Items

2020-11

Free drinks?

I was working at Target in Fullerton, CA while I was going to school for my bachelors degree, as the first year of covid-19 was winding down to its end. On my lunch break, I would usually grab a drink from the Starbucks located inside the store at the front. Usually working there would be a young woman around the same age as myself. Around this time of year I would get myself an iced peppermint mocha, and the first time that I got one there, I asked how much it would be, but the barista smiled behind her mask and said there was no charge. I thought this was a nice perk of the job and thought nothing of it. This became a regular thing until one day I ordered a drink with a different barista working behind the counter. He took my order and then expectantly told me how much my drink would be. I expressed my confusion, but he insisted, and I did not argue. I paid for my drink and went back to the break room. I told some of my coworkers how the barista had made me pay for my drink, and I was met with a confused "yeah... we all pay for our drinks." I probed a little more, and they all assured me that it was not a part of our job to get free drinks at the Starbucks. I smiled as I thought of the usual barista and how special she had made me feel. I was the only one who did not have to pay for my drink while she was working. Maybe that meant that she had feelings for me, or maybe she just decided to express a subtle act of kindness to me in particular. Either way, I felt deeply appreciated in a way that almost no one else made me feel during that year. In a time when strangers could almost have no meaningful interactions, with their faces almost entirely obscured by masks, this person that I didn't even know made me feel more seen than any stranger had in previous years. That peppermint mocha tasted sweeter than any of the others had because of her, even though it was the only one that hadn't been made by her. I still remember the sensation of it.

2020-03-16

A Warm Hug

This personal item is a jacket I received from a customer back during the Spring of 2020. I was an essential worker at Lowe's at the time and quarantine had just been mandated. It was an extremely cold and rainy day; cold to the point of where the wind was blowing the doors to-and-fro and I could not ring up a customer without stopping to put my hands in my pockets. As I worked, a middle-age guest, comes up to register and noticed that I was shivering nonstop. She paused as she got ready to hand me her payment and asked if I needed another jacket. I smiled and told her “No, I’m okay,” but she persisted and asked again. I reassured her that I was okay and she nodded and smiled sweetly and told me “thank you” and to have a bless day. After she left, I did not think much about the encounter besides the fact that she was genuinely a sweet and kind woman. About 30 minutes later, the same woman approached me in my line again, but this time with a Target bag in her hand and jacket in the other. With a sweet smile again, she told me that she used the last bit of her cash she had on her to go buy me something warm so I would not freeze the rest of my shift. While it was a small act, it meant a lot to me considering that she was stranger and was willing to go that far to make sure I was okay. I was not able to give the woman a hug after the exchange (we actually gave each other a "COVID fist bump" out of solidarity,) but it honestly felt all the same. Her act showed me that despite race, gender, age, or orientation, we were all one in the same in that moment and that we were all going through the same trials, worries, and circumstances. To this day, I still have the jacket in my closet and I always wear it at home or outside when I need a warm hug. Whether there is an pandemic a war, or any crisis, going on in the world that experience taught me that it does not cost anything to be nice to another human being. Although there were many more hardships I experienced that year, I always looked back to moment for comfort and remembered that there was a sweet lady out there giving me love and endurance.

This is a picture taken of a woman wearing a sun dress, sitting in a chair.

2020-06-24

Rediscovering a Family Passion

In the pandemic, Kimry reached back to her roots and decided to create a garden. When asked by friends on Facebook what did she put into the ground to make it so fertile? She replied "I put love into my ground, I put hope into my ground, I put patience into my ground and I put heart and soul into my ground. In life you can try and put this into people and yield no love back, no real friendship, and no real kindness. But, I tell you, Mother Earth will show you, that you deserve all that you put into her and more. God's time can be so quiet, calming, and so peaceful."

2020

Working at a Restaurant, Winter 2020

In the wintertime, I work at a restaurant inside a ski resort. This past winter, NYS had just opened up restaurants with very tight restrictions: no more than 4 to a table, close at 10 pm, must order food with alcohol.... and so on. Anyway, as the restaurant floor manager, it was my responsibility to police all these restrictions. Some people were very kind and understanding about the whole situation. They would split up their party of 5 in two groups; one of three and the other of two, and thank us for our willingness to work during this time. Others, however, were not thrilled about the restrictions and argued with us, as if it was our idea to put in place all the restrictions. We had so many people complain about the rules as if we could actually do something about it. Many left or demanded free drinks because of their inconveniences. It was very stressful to deal with this! Be kind to your servers!!

2021-03-23

#JOTPYLesson from Sara Ramos

in the midst of such a trying year, it’s the kindness that always stands out.

This is a picture of a sign at the start of a trail, it reads: "Need to read lips to communicate? Ask me to remove my face covering from a safe distance." A map, and information about the National Park Service is posted next to this sign.

2021-03-20

If You Need To Read Lip's...

At Muir Woods National Park the park ranger had a sign displayed, If you need to read lips just let them know and they will remove their face coverings to communicate with you. I was super impressed. This year has be rough. I make my husband do the shopping after a man yelled at me at the beginning of the pandemic because I didn't hear the cashier the next isle over when she said she could help me. The man yelled, "What are you deaf?" and I was too embarrassed to defend myself. I don't wear my hearing aids now because of the mask. Insurance wont cover the cost of the hearing aid and it costs more than my car. I am worried a hearing aid will fly off when I remove my mask so against the advisement of my audiologist I just keep them off. It's whatever. Seeing signs like this just impress me. Inclusivity matters.

2021-03-04

For some, there will never be a "back to normal"

"(via @readingstar18) When you say "I can't wait until things get back to normal" know that my life will never be "normal" again. When you say "Soon #COVID will just be a bad memory" know that Covid was a traumatic event and will always be a reminder of how my life drastically changed forever. When people say that #COVID19 is a hoax or only affects the elderly or people with underlying health conditions, remember I lost my young and healthy husband to this horrible virus. When you see something written about me and my family and say its fake news made up by the media as a scare tactic, I know that I am a very real person going through a very real tragedy and I share my heartbreaking and important story to show that #COVID19 can affect anyone. Nine months since my #HealthcareHero husband lost his life and the insensitive comments made by others continues to add to our grief. Covid is very real and has had a lasting impact on my children and me. So please be kind to those who are trying to heal and move forward."

2020-10-28

‘I’m here for you’

2020 is a difficult year, especially for someone like me staying alone in foreign lands. What frustrated me was not only the difficulties in life, but also loneliness and lost. I have no roommate in Melbourne. Therefore, after the 5km travel ban was issued, I rarely contact with the outside world. Not only that, many of my friends choose to defer their studies and stayed in their mother country due to the plague so I gradually lost contact with them. In this case, speak to my classmates on the tutorial became almost the only way for me to communicate with the outside world. I am not ready to face this situation, and these sudden changes made me so depressed. Social distancing between men made me feel ignored and isolated, and I even considered about postponing my studies. Until a few days ago, I found some cards (as in the photo) from my apartment’s common zone. On the front page of the card there is ‘I’m here for you’, and residents could leave their contact information on the card to people who want to make new friends. I take one of the cards and left my message. Although I have not contacted that person so far, I can feel the kindness from strangers, and the support there makes me believe that everything will be fine. #HIST30060

0202-10-08

Time to Slow Down and Reflect

What I have learned the most through COVID 19 is how much hate there is in the world. I am a miniscule piece of this planet and if I can strive and share a positive attitude, I would want that for everyone else. Life isn’t perfect, but we can try to be more respectful, caring, and understanding of others. This time of quarantine has really shown me how much I needed to slow down. Slow down and really reflect and meditate what is truly important to me now, and what is important to me and for my future. The hate that we focus on in our society comes from years and years of hurt and hatred. But it’s time for a change; it’s time for us to learn about each other and get to a point where we can all respectfully understand each other. You can never understand what everyone is going through, but they go through it every single day. It’s important to make sure others aren’t alone, and that healing takes time. The constant grind that we live going to work, being social, going to school, and traveling gets tiresome and the quality time of it all gets drowned by the stress and drama. We can use this time of quarantine to stop and realize what truly is important for our health: mental, physical, and spiritual.

2020-08

Covid in Ogden, Utah

These photos are some of the things around the city where I live. I decided to put them in here because I think it is important to see how different cities around the world have reacted to the pandemic.

2020-03-19

Fighting Creative Blocks During Quarentine

Of course the pandemic hit everyone's motivation and zest for daily life pretty hard, but as an artist whose social circles are mainly comprised of other artists, I noticed an especially hard hit to the creative output of my peers. I've heard before that suffering and despair is supposed to bring out the best artists have to offer, but in reality the inverse is often true- Van Gogh painted the Starry Night while he was getting specialized care in a mental health facility, after all. It's hard to find your spark when it feels like the world is caving in on all sides, but I was determined to find a way to keep myself from falling into a months long creative drought I knew I'd find myself in if I didn't do something about it. I didn't have the energy or desire to touch full sized pieces, but I reasoned with myself that I could stand to go smaller scale to save on both energy and time without sacrificing the feeling of accomplishment that comes with a finished piece, and so the day before every non-essential business in town shut down, I ran to my local Michael's and picked up the cheapest acrylic paints I could find and 3 packs of six 2 inch square canvases. I tried to think of a subject that could easily be captured on such a small surface, but was also sure to spark joy in myself and perhaps others if i chose to share them, and landed on the topic of pets, since they were easily one of the biggest comforts for myself and everyone else I knew during our prolonged stints sitting at home. It was a good move, I think- looking at an an image of an animal for long periods of time never hurts your mood, and sharing photos of the finished paintings with my friends who own the animals pictured brought a boost of serotonin to both parties involved. More than one person suggested I start an etsy page and sell them, but I think I'm content to just let them be a quarantine hobby and act of kindness during a deeply depressing time.