On January 5th, 2020, the World Health Organization(WHO) published an article containing risk assessment and advice to the scientific and public health community on how to manage a new string of pneumonia that seemingly originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province (China). At the time very little was known about the virus. Although multiple people have reported having suffered from similar symptoms as early as November of 2019, doctors were unable to pinpoint the root cause of this mysterious flu-like illness. On March 11th, 2020, the WHO assessed that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. The President of the United States said that it would just “go away.” It didn’t. By then, the virus had been allowed to spread rapidly and substantially. Today, the death toll worldwide is somewhere north of 1.8 million. In the U.S., 341 thousand and counting.
Covid-19 has affected everyone; some more than others. On a larger scale, the virus itself served as a reminder that we humans are not invincible. Mortality is a real thing. Nothing instills more fear into a person than knowing something as simple as a walk down the street could mean certain death. Covid has completely changed our way of life. How we live, how we move, and how we operate in all aspects are now different. Simple freedoms we once took for granted may never come back; A trip to the theater, a party, or a live event all seems unfathomable, much less, fun. This is our reality.
If nothing else, Covid-19 has been a complete inconvenience. As of November, 31% of New Jersey’s small businesses that were open in January are now closed. The vast majority of us either lost our job, had our hours cut, or were forced into some sort of online version of what our position entailed. For those of us out of work, we waited for a $1200 Economic Impact Payment or “stimulus check” that didn’t arrive until mid-April for some, later for others. Whether the government fumbled the ball on virus prevention and response (they did) or if the provided financial support was sufficient (it wasn’t) is neither here nor there. What's important is that in some way, shape, or form we all have been impacted by this pandemic. If you’re not sure whether you have been, try going anywhere outside of your four walls without a mask covering your nose and mouth. Exactly.
My family has been impacted in both large and small ways. I’ve lost countless relatives to this virus. It became habitual for my 73-year-old grandmother to blindside me with more death and bad news while I made my daily lunches. I don’t blame her. The least I can do is bear the burden of information with her. After all, the elderly are who are at most risk. She’s been forced to sit idly by while her oldest friends and random family drop off like flies by the day. Hope and faith serving as the only assurance that you won’t be next. With funerals forbidden initially, the opportunity for last goodbyes became impossible. A tough pill to swallow for anybody who suffered a loss this year. Thankfully, a year later she remains healthy and happy. Her brother, my great-uncle, also managed to survive this tough time. To her delight, he often comes to visit. Usually for their weekly supermarket trips, or to just catch up.
His visit on June 9th was slightly different than usual. My uncle was here with a different motivation today. He needed a haircut. Typically, he would go to his barber in South Orange. Every Black man has a barber that they’re loyal to. Only a few things can come between a Black Man and his barber; death, business closure, and screwing up his hairline. His barber hadn’t died, but like many other services, salons and shops had been shut down at the time. Closures don’t stop hair from growing and my uncle wasn’t feeling the scruffy look. Enter my dad, my uncle’s 49-year-old nephew, and the only male family member in a 50-mile radius who knows his way around a pair of clippers. He walked in shortly before my Uncle arrived with his tools in hand. He pulled up a dining room chair for my Uncle to sit in, prepped his tools and they began.
At first glance, it would seem this is just a simple exchange between a man and his nephew, but the sight encompassed so much beauty, pride and, perseverance. Haircuts began in the home before there were shops. Now, they have been forced back into the home. Simple tasks like haircuts have become personal again. There’s beauty in that. That little extra bit of tender loving care or the “me-time” doing it yourself requires. For all the bad this pandemic has brung, it has also given us something invaluable: time. For the first time in a long time, many people have time. Time to rest, time to work on that project, or to start that business. Time to breathe. Time is the one commodity no man can buy nor get back. Time should be more important than anything else in the world yet we take it for granted because we assume we have all the time in the world. We don’t. We don’t know when our time will be up, but one thing is for sure, your time will run out. Covid-19 has given us the gift of time. I hope you’re using yours wisely. To be continued.