Items

• 
  2021-10-01

  HIST30060: White Rose

  I found this sticker while I was walking to pick up a click-and-collect order. I was struck by it because of its reference to 'The White Rose', an anti-Nazi movement begun by Sophie Scholl in 1942 Germany. The insensitivity and total misunderstanding of what constitutes oppression is a touchstone to the anti-lockdown and anti-vaxxer movements. It made me wonder how they could appropriate histories of discrimination - do they simply not understand the Holocaust, or do they genuinely believe that their situation is similar to it?
• 2021-10-04

  Neglect of Prisoners

  One of the examples of bigger issues coming to light during the pandemic. Not only were people in prisons fighting covid, but they're also continually dealing with a lack of resources such as basic air conditioning/ heat.
• 
  2021-10-07

  Exposing Systemic Racism in all Areas

  While some believed the pandemic aid solved food insecurity, that couldn't be further from the truth in black neighborhoods.
• 
  2021

  Meme

  I found this to be an interesting example of how people have used humor to cope with quarantine and the pandemic, and actually ironically reflects how a lot of information has spread. While relying on social media for reliable news is not typically advised, it can be less overwhelming than professional media and reflects the day-to-day perspective more accurately.
• 
  2021-10-06

  Moving from Turkey to the United States During a Pandemic

  This story describes moving a family from Antalya, Turkey to the United States during the pandemic of 2020/2021. It attempts to enlighten the reader to the types of issues people are dealing with and how it can change a person and reveal who people are.
• 
  2021-10-03

  A Century Later

  A look at a global pandemic from a 21st century American point of view, nearly a decade after the last pandemic of the world.
• 
  2021-09-27

  COVID-19, College and a Pandemic Puppy

  I was attending Estrella Mountain Community College at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When we found out that we were going to have an extended spring break it seemed like a much-needed break at the time. Nobody knew it would change our lives forever and it especially changed mine. During the beginning of the pandemic, I completed my Associate Degree completely online and it would convince me to continue my bachelor’s degree completely online through ASU. I was able to experience this new way of learning in college and I really liked it. A lot of my peers in college have said how much they dislike online learning, but during the pandemic I learned how much I prefer online learning to in person learning. This pandemic has been one of the worst experiences I have had in my life, but it also taught me so much about myself. Another milestone during the pandemic was my family got a new puppy named Loki. She was really the highlight of our days during quarantine and gave us something to look forward to everyday. I work at an elementary school in the after-school care program, so at the beginning of the pandemic I was able to stay home and still be paid. When August 2020 came around, we had to go back to work, and it was terrifying at first. All the adults and kids were wearing masks, so it felt a little safer, but it was still very scary. The feeling of so many unknown things during this pandemic was really the worst and it just brought anxiety with every day. This pandemic also highlighted some issues that we have within our society. Things like access to covid tests and vaccines were highlighted within our society as issues. People living in less wealthy areas of the world did not have the same access to covid tests and vaccines as everyone else in the rest of the world did. This allowed the virus to spread even more than it should have already. Another big issue in our society during the pandemic was the mask debate. The virus continued to spread due to people refusing to wear masks and infecting people when they were not wearing masks. The mask debate is still ongoing because the pandemic is still not over. A huge issue we have in our society right now is the argument about whether vaccines are safe and if masks are effective. The only way we are going to end this pandemic is if everyone gets the vaccine and people continue to wear masks. This pandemic has been ongoing for almost a year and a half, it is time that we try as a society to end this pandemic.
• 
  2021-09-18

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 128

  Afghanistan exit and U.S. border- a Biden disaster
• 
  2021-02-21T16:35

  Laura Larson

  Self description: “My name is Laura, and I am in two bands right now. I am in a band called Scrunchies and a band called Kitten Forever. I play guitar, base, drums, and I sing in those two bands. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For work, I work at a community cooperative grocery store, in an administrative position, but one that is community outreach based and have a lot to do with meeting and coordinating with our community partners, a lot of the work that I do is about mutual aid, and helping out the community with the resources that we have available to us. Besides that I am a visual artist, I like to paint, I like to draw, I like to read books, and I live in a little duplex with my partner and our cat Sissy.” Some of the things we spoke about included: - In addition to performing in the bands Scrunchies and Kitten Forever, working for a community grocer and its ties to health activism. - Income and racial disparities in Minnesota. - The fear that comes with being uninsured in the United States. - The national confusion around the values of masking and other safety precautions and the burden placed on individuals to make these decisions in the absence of clear and consistent messaging. - The significance of shutting down music events while keeping sporting events going. - Media representation of event cancelations, freezers of bodies, and overwhelmed hospitals. - Living less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered and movements to defund the police. - How the ongoing destruction of the earth conditioned the pandemic and the enduring importance of climate change. - Grocery store workers being essential workers who still did not receive vaccination prioritization. - Collective trauma and that fear begets fear. - Making and consuming art as a form of self-care. - How new the internet still is as a technology. Cultural references: Save Our Stages, The Atlantic article “Cancel Everything”. See also: https://scrunchies.bandcamp.com/ https://kittenforever.bandcamp.com
• 
  2021-09-21

  COVID19 Archive Project Interview

  We completed this interview for our History of Global Pandemics class, which we take at Northeastern University.
• 
  2020-06

  Pandemic Protests

  These images from June 2020 were captured during Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in New York City following the killing of George Floyd. The first image shows City Hall the morning after BLM protests. In this image of a landmark building covered in spray painted cries for change, graffiti depicts the frustrations over the cruel injustices institutions place on people of color. The second image depicts one of many protests during summer in quarantine when New Yorkers came together on avenues, bridges, and squares. Citizens marched and chanted as police followed alongside to ensure protests remained peaceful. These images capture uniquely complex dynamics when people were forced to pursue creative avenues, reinventing social justice movements to come. My time in quarantine was not solely spent on COVID related activities, I also educated myself on how and why many US institutions remain racist, discovering ways that structural change can address unjust attitudes. I read articles written by advocates for the BLM movement and also by conservatives opposing it. In exposing myself to differing mindsets, I was better prepared to engage in conversations with others opposed to change in the hope of educating them on the pressing need for progress. Furthermore, my high school friends and I frequently Zoomed to discuss how our alma mater contributes to racism in both subtle and overt ways. These conversations allowed us to work with fellow alumni, as well as current students, to create a document clearly listing racial inequities within the student body, the faculty, and the curriculum. For each issue that we highlighted, we provided multiple alternatives for how the school could fix the matter in question. While these conversations were unexpected before the BLM protests occurred, they became productive and fulfilling conversations that in and of themselves began to address long held biases, racist representations and undercurrents of injustice within our alma mater’s community and programs.
• 
  2021-09-15

  A Story From A Chinese Immigrant In The US

  I will share my story that is about racism because of Covid-19
• 2020-03-20

  The city does sleep

  At the start of the pandemic, I was facing home insecurity and was living in a shelter for three months and special housing for 6 months. The city was the most empty I have ever seen it. Ive seen so many people, homeless people, because of the pandemic and it was devastating. It isolated people.
• 
  2021-08-28

  Schemitzun

  I attended an indigenous festival at the end of August 2021 called Schemitzun. Called the "Feast of Green Corn and Dance," the powwow took place on Mashantucket Pequot grounds and hosted various tribes competing in music and dance. My family and I attended as audience members and we were truly struck by the spirit of the event. The main announcer explained at various points during the festival that this year's powwow was very special, since Covid-19 had canceled the event the year before. He explained that events like Schemitzun keep the indigenous community connected and vibrant, and this year's event was meant to be a celebration of perseverance and survival. I found it incredibly powerful that indigenous communities continue to thrive and grow despite centuries of struggle, and managed to survive the Covid-19 pandemic on top of that.
• 
  2021-08-27

  hermit HERALD, ISSUE 125

  Afghanistan, "None of this had to happen."
• 
  2020-10-28

  The Minimum Wage Spotlight

  The photographic story I've uploaded is about my [family member], Andres, who even with the pandemic at its worst peak, in 2020, had to continue in his job. He's an Arizona field laborer, a key worker for the farm he works in. The conditions are difficult, with a minimum wage that doesn't match the amount of work he does. As the photos indicate, his job can start at a very early time when the sun hasn't even risen. His job usually lasts 12 hours, so when it's the night shift, he doesn't come back till the morning hours. There are weeks when he has to stay inside a hot tractor for hours and there are other days when he has to do a lot of moving and carrying around. Due to the difficult weather Arizona may have, there’s a constant danger of heatstroke especially since a lot of his work includes physical labor. Looking deeper, these pictures of the work Andres does feels like a representation of the unequal power there is in the minimum wage system. Here we have a field laborer, who due to lack of education and financial resources growing up, wasn’t able to reach for higher positions that require degrees. He grew up in a poverty-stricken family and alongside being a Latino immigrant, opportunities were few and far between so in order to assure he keeps himself and his family fed and sheltered, so he’s forced to continue a job that doesn’t contain the best conditions or pay. This is only emphasized within the pandemic, minimum wage workers forced to continue working in bad conditions including the risk of getting sick because, in order to keep their head above water, they must. And yet, even with all the dangers and the long hours, their pay doesn’t reflect the job. This also connects to race, minorities most of the time stuck in these places due to the disadvantages they grew up with and continue to face. It’s the life of an individual who is input in a life in which already starts with less compared to privileged others, and then a pandemic hits which only emphasizes the disadvantages already there. Overall, the pandemic truly has put a spotlight on the many issues society already had.
• 
  2021-08-14

  One person stabbed as COVID anti-vaxxers and counterdemonstrators clash in front of L.A. City Hall

  The title of this article quickly caught my attention and then I immediately felt saddened by the reality that this pandemic has been politicized from the beginning. People have become so passionate that they have lost all reason. There are always two sides to every story but I find it so hard to understand who oppose vaccinations and reject science. Its not at all surprising that the anti-vax side of this particular story showed up in MAGA hats, its further proof of the political foundation of their argument to "fight for their rights". I understand that people want the right to decide, but then those same people refuse to get tested regularly. This issue has been a messy and passionate one from the beginning and its really hard not to blame Donald Trump for the misinformation that is still being used by the anti-vax community.
• 
  2021-08-10

  Mask Required for Service

  Signs have become so common these days that I often catch myself making sure if a business requires masks or prefers customers not to (I've seen those too). I take an extra moment to enjoy personalized signs like these. I love the solutions to the dumb questions at the end. If everyone would just wear a mask I wonder how low our numbers would be. My favorite part is the last sentence of the paragraph "Do not choose to be the reason the rest of the world is laughing at us."
• 
  2021-08-11

  First day of school

  While many on my social media feed are in arms about tighter vaccine regulations, some realize that the pandemic is not over. As the new school year starts there are many mothers who share in my fear. Covid is still alive and well, new strains continue to form breeding in the bodies of the unvaccinated. The worse part is that this time the elderly seem much safer than our children. Our children are being sent back to school, life has returned to "normal" as the number of hospitalized children continues to rise. I share my fears with this friend who popped up on my feed this morning. Will our kids be safe? Will my daughter get infected? Will there be another lockdown? I too feel like it's become too much to ask for my kids to simply be happy and healthy because both now depend on the actions (or misactions) of others.
• 
  2021-08-10

  Resilience, Hope, and Turbulent Waters: have we learned?

  I’m torn. I see resilience and hope: Resilience of so many in societies across the world who reconfigured their everyday lives to attempt to keep the virus at bay and hope swept in largely by Biden and his competent army of experienced workers who believe in the power of government to be a positive and unifying agent of change. But, we have a troubled world with a geopolitical climate and an environmental climate pushing us into turbulent waters. I’m torn because I have seen the virus pull us together as a community of pods and isolate us from one another. My hope and dream? That we learn from this Covid journey to do better with the other crises bearing down on us. That each of us take up individually and as a community the challenge to address climate change now in our homes, in our daily tasks, in the way we function in our communities, and at the ballot box.
• 2020-03-18

  My Personal Pandemic Experience [REVIEW]

  In March, 2020, a global pandemic started. Before that, jokes were made. "Coronavirus is going to take out the whole world". When the month of March began, most people were confused or very strongly opinionated about what was going to happen. It was the news of all news. Rumors got worse and worse and it was said that you could get the virus through your eyeballs, nose, and mouth. People got scared of getting sick so the world completely changed. Masks started arising with the thought that they'd slow the spread. Shortly after, however, masks became very political. In the world of demanding masks, canceling school, major political conflict and complete chaos I felt worried, annoyed, angered, and most of all disappointed in and for what the world became.
• 
  2021-08-04

  hermit HERALD, ISSUE 123

  Vax appeal
• 
  2021-07-10

  Moving on

  I am hoping that the divisiveness of the last few years will go away. People no longer disagree, they attribute negative intentions and even criminality to anyone who thinks differently than they do. We all live in the same city. We need to pull together not tear each other down. We need to hold each other up and stop all the "us" and "them". We are Santa Monica.
• 
  2021-02-25

  The Role of Community Gardens During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  The pandemic has brought the issues of food insecurity and the fragility of our food system to the forefront. This article discusses how household food insecurity disproportionately affects lower-income families and Black and Hispanic communities. Community gardens are one way to address these issues, providing mental health benefits, social and emotional support, and public health benefits during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-07-29

  Basilico’s Pasta e Vino in Huntington Beach

  After submitting a restaurant's sign promoting their anti-vax stance I was curious as to whether or not they were still in business. It turns out this restaurant has made quite a buzz in California. They unapologetically promote misinformation and publically prefer their customers to be unvaccinated but happily took thousands in PPP funds. They have spent money on controversial billboards and are not at risk of losing their liquor license. I'm so interested to see where else this story goes. The last sentence of this article sums up the ignorance of the restaurant owner - “Our stand is for all Americans,” wrote Roman. “They can thank us later.”
• 
  2020-12-22

  The Virus Is Showing Black People What They Knew All Along

  In this article, author Patrice Peck discusses how black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at 1.7 times the rate of whites. In her words "19,000 Black people would still be alive if not for systemic racism."
• 
  2020-12-22

  How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men

  This is a fascinating and heartbreaking article about the struggles of young black men and health inequity brought to light by COVID-19. The difficulties of systemic racism are costing young black men their lives.
• 
  2021-03-07

  The COVID Racial Data Tracker

  This data tracker showed how Covid-19 disproportionately affected black, Latinx, and indigenous communities.
• 
  2021-07-21

  Latest Data on COVID-19 Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity

  This is an analysis of equity in vaccine distribution. The data shows a disparity between whites and Asians (whose vaccination rates were equal to or higher than their case counts) and black, Latino, Native American, and Native Hawaiians (whose vaccination rates were generally lower than their case counts). In recent weeks, however, these numbers seem to be improving.
• 
  2021-07-06

  COVID-19 Cases by Race/Ethnicity

  This is an interactive chart and map that allows the user to look at covid rates by race and state.
• 
  2021-07-21

  Coronavirus and Latino Health Equity

  With the rise of COVID-19, the team at Salud America! is digitally curating content about what the coronavirus pandemic means for Latino health equity.
• 
  2020-04-16

  Infographic: 8 Big Ways Coronavirus Impacts Latinos

  This infographic and the accompanying articles discuss the disproportionate impact that coronavirus has on Latino communities.
• 
  2020-03-24

  Disabled People React to Coronavirus Work From Home Accommodations

  Individuals with disabilities have fought for accommodations to work from home for years. The pandemic has seen the development of widespread teleworking, with employers now providing accommodations for their workers to work at home. This situation is bittersweet for disabled individuals, who have experienced job loss and job frustration because of the lack of accommodations they faced in pre-pandemic times. It is hoped that now that employers are providing alternative work options including working at home they will continue this trend post-pandemic and provide more job opportunities and job growth for disabled individuals who require work-at-home options.
• 
  2021-07-19

  Erie County Health Equity

  This Buffalo News article discusses the racial disparities impacting the residents of Erie County during the pandemic. The article claims that the pandemic shined a light on the racial disparities as more African American community members were becoming infected and dying from COVID.
• 
  2021-04-19

  Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

  The pandemic has brought the issue of health inequity in the United States, based on factors such as race and ethnicity, to the forefront. Racial and ethnic minority populations make up a disproportionate essential workers. Poverty restricts access to health care for many individuals. The country must address these issues of health equity and social justice now and continue to address it t ensure the health and safety of all those living in the United States. The website provides references, information, and data on the link between ethnicity and race and COVID-19.
• 
  2020-05-24

  Why We've Created New Language for Coronavirus

  Language is ever evolving, and an event such as the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly led to new words and phrases in the English language and to new definitions for existing words and phrases. It remains to be seen which words that were coined during the pandemic will survive long-term and which ones will remain in a dictionary rather than in regular usage. This article, describing the English language from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), describes changes in British, Indian, Canadian, and Australian English during these pandemic times. It discusses the speed of the linguistic change brought about by the pandemic and the coining of new words and phrases and new definitions of existing words and phrases.
• 
  2020-12-01

  Five Experts Reflect on the Health Equity Implications of the Pandemic

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Blog published this article which contains the words of 5 different experts on health inequity during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-07-12

  SMhopes banners

  These banners were made from submissions to the #SMhopes call on this site, and displayed around the City of Santa Monica in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Designed by Paula Goldman and supported by a grant from Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.
• 
  2021-07-10

  Manzanar

  As a historian, US History teacher, and mother of two Asian-American children, I make a point to expose my children to all aspects of America’s history: good, bad, and ugly. Thanks to COVID, we had the opportunity to show the kids one of the country’s ugliest moments - Japanese internment. The desolate desert in the middle of our home state is an area I had never driven through before COVID, despite having lived in CA my entire life and being (supposedly) 8th or 9th generation Californian on my dad’s side. However, there is no way I’m putting my family on an airplane during a pandemic, which limits vacation options. So into the car for an eight hour drive to Tahoe. A drive that goes right past Manzanar, the Japanese American World War II concentration camp. Unlike last year, when we made the same drive for the first time in my life, the exhibits, buildings, and visitor center were open with masks and social distancing. As we stood in the barrack in the 106 degree temperature, I told my kids to never forget how uncomfortable they felt and to consider the fact that they were feeling awful from the heat as tourists. I told them to imagine living in this heat as a prisoner though you committed no crime except having ancestors from Japan. They may be young, but they are old enough to understand human rights. Visiting Manzanar was overwhelming. I am not a very emotional person, but I was taken aback by the fact that this history is so recent. My best friend’s dad was born in Tule Lake, where Japanese-Americans who refused to take the forced loyalty oath were sent. That is only one generation before mine. Seeing and experiencing second hand through family and friends the hatred directed toward Asian-Americans during this pandemic made the experience in Manzanar extra raw. Though I refuse to thank COVID for anything because I think that’s a bit tone deaf for all who have lost and suffered during this pandemic, I am grateful that the circumstances that led us to drive to Tahoe instead of fly led us also to a place of reflection on prejudice and race, especially in the climate of today.
• 
  2021-06-14

  Anti-racism advertisements at Times Square

  These are two photos of anti-racist advertisements I saw in Times Square on June 14, 2021. One is an advertisement on a digital advertisement board that says "#NOHATE AGAINST JEWS" in white text on a blue background, while the other is a poster on the side of a garbage receptacle that says "FIGHT THE VIRUS NOT THE PEOPLE #STOPASIANHATE", made by artist Zipeng Zhu.
• 
  2021-07-02

  HERMIT HERALD,ISSUE 119

  Intro Dr. Shelby Steele
• 
  2021-06-23

  HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 118

  Portland promotion
• 
  2021-07-02

  No kids in the hallways

  I work as a director of a Boys & Girls Club in Cleveland, Tennessee. For anyone unfamiliar with the Boys & Girls Club, we are a Department of Education-certified after-school and summer program. Our organization is comprised of fourteen Clubs across four counties and, prior to COVID-19, we served over 1,000 Club members every day. Immediately following the outbreak of COVID-19, the hallways of our Clubs were empty. In a matter of hours, an invaluable local resource became inaccessible to hundreds of families who depended on our support. This was an extremely difficult time. Fortunately, our organization has an exceptional leadership team. From the moment our doors closed in March 2020, our administration began working around the clock to adapt our program into one that was both virtual and accessible. Clubs began having daily ZOOM calls with their members, calling families to just check in, making silly YouTube videos and connecting with teen members on safe and secure social media platforms. Even further, our administration ensured that no one was laid off and employees still had plenty of work to do. With our hallways emptied, we were divided into small teams that could easily work in a socially-distanced manner and were assigned to a number of facility maintenance projects. We knew that one day our Club members would return, and when they did, we wanted their Clubs to be fresh, clean, and updated. I was assigned to the floors team. This team was charged with stripping and waxing all of the floors in each of the fourteen Clubs. For about eight weeks straight, I became overly familiar with the burning, sterile scent of Zep Heavy Duty Floor Products. Even with an industrial mask, the sharp and bitter aroma of the cleaner was pungent. Now, anytime the floors need to be done in my own building, I am taken back to those 14 weeks there were no kids in the hallways. Fortunately, we re-opened our doors to our Club members on June 1st, 2020 with strict health and safety protocols, and only at half capacity. We remained at half capacity until June 1st, 2021 when we were finally able to fully re-open our sites. Our numbers have still not returned to what they were, but we are slowly getting there. The important thing to us is that we are able to safely provide much-needed services to our community.
• 
  2021-06-28

  My Pandemic Experience

  When the pandemic was coming, I was initially relieved. I was supposed to fly to Chicago to visit my sister and go to our favorite band’s (Keane) concert, but as a person with anxiety and panic disorder who is terrified of airplanes and crowds it allowed me to back out. The concert was cancelled. It was the excuse I needed to back out without shame or blame. It seems silly now, but at the time covid seemed more like a bad cold or flu to me. It seemed like another Swine Flu or Avian Flu or other scare in recent memory which hadn’t amounted to a plague style pandemic. Lockdown was even kind of nice at first. My husband, daughter, and I got to spend a lot of family time together. I had taught ESL online for a number of years previously, so converting my in school classes to online was easy. I had no problems teaching over Zoom. I’m a homebody anyway, by habit and by anxiety, so this was great… until the body count started. I was horrified and sickened to hear about the freezer containers being used in New York City to store the overflow of bodies. The germaphobia that had plagued me in childhood, that I had gone to years of therapy to overcome, came roaring back with a vengeance. Like everyone else, I went to the grocery store to stock up so I wouldn’t have to leave me house for awhile, only to find shelf after shelf empty. As a super health conscious, organic, vegan my choices were extremely limited. My husband and daughter aren’t vegan, but they do eat only organic, which became impossible. Soap, disinfectant, cleaners, and hand sanitizers were nowhere to be found. At a time when it was so important to be as clean and healthy as possible all those modern conveniences were utterly gone. I felt helpless. I imagined that people living during pandemics like the bubonic plague and Spanish flu must have felt similarly. After a couple of weeks, quarantine started to feel more like a claustrophobic prison sentence than a family vacation. I missed my sister, my parents, my friends, my colleagues, and my students. On my birthday and Easter I just had to wave at my parents through the glass door. My favorite hobby- taekwondo, which I had started in order to relieve stress and help with my anxiety was taken from me. I had to do the classes online from my living room, which was nearly impossible. I felt trapped. A raging epidemic across the planet from which there was no escape. If I spent too much time thinking about it, I would start to feel the claw of panic. By the time summer arrived I was at breaking point. Luckily with summer we had some reprieve. Case loads declined, and I started meeting my best friend outside. We socially distanced ourselves and wore masks, but we were together and that was a start. By the end of summer she and her boyfriend were on our “quaranteam” that is we decided we could see each other since we weren’t seeing anyone else. In the fall school started. Since I teach at a Catholic school we were able to have school in person full time, though we had students in every grade who opted to go remote. But my bestie and I were back in the building with most of the kids, and I started to feel less trapped. I was going to stores masked and my daughter was also in school. But as soon as Thanksgiving hit everything changed again. So many people ignored all of the recommendations and restrictions and got together with family and friends. It made me so angry that people were so careless. A friend of mine had a large family in Pennsylvania who all got together for Thanksgiving. She didn’t go because she thought it was reckless. 8 out of 14 people at the family dinner got covid and 2 of them died. Then at Christmas, my great uncle passed. No funeral. No wake. Nothing. Schools shut down again. We were trapped. Then the vaccines came. It was nearly impossible to get one for a long time even if you were eligible. Slots filled as fast as they were posted. You needed to present a lot of proof of eligibility in order to get one. As a teacher, I was able to get mine earlier than many others. I got the Moderna. The first shot made me feel a little sick for a few hours, but with the second I had a fever of 103.5, aches, chills, nausea for 12 hours and a general malaise for 3 days. A friend of mine in taekwondo, who has some autoimmune problems, had a severe reaction after her first Moderna vaccine. She has had side effects for a few months now that are not going away. She has dizzy spells and heart palpitations regularly. She is undergoing testing and being monitored by the CDC. Despite some horror stories, the vaccine is still the absolute best thing that we could have hoped for. I would like my daughter to get it as soon as they open it to the under 12 population. A lot of people won’t get the vaccine because they are in the “Science is fake, I’m a Trump supporter” camp. In my opinion, Trump’s misinformation and mishandling of the pandemic cost tens of thousands of American lives, and his diversive legacy is going to cost us dearly for many years to come. It is now June again. School just finished. New York State is allowing people to enter buildings unmasked if they are vaccinated, but few people are actually requiring any proof. Given that the people with a cavalier attitude toward wearing masks are many of the same people who are against getting vaccinated, an honors system policy towards wearing masks is really just a no-mask policy. It is very frustrating to me that people can’t just deal with masks for a while longer to fully insure this disease’s eradication before we have another relapse and find ourselves back in quarantine again.
• 
  2020-06-14

  Solace in the Smell

  This is a story about how hand sanitizer kept one woman hopeful during the pandemic. "Sanitation theater" was a coping mechanism used by individuals, businesses, and organizations used to convince ourselves that we were safe. So much of what we needed during the pandemic, was respite from the dread and insecurity. So much was unknown and so much felt out of control. The smell of the hand sanitizer produced by my local distillery instantly evokes the emotions I felt at the height of the pandemic
• 
  2021-01-26

  Running Out of Adoptable Pets

  During the pandemic, shelters are having the best problem possible- there aren't enough homeless animals to meet the demand. It is a dream come true scenario for animal lovers everywhere. With more people working from home than ever before, families have more time to devote to a pet. Hopefully the trend will continue, and owners will not surrender their animals after life returns to normal.
• 
  2020

  Pet Adoption Statistics 2020

  We heard so many wonderful and uplifting stories of pet adoption during the pandemic. If you wanted a dog, particularly a puppy, you most likely had to sit on a waiting list to get one. This anecdotal evidence points toward a huge increase in pet adoption, but what do the numbers tell us? This data report from PetPoint, who has been tracking pet surrender and adoption data nationwide since 2005, paints a slightly different picture. Pet surrenders reduced significantly, so there just weren't as many pets in need of adoption. Pet adoption percentages actually decreased in 2020 from 2019. So the pet adoption boon that we imagined was happening, was not the miracle story that animal enthusiasts were hoping for. As we emerge from the pandemic it will be interesting to look at the final report at the end of 2021 to see if there is a drastic increase in surrenders as many shelters are anticipating.
• 
  2021-05-13

  Pandemic Pets Return to Shelters

  Sadly, as the nation returns to work and activities, pets adopted during the pandemic are paying the price. According to the article, owner surrenders are up more than 80% from this time last year. People did not think far enough ahead about what would happen once the pandemic was over. Now its the poor animals who have to pay the price. When will people learn that animals are not toys to be thrown away when it becomes inconvenient?
• 
  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!!
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  2020-03-18

  How Will COVID-19 Change the World? Historian Frank Snowden on Epidemics From the Black Death to Now

  This video is an interview the Democracy Now did with Frank Snowden, Professor Emeritus at Yale University early on in the pandemic (March 18, 2020). Dr. Snowden specializes in the history of epidemic diseases and the history of modern Italy. His father was the first African American ambassador to Italy. At the time of the interview, Dr. Snowden was in lockdown in Rome, Italy. He had gone there to research another project when the pandemic hit, so he changed his focus to studying covid-19. He contracted the disease himself, but was lucky enough to live through it. I was particularly interested in Dr. Snowden's views on the pandemic since I had watched his Yale lecture series on epidemics available on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3AE7B3B6917DE8E6) which was incredible in its thorough exploration of some of the worlds worst outbreaks. In the interview he states that an early modern Florentine would recognize a lot of governments' actions to combat covid-19 as very similar to those used by the Italian city-states and elsewhere in Europe to combat bubonic plague, especially the concept of quarantine. He also addresses the startling commonality between anti-Semitism during the first several plague outbreaks to the Sinophobia and xenophobia seen during our current pandemic. The interviewer also brings up a great question about the possibility of fascism arising out of strict government measures to combat disease. I was particularly curious to hear Dr. Snowden's response in light of the protests in the United States against quarantine and mask-wearing. He acknowledged that while it could be one outcome, it is not the only nor the most probable possibility. Many governments have voluntarily ended their strict measures during pandemics without devolving into fascist states. Now that the pandemic is, it seems, waning I believe it is abundantly clear that those Americans who feared that their freedoms were threatened by historically proven practices were both selfish and foolish. They and our ineffective and dangerous leadership cause the United States to become a hotbed for Covid-19, while other countries who swiftly enacted and enforced lockdown measures and mask mandates, such as New Zealand and Italy, recovered much more quickly. I contend that Donald Trump and his sheep are responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths.