, it became a lot easier to be productive. But also as a result of that, I would say I became a lot less adamant with schoolwork, I stopped participating in class for the most part, I definitely stopped going to classes, at least to some degree. And I think as a result of all of that, I took schooling a lot less seriously. And I didn't necessarily impact my grades, but long term, I think it hurt my work ethic. And definitely I've lost a lot of relationships with my teachers.
Ludo
In terms of habits and practices, how have you changed them during this time?
Ben
the number one thing for me is I've definitely become a lot more self conscious about surfaces I come in contact with in public, whether it be in stores, with people or on public transportation, I definitely become aware of when I touch something, and careful not to touch other things on my person, whether it be my wallet or my phone, and definitely aim to get hand sanitizer wash my hands at the first possible opportunity. It's definitely become almost compulsive at this point to keep your hands clean, with all this going on. So I'd say that's that's the biggest thing.
Ludo
In terms of your perception of the real world, how is that changed during this time?
Ben
Nothing positive here, but the pandemic really revealed a lot of stubbornness and hypocrisy and a lot of people, particularly in the US, is already in a really political divisive time. The pandemic really capitalized on that turning what should be a public health issue, public health issue into a political issue, whether it be with vaccines, or wearing masks, or getting tested, just being on top of your own health really became down to what politics you follow. And I think that's really upsetting and what's really perpetuated this crisis.
Ludo
And in terms of stay at home orders, what were they like, where you live here in the US?
Ben
When the state homeowners were first put in place, schooling became online. Masks were mandatory in essential stores that remained open. Most entertainment options like restaurants or movie theaters, things of that nature closed and mass were mandatory in stores you went in. But as for enforcement, nobody could really stop you from going outside or hanging out with friends and not wearing a mask. So not much government involvement was there other than for maybe public funded areas such as parks or beaches. I'm Ben and I'm interviewing Ludo for the COVID-19 archive project. Ludo, do you consent to be interviewed?
Ludo
I do consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project.
Ben
Please state the date and time.
Ludo
It is September 2021 and it is 12:39 pm.
Ben
Okay. First question, how did schooling change once you went online?
Ludo
I definitely say that schooling took a weird turn, it became easier which was obviously a good thing for us as students but also connections with teachers were lost, which had a definitely negative impact on on all of us, I'd say. And things like friendships were hard to maintain good grades were sometimes hard to maintain for those of us that were struggling with being motivated. But it did also allow us some time to reflect on more important things like our own mental health, and put that first in a time like this. And I definitely say that the the ethic that I go into got into which was you know, working harder, meaning diligent and responsible was definitely a life lesson that I picked up during during this this time.
Ben
All right, how have you changed your habits during since the start of the pandemic?
Ludo
I definitely say the norm like now for me is washing hands on a regular even when just getting home. Like you said, I'm very wary of touching things on the subway. And before COVID definitely never thought about that had that in mind. But now I it's definitely on my mind whenever I reached to grab a pole when I'm trying to stand straight and not fall over. At the start of the pandemic, my family and I were leaving packages outside for days on end, hearing that that would help Ward away COVID if it was remaining on the packages. My mom had rules like no buying unpackaged clothing and packaged food sorry, not clothing. And now whenever I leave my room for college, I realized that I have a list of four things which is my phone, my airports, my wallet, and my mask, and obviously before COVID that last one wasn't on that list. But I'd also say that at the same time, I got into a habit of being a lot more active on social media than in real life. And now that we're back in person in college, I noticed that kind of taking a toll on us but I think we're getting back into the swing of things.
Ben
Okay. How has your perception of society changed since the start of the pandemic?
Ludo
I definitely see that I became very grateful for both my family my own health and I also came to realize the social and economic split in London which is where I was you know, born and raised and I spent the entirety of COVID and I just I sort of realized the the split in between the different worlds that you don't really notice but this you know, this time has definitely helped shine through I've come to appreciate the health care that I have access to in a first world country and I've definitely you know taken my healthcare more seriously like I was saying getting into those habits those good habits they're all getting into but I've also like realized that we have a societal role to take care of each other which is why you know we got backs in it you know not mainly to protect ourselves as young kids but to protect the oldest people and the the ones that are that are at risk.
Ben
All right. What were the nature of the state home orders where you live?
Ludo
In London it was it was pretty crazy. There were masks everywhere inside and outside from the get go there was no excuses there was police checking it and volunteers and streets making sure people have them over nose and mouth. Definitely say was eerie for the first few months you know, turning corners on streets my parents told me to make a wide loop in case I brushed up against someone and the times that that happened once or twice my parents definitely gave me some hard time for that. But this was you know, in the time when we really knew nothing about the pandemic just yeah, everything was said to be lifted July 19 of 2020 sorry 2021 and that turned out to rebound real quick and it's it's honestly more tragic than anything that that's what the UK had in mind and it really just didn't turn out that way. And they realized that they needed more time to solve this crisis. And at first you know, you could only leave home to exercise to shop for essentials to go to the doctor and to go to work if you had to work in person. So we had no real excuses for anything else. And you know only essential stores were open restaurants like you said were closed movie theaters were closed and it was it was honestly like a zombie apocalypse you'd walk out into the most you know touristy parts of London, it will be empty, it will be completely empty.
I'm Ludo and I'm interviewing Ben for the COVID-19 archive project. Ben, do you give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19? archive project?
Ben
Yes, I give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project
Ludo
Can you please state the date and time?
Ben
The date is September 21 2021. And the time is 12:34pm.
Ludo
I am going to ask you some questions now. So how did schooling change once you went online?
Ben
For the most part, schooling became a lot easier, everything was online, things became a lot more consolidated, you didn't have to deal with handing things into teachers, it became a lot easier to be productive. But also as a result of that, I would say I became a lot less adamant with schoolwork, I stopped participating in class for the most part, I definitely stopped going to classes, at least to some degree. And I think as a result of all of that, I took schooling a lot less seriously. And I didn't necessarily impact my grades, but long term, I think it hurt my work ethic. And definitely I've lost a lot of relationships with my teachers.
Ludo
In terms of habits and practices, how have you changed them during this time?
Ben
the number one thing for me is I've definitely become a lot more self conscious about surfaces I come in contact with in public, whether it be in stores, with people or on public transportation, I definitely become aware of when I touch something, and careful not to touch other things on my person, whether it be my wallet or my phone, and definitely aim to get hand sanitizer wash my hands at the first possible opportunity. It's definitely become almost compulsive at this point to keep your hands clean, with all this going on. So I'd say that's that's the biggest thing.
Ludo
In terms of your perception of the real world, how is that changed during this time?
Ben
Nothing positive here, but the pandemic really revealed a lot of stubbornness and hypocrisy and a lot of people, particularly in the US, is already in a really political divisive time. The pandemic really capitalized on that turning what should be a public health issue, public health issue into a political issue, whether it be with vaccines, or wearing masks, or getting tested, just being on top of your own health really became down to what politics you follow. And I think that's really upsetting and what's really perpetuated this crisis.
Ludo
And in terms of stay at home orders, what were they like, where you live here in the US?
Ben
When the state homeowners were first put in place, schooling became online. Masks were mandatory in essential stores that remained open. Most entertainment options like restaurants or movie theaters, things of that nature closed and mass were mandatory in stores you went in. But as for enforcement, nobody could really stop you from going outside or hanging out with friends and not wearing a mask. So not much government involvement was there other than for maybe public funded areas such as parks or beaches. I'm Ben and I'm interviewing Ludo for the COVID-19 archive project. Ludo, do you consent to be interviewed?
Ludo
I do consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project.
Ben
Please state the date and time.
Ludo
It is September 2021 and it is 12:39 pm.
Ben
Okay. First question, how did schooling change once you went online?
Ludo
I definitely say that schooling took a weird turn, it became easier which was obviously a good thing for us as students but also connections with teachers were lost, which had a definitely negative impact on on all of us, I'd say. And things like friendships were hard to maintain good grades were sometimes hard to maintain for those of us that were struggling with being motivated. But it did also allow us some time to reflect on more important things like our own mental health, and put that first in a time like this. And I definitely say that the the ethic that I go into got into which was you know, working harder, meaning diligent and responsible was definitely a life lesson that I picked up during during this this time.
Ben
All right, how have you changed your habits during since the start of the pandemic?
Ludo
I definitely say the norm like now for me is washing hands on a regular even when just getting home. Like you said, I'm very wary of touching things on the subway. And before COVID definitely never thought about that had that in mind. But now I it's definitely on my mind whenever I reached to grab a pole when I'm trying to stand straight and not fall over. At the start of the pandemic, my family and I were leaving packages outside for days on end, hearing that that would help Ward away COVID if it was remaining on the packages. My mom had rules like no buying unpackaged clothing and packaged food sorry, not clothing. And now whenever I leave my room for college, I realized that I have a list of four things which is my phone, my airports, my wallet, and my mask, and obviously before COVID that last one wasn't on that list. But I'd also say that at the same time, I got into a habit of being a lot more active on social media than in real life. And now that we're back in person in college, I noticed that kind of taking a toll on us but I think we're getting back into the swing of things.
Ben
Okay. How has your perception of society changed since the start of the pandemic?
Ludo
I definitely see that I became very grateful for both my family my own health and I also came to realize the social and economic split in London which is where I was you know, born and raised and I spent the entirety of COVID and I just I sort of realized the the split in between the different worlds that you don't really notice but this you know, this time has definitely helped shine through I've come to appreciate the health care that I have access to in a first world country and I've definitely you know taken my healthcare more seriously like I was saying getting into those habits those good habits they're all getting into but I've also like realized that we have a societal role to take care of each other which is why you know we got backs in it you know not mainly to protect ourselves as young kids but to protect the oldest people and the the ones that are that are at risk.
Ben
All right. What were the nature of the state home orders where you live?
Ludo
In London it was it was pretty crazy. There were masks everywhere inside and outside from the get go there was no excuses there was police checking it and volunteers and streets making sure people have them over nose and mouth. Definitely say was eerie for the first few months you know, turning corners on streets my parents told me to make a wide loop in case I brushed up against someone and the times that that happened once or twice my parents definitely gave me some hard time for that. But this was you know, in the time when we really knew nothing about the pandemic just yeah, everything was said to be lifted July 19 of 2020 sorry 2021 and that turned out to rebound real quick and it's it's honestly more tragic than anything that that's what the UK had in mind and it really just didn't turn out that way. And they realized that they needed more time to solve this crisis. And at first you know, you could only leave home to exercise to shop for essentials to go to the doctor and to go to work if you had to work in person. So we had no real excuses for anything else. And you know only essential stores were open restaurants like you said were closed movie theaters were closed and it was it was honestly like a zombie apocalypse you'd walk out into the most you know touristy parts of London, it will be empty, it will be completely empty.
Item sets
This item was submitted on September 21, 2021 by [anonymous user] using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
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