“Hey, gang. We saw in the news that a meme was posted about Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago police, Chicago schools, and some characters that sure do look like us. The Mystery Machine has solved this one and those are actually members of the CTU wearing masks of us, too!
“We have a message to the organization: Chicago Teachers Union, read some books and educate yourselves on civil discourse. Don’t impersonate us for your own views. We’re not a part of your union. We’re a beloved cartoon for kids. Racist memes just aren’t groovy; not back in our day and not now.”
The political cartoon below depicts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Black woman, as a criminal disguised as a white police officer, in retaliation for not agreeing to CTU’s demands. Effectively, she is in Whiteface. The Chicago Teachers Union makes light of current events in which this May, video documented how George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck as a method of restraint. Or of the various other white police officers in different communities who used excessive force against Black men, who consequently died as a result of police brutality, and are now finally being charged themselves. These videos have further revealed the systemic problem in policing which is finally being recognized and deplored by many citizens, businesses, and officials. Today people are getting clued in to the many instances of the assumed guilt of Blacks when approached by police, and for the bias by some police against Blacks, as evidenced in cases from different states, but all that seems to be mocked in this cartoon as well.
At a time where the country has seen mass protests sparked by George Floyd’s death, and against police brutality and racism, this whole image seeks to subvert the national discourse that has erupted and attempts to reinforce negative stereotypes of Blacks in this country.
We reached SFO airport on June 1, and to my relief, it was mostly empty. Six months have passed since I stepped onto a plane, and I travel often. Even the less busy days at airports looked nothing like what I saw at Terminal 3 on our travel day. Currently, only essential travel is still advised by the CDC.
The reopening of America will test your mettle and your comfort zone. The term “you live in a bubble”, or “don’t burst my bubble,” has become literal in the pandemic. Forget “TGIF” or “date night”, are you staying in, or, going out this summer?
The Beach Boys’ songs keep playing in my head, but I haven’t set foot on the beach yet. I’ve never been so protective of my bubble, which includes my household, and my personal space, and I’m already a germaphobe. Social distancing was ingrained in me from March 16, thanks to Governor Newsom, and likely a good segment of the American population by now, depending where you live and what your governor mandated. Maybe not, if you went to any pool-parties-gone-wild lately in Missouri. Summer’s for blowing bubbles, not popping them, folks.
Getting out of my bubble wasn’t easy psychologically after sheltering in place for months. My home has become my fortress. I had a couple sleepless nights leading up to our essential travel. Yet, there was a certain freedom, if not a carefreeness, I felt once out of the house and on my way somewhere, anywhere. We chose an airline that we knew would be blocking seats, especially after that viral photo of a packed United flight was posted by an American doctor in May coming from New York into this very airport. Documenting what we see couldn’t be more important as I write this.
From way up in the sky, it seemed like life’s troubles were far away on the ground below us. Like most Americans, I am still taking in the events from two weeks ago and the aftermath. Those issues demand attention, both of individual and national reflection.
While other Americans flocked to the beaches, perhaps even Disney World, most people I know have remained at home. Some friends are canceling summer vacations. There have been no secret meetings at my house to break social distancing rules. No hiring top chefs to serve fancy food and wine in the backyard with friends like those wealthy New Yorkers I read about during the height of the pandemic. Maybe they have nine lives. Last month, a friend asked me to have a picnic with her in the park, but I wasn’t ready. Weekend travel to local beach towns in the Bay Area was definitely on our minds in recent weeks, but ultimately seemed better on paper than actually going out. Because everyone else and their momma will be there, too.
The roads are noticeably more busy these days. Signs that people are getting out of their bubbles again, and not just for fresh air, but to shopping in malls and dining at restaurants. But there’s something else people should be getting back to, and it’s self-care. During my trip, I found new lines forming for these services and I made sure to get to the front of the line. But first, I’ll relate my experience of flying.
Going through airport security was a breeze and there were no lines. The few travelers I saw wore masks and our gate was not crowded. Only one eatery serving packaged food was open by our gate. My family and I brought our own food since customer service told me on the phone that a hot meal would not be served. However, we were served bottled water and offered snacks by our friendly flight attendant, Matt. My husband was informed that our flight was thirty-five percent full at the gate by an airline employee. That was comforting.
As I sat at the gate, I remembered the 1995 TV mini-series, “The Langoliers” by Stephen King, the story about a small group of people stuck at an empty airport with their physical surroundings being eaten by monsters. That didn’t happen. Our plane left on time. There was no big line on the runway, like there usually is at the busiest airports. Customer service had informed me that a hot meal would not be served because of Coronavirus, so we packed our own food. However, we were served bottled water and snacks by our flight attendant in first class, Matt. Everyone in the rows around us had their masks on and the flight attendants reminded people about keeping them on. We only took them off to eat.
An almost empty gate.
When we landed in Chicago, O’Hare International Airport at Terminal 2, it was busier than I expected. Not everyone wore masks. People are a bit lax now in the rules and some don’t care. My apprehension went up a notch. Wearing masks and social distancing is still important to prevent transmission. There are anti-maskers out there too. They’re the types who assault security guards in Target and spit on sales clerks. Don’t be a COVID-jerk. A prearranged car was waiting for us and we again kept our masks on for the whole ride. Our driver also wore a mask. It felt nice to be back in my hometown as we made our way to the suburbs. I took in the scenery. Everything was green from the rains of recent weeks.
California, along with other states that actually imposed lockdowns, are now loosening their restrictions as Coronavirus cases across the country have plateaued, or else met whatever benchmarks other state officials set for reopening, respectively. Illinois started reopening nonessential businesses just in time for our short trip, and I took advantage of it.
After a long, dark winter (metaphorically speaking, because I live in California), I got a haircut and tamed my locks. Simple pleasures I took for granted. I made an appointment at my usual North Shore salon in Highland Park and was booked on the second day of its reopening. I texted the salon early because I knew the appointments would fill up fast. Like many women, I have a salon ritual. That everyone’s got interesting hair right now isn’t just cosmetic. Getting a haircut is also a part of personal hygiene.
For the various services coming back online, be prepared, because the “new normal” comes with new rules. There was a COVID form that I had to fill out online at the salon’s website prior to the appointment with various questions about my health. For example, going to the grocery store or pharmacy doesn’t require you to sign a COVID form.Then, when I arrived, I had to call the salon and let them know I was outside. You can’t just walk in off the street because the door is locked. Promptly an employee opened the door for me. Only a few people are allowed inside the business at a time. Next, the receptionist checked my temperature with a gadget that she pointed at my forehead. My temperature was deemed acceptable. It’s all part of the new rules for COVID-19 and I’m glad they’re in place.
It was totally weird being inside a place with walls and strangers again. This wasn’t my bubble. This wasn’t my grocery store or pharmacy I was in. Another woman had come in minutes before me and stood by the opposite wall when I entered. We glanced at each other and mutually kept our distance. I stayed where I looked at the product on the shelves, but didn’t touch. The reopening of nonessential businesses like salons, indoor shopping malls, and restaurants with outdoor seating, may seem trivial, but doing these things also means getting back to bits of daily life that we’ve all lost during the pandemic.
In the early days of the lockdown, it took me a while to get used to going to the grocery store and shopping with other people. It was a tense experience. Go in, get the stuff, and leave was the mentality. My husband and I wouldn’t go inside if the Safeway parking lot was too crowded. Cases were still high and Santa Clara’s peak hadn’t come.
A haircut at a North Shore salon.
In part, I was looking for some semblance of normalcy from our past lives in doing these things, but it was far from routine. This was evident once the whole experience of visiting a nonessential business began.
The salon was quiet, and they’re not quiet places–there’s gossip and chatter mixed in with the sound of water at the shampoo bowls and the blast of hair dryers going. It sounded more like a library than a salon. Soon my stylist Kelsey greeted me cheerfully and I was led to her station. A few empty chairs were thankfully between me and another stylist tending to her client. My stylist seemed happy to be back at work. She said there would be no shampoo, only a leave-in conditioner for my trim, but no matter. There was no blow drying of my hair either, she explained, but I’m not complaining. The banter was dialed down on my part because Coronavirus can be spread by talking. My stylist wore a mask and so did I. Overall, I was confident my salon had taken all the necessary precautions. And I still got a great haircut.
Daycare services are resuming, and as people are going back to work in some industries, need childcare. A friend of mine in Chicago needs a nanny right now. Leisure activities are becoming available as indoor malls have reopened in places. The Westfield Galleria in Roseville, California partially reopened on May 22 with new guidelines. I’ve been to that mall and it’s a nice one, but shopping indoors, one of my pastimes, is oddly not what I’m missing right now. I didn’t go to any restaurants with outdoor seating in Chicago which had opened. Those things, for me, fit in the category that would be more stressful than enjoyable. For other people, filing into spaces outside their homes is what they are seeking for their mental health.
Other less fun, but-necessary things were on my to-do list, so I called my dentist in Glenview. The office had just reopened when the state’s restrictions were lifted. Dental offices were among the first places to be closed by state mandates due to the nature of the work being high-risk for spreading COVID-19. I was about to get a checkup in winter when the pandemic struck.
Hitting pause so suddenly to fight the pandemic affected the economy, job market and industry. Whatever the losses in dollars, that is not the only cost that must be measured. Taking care of ourselves is as important as ever, and when routine services like doctor’s visits or non-emergency treatments become unavailable to the people, that poses its own risks. How long can we postpone maintaining our own health? Routine checkups at the doctor’s office provide us with preventative healthcare after all.
Once again, I called when I arrived and waited for the receptionist let me in. I was a little early, and the receptionist gave me the option of waiting inside or outside, whatever I was comfortable with. I chose inside. It was a sunny, humid day. First, I was told to sanitize my hands and fill out their COVID forms. Then I was shown to a sofa seat where “X” marked the spot on the floor in blue tape. There was no treasure.
Across from me was an elderly woman seated in the squashy pink sofa and she too wore a mask. I felt guilty being near a senior citizen I didn’t know. There was a glass door by my seat that other patients were told to exit from, so when a few people passed me as they finished their appointment, I felt a little vulnerable, or exposed. I was also a few feet from the receptionist’s desk. Was I being paranoid? It was in no way crowded, but this was yet another place with walls that wasn’t my home. Was going to these new places the equivalent of bursting my bubble? Each place was a new shared bubble I had to accept.
Shortly the hygienist called me and I followed her to the bay. First, I had to rinse with some special anti-viral peroxide for twenty to thirty seconds, and I was timed. Then I got into the chair, had X-rays taken and got my cleaning done. The hygienist had full PPE on, including mask and a hair net. I was handed glasses to wear that had been cleaned. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been to the dentist in a while because of the lockdown and my checkup was long overdue. My dentist saw I had a few cavities and she squeezed me in for later that day, as I was returning to California soon. Again, I was lucky because their office is getting busy. At seven pm, I returned and the receptionist saw me in the car and quickly opened the door. My dentist came out and was almost unrecognizable: she had a face shield on, a hair net and two layers of PPE. I was made to feel comfortable though. There was a new instrument used that seemed to be similar to the suction they give you and tell you to close your mouth on. It reminded me of a giant straw put in the boba drinks. I didn’t bother to ask my dentist about it. I had three shots of Novocain and was good to go.
Not all healthcare services have reopened, though. My Mom, who’s a senior, only had the option of doing her doctor’s visit via video phone call in the North Shore Healthcare system.
Elective surgeries have resumed in some locales after being suspended for months. A Chicago news station reported that people with heart conditions were getting called by their doctors because these were people who couldn’t wait much longer for their surgeries. Other reports found some people were afraid to call 911 when they thought they were having a heart attack or stroke, because they were more afraid to go into a hospital and contract Coronavirus. Some non-COVID deaths were attributed to these situations in recent months. People facing a medical emergency are urged to call an ambulance and not delay.
More phases of states reopening are underway. Take a deep breath and take care of yourself. We’ll have to wait to see how else the post-COVID world looks, but likely a mask will still be required to have some fun.
The class of 2020 will have many distinctions, and for every student enrolled somewhere, whether you were graduating or not this year, alongside your achievements, it will most notably be known for the pandemic. It feels like a photo of COVID-19 has been snuck into every yearbook, with its spikes resembling a corona, looking every bit a troublemaker, and winning the title of “most unpopular.”
School closures were first ordered by local government in the U.S. in March to stop the spread of the virus. The familiar images of students sitting at row of desks while teachers walk between the narrow aisles, college lecture halls filled in the hundreds, noisy cafeterias with kids sharing lunches, or the rowdiness of recess, were all suspended.
There will be no caps tossed into the air and a crowd of supporters cheering graduates this year. There will be no crossing the stage to take the diploma or shake the hand of the dean or principal of the school. It’s one of the many sacrifices to ensure public health and a sign of how Coronavirus has affected every sector of society, right down to tradition.
Instead, teachers have moved their classroom to a virtual space and are facing new challenges to educate students with schools closed early since the spring 2020 school year. I spoke with my friend Tara, a high school teacher at a public school in the Western suburbs of Chicago. She has been teaching in public school for 12 years.
Ashley Arvind: When did your school close due to Coronavirus?
Tara: March 13 was our last day.
Ashley Arvind: Did the school notify you before that, or was it sudden?
Tara: It felt like it was pretty sudden, because on the day before … on the 12, they said let’s have this emergency meeting. But their plan was not to have large gatherings—which is hilarious, cause school is a large gathering. We’re not going to have prom, we’re not going to have graduation, so that was a shock in of itself. But they said we’re not going to cancel school. As long as we can still have school, we’re going to do it. If [Governor] Pritzker closes things, if CPS [Chicago Public Schools] is closed, we’re going to be closed.
Friday the 13, we went to school as usual, and the last period of the day, the principal came over the intercom and said ‘just letting you know the governor has closed the school and we’re not going to come back until after spring break.’
Ashley Arvind: How did the school notify the parents?
Tara: We have a call system for messages on the phone in English and Spanish. We have over 60 percent Spanish-speakers, so everything goes out dual language. They put it on our website. But again, the plan was e-learning. Our school’s kind of unique, we already had e-learning in place. We’re really lucky because we randomly were chosen—this was three or four years ago now—to test it out. So, if there was a snow day or a cold day, which we’ve had a bunch, that we could not have to make up the days , and kids could still learn on those days. And they’ve worked really well because it’s still a day; kids can work at their own pace and they can check in when they want. It’s not a regimented school day. The good news is our kids already knew how to do that.
Ashley Arvind: Your husband also works at another school.
Tara: He is a technology specialist at another district. His district, it was just a fiasco. because they had nothing in place. His first two weeks of this was hell because everyone was like, ‘I don’t know what to do, help me.’ He was working from seven in the morning to ten at night trying to help people. We’re glad that that’s over with. My district, at least my kids know what to do.
Ashley Arvind: What subject do you teach?
Tara: It’s English 2, which is the basic English for sophomores. I teach the lowest level, so it’s not honors, it’s not enriched. Then I also teach a class called Lab, which is for the students who have just exited ESL and they still need a lot of help. So they come back to me one period a day and get lots of help. That’s such a nice class because it’s my only small class—I only have 14 kids. All my other classes have 30. And Creative Writing. I have only class of that per semester. It’s only seniors.
Ashley Arvind: What was your students’ reaction to the school being closed, at least through spring?
Tara: We thought it’s only going to be two weeks of e-learning and then spring break. So, it didn’t seem horrific. Then once when you get into it, you’re like, this sucks. No human interaction. You’re at the screen all day long, which none of us is used to, so it really takes its toll. The kids, they absolutely hate it. I would say a couple of my kids on my last day were crying. They don’t want to go home. They don’t want to be in a place that’s not a good environment. But I’d say they don’t like it because there’s no social aspect now.
Ashley Arvind: Has that been the case for some of your students? For people who come from abusive homes, it’s not a good situation to suddenly have to be at home all the time. School was the place they could be away from that.
Tara: For sure. I would say it’s still the minority, but there are kids that it’s either like that situation, or, it’s an unstable household. It’s poverty. I think the thing that’s getting most of my students is that if they’re the oldest sibling, they’re having to care for … three or four or five siblings at home, all day long. Then they’re exhausted, then they have to do their work at night. That part has been really hard for some of them. Some of their parents are still going to work, despite the lockdown. Or they own their own landscaping business. A lot of them have a lot of pressure on them.
Ashley Arvind: What is your typical day now? How has the schedule changed?
Tara: One of the very small blessings in this, is the day hasn’t changed. It doesn’t matter when they do stuff. All teachers are supposed to post their assignments by eight am. I do it at night because I’m not a morning person. So I’m up until two in the morning posting stuff. I’ll post it the night before and they have to take attendance and check in with each of their classes by one pm. Then they’re expected to complete the work by midnight that night.”
Ashley Arvind: You post assignments for them to complete that same day.
Tara: On Fridays, I give them until Monday because I feel like I’m not going to grade it anyway over the weekend. The most time-consuming thing is that they’re expected to do thirty minutes of work per class, each day. That’s a lot. The challenge for me, is how do I modify my lesson when everything I do is in partners, in groups, discussion? Now I just to have it all on them. That part’s really hard. Now I have to make all these models. I basically have to do all the assignments with them. I highlight it, I label it. It’s time consuming.
Ashley Arvind: Describe what a typical lesson that you post looks like.
Tara: Luckily, for English it’s less of the live video teaching, because they can read something, annotate it, highlight it, and then do something else with it. Once or twice a week I make a video, telling them this is what you’re doing this week, this is what you can expect. I have my own YouTube channel, I just do it that way. I think it’s easier. That’s one thing I do to let them see me. And then I do optional hang-out sessions for Zoom, either a group session or individually, they can sign up with me if they need extra help. So that’s been really nice.
But usually what the assignments look like—in Google Classroom there’s a spot for the title of the lesson and all the instructions. I write out all the instructions, in depth, and then I attach the attendance form. And within the one hand out … I usually put a bunch of links: One link would be to the answer key; one link would be to the model that I wrote. Right now, they’re studying “memoir,” so I write what they’re expected to produce and then they try it. It’s a lot of modeling.
Ashley Arvind: Have you had video conferencing with them and have everyone see each other?
Tara: We have to make those optional. You can post a video and expect that kid to watch it and learn. Especially for math and science, where you lecture and show them how to do a problem. But we can’t force them, or it can’t be worth a grade for them to check in because again some of them are working or babysitting. So, we don’t use video as a mandatory thing. I do it optionally. I was just doing the optional hang-outs with my English students and creative writers. A couple kids check in each week.
Ashley Arvind: What has your school and the city decided in terms of the rest of the school year?
Tara: They’re taking it month by month, since this is so unexpected. They canceled through spring break and after that, at the end of spring break they said we unfortunately cannot go back, at all. Which was, of course, the worst news for all the kids. Our school year ends really early this year. It ends on May 22. So it wasn’t like we’re going all the way to June. Bu it was still really hard on everyone because they expected to go back and then they we’re told we’re not coming back.
Ashley Arvind: Some places were talking about starting school again in June or July to make up. Is Chicago doing that?
Tara: I don’t know what CPS is doing, but at least for West suburban public high schools and schools, they’re just finishing the school year and hopefully starting up again in August or September. The scary thing is that they’re already talking to us is that we need to prepare that we’ll start like this in September. So, yeah, it’s awful. I can’t even imagine, especially like starting your freshman year of high school and you can’t even meet your teachers and see your classmates. It’s hard to fathom.
Ashley Arvind: What about your seniors? There will not even be graduation ceremonies.
Tara: Unfortunately, our seniors, all of the special things we’ve planned for them, have all been canceled. That part is devastating. I try not to think about it too much. Each teacher, I feel, does a lot for our seniors. But also they had “seniors honors night,” where we recognize them. We do a senior barbeque, a breakfast their last day of school, and then obviously we do graduation and prom. They missed prom, too.
Ashley Arvind: So their diplomas are being mailed to them, basically?
Tara: Yeah. We haven’t decided exactly what we’re going to do, but we have to do something for them. So we’re thinking, some type of virtual thing. The principal and all the administrators have been trying to figure something out, where we can get at least signs or posters or something made and put on their front lawns. Just a bunch of small things that we can do to at least honor them.
I have a feeling it’s too much to plan, too soon. I don’t think they’re really even going to be able to do much with that, aside from reading off all the names. Something simple like that. The seniors are done May 14. They only have two weeks.
Ashley Arvind: Having done this e-learning for a while, what would you like to see happen if the virtual school continues? Are there ways you would like to see it improve?
Tara: If schools are ever closed again like this … I think schools need to be prepared. Again, that’s one way that we’re already ahead. But a school district that: a) doesn’t have laptops for its kids. (We have Chromebooks for our kids,) or b) they don’t have a plan for this; the kids are blindsided.
A lot of our poorer students don’t even have Internet access, so how are they expected to do anything? For our school, we have hotspots that the kids can check out and take with them. We were definitely set up. With the kids, they didn’t know it was coming but they know if an e-learning day is needed, we were warning them already. ‘In case the school does close, which we don’t plan on it, but if it does, make sure you check out a hotspot, make sure you get your Chrome book fixed.’ We also have a technology program where the kids can help fix the laptops.
Just to improve, we need to figure out what the expectations are. Right now, since this was unexpected, we couldn’t tell the kids anything in advance. We’re making it so that any work that they do can improve their grade. And if they don’t do the work, their grade can’t go down. Which is fine, but obviously there are kids who aren’t doing anything—and that’s going to hurt them so much when they come back.
Ashley Arvind: What about your own challenges? How different is this workload than your typical day when you were in school, physically?
Tara: I’d say it’s basically doing a 180. It’s the opposite of the way of how teachers normally work. It’s almost double the amount or work because you can’t just walk up to the student and have a conversation. Everything is in email, or their videoing it, or you’re calling them. Every single step takes double or triple the amount of time.
To me, it’s completely unnatural to sit in front of a computer and just be idle all day sitting there. Because normally, we’re so busy we can’t even pee or eat lunch. And yeah, that’s a problem, but that’s how we live, and I’m used to it. My body’s used to it. At first, I felt like absolute crap for the first two weeks. I think my body is slowly getting used to it. … The reason you teach and you love it, is the energy of the kids. When that’s gone, it just feels like you’re throwing lessons out there and you hope someone does them, but that’s kind of as good as it gets.
Ashley Arvind: As a teacher, you’re working from home. How are you dealing with the pandemic?
Tara: I don’t know how you feel. But when I am at home, I can kind of forget about it for a while. Especially when you’re working, you’re just busy. When we go on walks, it’s still weird. Just when we go to the store, that’s when it hits me. I get so depressed. Going to the store is such an ordeal now, where before it was like, ‘I’m going to Target on my way home.’ Now it’s like, when are we going to the store? Let’s get everything ready and then [the] disinfecting.
For me, there is one sense of normalcy. You work your ass off Monday through Thursday, and you do feel the relief on a Friday, because I don’t have to be up posting stuff Friday or Saturday night. So, I do feel better on Friday. I’m like, okay seniors, we have eight more lessons to crank out. With sophomores, it’s 14. May 21 is the last day of school.
The class of 2020 will have many distinctions, and for every student enrolled somewhere, whether you were graduating or not this year, alongside your achievements, it will most notably be known for the pandemic. It feels like a photo of COVID-19 has been snuck into every yearbook, with its spikes resembling a corona, looking every bit a troublemaker, and winning the title of “most unpopular.”
School closures were first ordered by local government in the U.S. in March to stop the spread of the virus. The familiar images of students sitting at row of desks while teachers walk between the narrow aisles, college lecture halls filled in the hundreds, noisy cafeterias with kids sharing lunches, or the rowdiness of recess, were all suspended.
There will be no caps tossed into the air and a crowd of supporters cheering graduates this year. There will be no crossing the stage to take the diploma or shake the hand of the dean or principal of the school. It’s one of the many sacrifices to ensure public health and a sign of how Coronavirus has affected every sector of society, right down to tradition.
Instead, teachers have moved their classroom to a virtual space and are facing new challenges to educate students with schools closed early since the spring 2020 school year. I spoke with my friend Tara, a high school teacher at a public school in the Western suburbs of Chicago. She has been teaching in public school for 12 years.
Ashley Arvind: When did your school close due to Coronavirus?
Tara: March 13 was our last day.
Ashley Arvind: Did the school notify you before that, or was it sudden?
Tara: It felt like it was pretty sudden, because on the day before … on the 12, they said let’s have this emergency meeting. But their plan was not to have large gatherings—which is hilarious, cause school is a large gathering. We’re not going to have prom, we’re not going to have graduation, so that was a shock in of itself. But they said we’re not going to cancel school. As long as we can still have school, we’re going to do it. If [Governor] Pritzker closes things, if CPS [Chicago Public Schools] is closed, we’re going to be closed.
Friday the 13, we went to school as usual, and the last period of the day, the principal came over the intercom and said ‘just letting you know the governor has closed the school and we’re not going to come back until after spring break.’
Ashley Arvind: How did the school notify the parents?
Tara: We have a call system for messages on the phone in English and Spanish. We have over 60 percent Spanish-speakers, so everything goes out dual language. They put it on our website. But again, the plan was e-learning. Our school’s kind of unique, we already had e-learning in place. We’re really lucky because we randomly were chosen—this was three or four years ago now—to test it out. So, if there was a snow day or a cold day, which we’ve had a bunch, that we could not have to make up the days , and kids could still learn on those days. And they’ve worked really well because it’s still a day; kids can work at their own pace and they can check in when they want. It’s not a regimented school day. The good news is our kids already knew how to do that.
Ashley Arvind: Your husband also works at another school.
Tara: He is a technology specialist at another district. His district, it was just a fiasco. because they had nothing in place. His first two weeks of this was hell because everyone was like, ‘I don’t know what to do, help me.’ He was working from seven in the morning to ten at night trying to help people. We’re glad that that’s over with. My district, at least my kids know what to do.
Ashley Arvind: What subject do you teach?
Tara: It’s English 2, which is the basic English for sophomores. I teach the lowest level, so it’s not honors, it’s not enriched. Then I also teach a class called Lab, which is for the students who have just exited ESL and they still need a lot of help. So they come back to me one period a day and get lots of help. That’s such a nice class because it’s my only small class—I only have 14 kids. All my other classes have 30. And Creative Writing. I have only class of that per semester. It’s only seniors.
Ashley Arvind: What was your students’ reaction to the school being closed, at least through spring?
Tara: We thought it’s only going to be two weeks of e-learning and then spring break. So, it didn’t seem horrific. Then once when you get into it, you’re like, this sucks. No human interaction. You’re at the screen all day long, which none of us is used to, so it really takes its toll. The kids, they absolutely hate it. I would say a couple of my kids on my last day were crying. They don’t want to go home. They don’t want to be in a place that’s not a good environment. But I’d say they don’t like it because there’s no social aspect now.
Ashley Arvind: Has that been the case for some of your students? For people who come from abusive homes, it’s not a good situation to suddenly have to be at home all the time. School was the place they could be away from that.
Tara: For sure. I would say it’s still the minority, but there are kids that it’s either like that situation, or, it’s an unstable household. It’s poverty. I think the thing that’s getting most of my students is that if they’re the oldest sibling, they’re having to care for … three or four or five siblings at home, all day long. Then they’re exhausted, then they have to do their work at night. That part has been really hard for some of them. Some of their parents are still going to work, despite the lockdown. Or they own their own landscaping business. A lot of them have a lot of pressure on them.
Ashley Arvind: What is your typical day now? How has the schedule changed?
Tara: One of the very small blessings in this, is the day hasn’t changed. It doesn’t matter when they do stuff. All teachers are supposed to post their assignments by eight am. I do it at night because I’m not a morning person. So I’m up until two in the morning posting stuff. I’ll post it the night before and they have to take attendance and check in with each of their classes by one pm. Then they’re expected to complete the work by midnight that night.”
Ashley Arvind: You post assignments for them to complete that same day.
Tara: On Fridays, I give them until Monday because I feel like I’m not going to grade it anyway over the weekend. The most time-consuming thing is that they’re expected to do thirty minutes of work per class, each day. That’s a lot. The challenge for me, is how do I modify my lesson when everything I do is in partners, in groups, discussion? Now I just to have it all on them. That part’s really hard. Now I have to make all these models. I basically have to do all the assignments with them. I highlight it, I label it. It’s time consuming.
Ashley Arvind: Describe what a typical lesson that you post looks like.
Tara: Luckily, for English it’s less of the live video teaching, because they can read something, annotate it, highlight it, and then do something else with it. Once or twice a week I make a video, telling them this is what you’re doing this week, this is what you can expect. I have my own YouTube channel, I just do it that way. I think it’s easier. That’s one thing I do to let them see me. And then I do optional hang-out sessions for Zoom, either a group session or individually, they can sign up with me if they need extra help. So that’s been really nice.
But usually what the assignments look like—in Google Classroom there’s a spot for the title of the lesson and all the instructions. I write out all the instructions, in depth, and then I attach the attendance form. And within the one hand out … I usually put a bunch of links: One link would be to the answer key; one link would be to the model that I wrote. Right now, they’re studying “memoir,” so I write what they’re expected to produce and then they try it. It’s a lot of modeling.
Ashley Arvind: Have you had video conferencing with them and have everyone see each other?
Tara: We have to make those optional. You can post a video and expect that kid to watch it and learn. Especially for math and science, where you lecture and show them how to do a problem. But we can’t force them, or it can’t be worth a grade for them to check in because again some of them are working or babysitting. So, we don’t use video as a mandatory thing. I do it optionally. I was just doing the optional hang-outs with my English students and creative writers. A couple kids check in each week.
Ashley Arvind: What has your school and the city decided in terms of the rest of the school year?
Tara: They’re taking it month by month, since this is so unexpected. They canceled through spring break and after that, at the end of spring break they said we unfortunately cannot go back, at all. Which was, of course, the worst news for all the kids. Our school year ends really early this year. It ends on May 22. So it wasn’t like we’re going all the way to June. Bu it was still really hard on everyone because they expected to go back and then they we’re told we’re not coming back.
Ashley Arvind: Some places were talking about starting school again in June or July to make up. Is Chicago doing that?
Tara: I don’t know what CPS is doing, but at least for West suburban public high schools and schools, they’re just finishing the school year and hopefully starting up again in August or September. The scary thing is that they’re already talking to us is that we need to prepare that we’ll start like this in September. So, yeah, it’s awful. I can’t even imagine, especially like starting your freshman year of high school and you can’t even meet your teachers and see your classmates. It’s hard to fathom.
Ashley Arvind: What about your seniors? There will not even be graduation ceremonies.
Tara: Unfortunately, our seniors, all of the special things we’ve planned for them, have all been canceled. That part is devastating. I try not to think about it too much. Each teacher, I feel, does a lot for our seniors. But also they had “seniors honors night,” where we recognize them. We do a senior barbeque, a breakfast their last day of school, and then obviously we do graduation and prom. They missed prom, too.
Ashley Arvind: So their diplomas are being mailed to them, basically?
Tara: Yeah. We haven’t decided exactly what we’re going to do, but we have to do something for them. So we’re thinking, some type of virtual thing. The principal and all the administrators have been trying to figure something out, where we can get at least signs or posters or something made and put on their front lawns. Just a bunch of small things that we can do to at least honor them.
I have a feeling it’s too much to plan, too soon. I don’t think they’re really even going to be able to do much with that, aside from reading off all the names. Something simple like that. The seniors are done May 14. They only have two weeks.
Ashley Arvind: Having done this e-learning for a while, what would you like to see happen if the virtual school continues? Are there ways you would like to see it improve?
Tara: If schools are ever closed again like this … I think schools need to be prepared. Again, that’s one way that we’re already ahead. But a school district that: a) doesn’t have laptops for its kids. (We have Chromebooks for our kids,) or b) they don’t have a plan for this; the kids are blindsided.
A lot of our poorer students don’t even have Internet access, so how are they expected to do anything? For our school, we have hotspots that the kids can check out and take with them. We were definitely set up. With the kids, they didn’t know it was coming but they know if an e-learning day is needed, we were warning them already. ‘In case the school does close, which we don’t plan on it, but if it does, make sure you check out a hotspot, make sure you get your Chrome book fixed.’ We also have a technology program where the kids can help fix the laptops.
Just to improve, we need to figure out what the expectations are. Right now, since this was unexpected, we couldn’t tell the kids anything in advance. We’re making it so that any work that they do can improve their grade. And if they don’t do the work, their grade can’t go down. Which is fine, but obviously there are kids who aren’t doing anything—and that’s going to hurt them so much when they come back.
Ashley Arvind: What about your own challenges? How different is this workload than your typical day when you were in school, physically?
Tara: I’d say it’s basically doing a 180. It’s the opposite of the way of how teachers normally work. It’s almost double the amount or work because you can’t just walk up to the student and have a conversation. Everything is in email, or their videoing it, or you’re calling them. Every single step takes double or triple the amount of time.
To me, it’s completely unnatural to sit in front of a computer and just be idle all day sitting there. Because normally, we’re so busy we can’t even pee or eat lunch. And yeah, that’s a problem, but that’s how we live, and I’m used to it. My body’s used to it. At first, I felt like absolute crap for the first two weeks. I think my body is slowly getting used to it. … The reason you teach and you love it, is the energy of the kids. When that’s gone, it just feels like you’re throwing lessons out there and you hope someone does them, but that’s kind of as good as it gets.
Ashley Arvind: As a teacher, you’re working from home. How are you dealing with the pandemic?
Tara: I don’t know how you feel. But when I am at home, I can kind of forget about it for a while. Especially when you’re working, you’re just busy. When we go on walks, it’s still weird. Just when we go to the store, that’s when it hits me. I get so depressed. Going to the store is such an ordeal now, where before it was like, ‘I’m going to Target on my way home.’ Now it’s like, when are we going to the store? Let’s get everything ready and then [the] disinfecting.
For me, there is one sense of normalcy. You work your ass off Monday through Thursday, and you do feel the relief on a Friday, because I don’t have to be up posting stuff Friday or Saturday night. So, I do feel better on Friday. I’m like, okay seniors, we have eight more lessons to crank out. With sophomores, it’s 14. May 21 is the last day of school.
Masks are now being recommended for the public while going out.
Just the Essentials, Please
By Ashley Arvind
*The following interview was conducted with a healthcare worker who came forward to tell their story. To protect my source, I am not disclosing their identity.
It’s springtime in Chicago, one of my favorite times of year. People are normally looking forward to many things, from warmer weather to Easter Sunday or Passover, and of course, brunches. Only, there’s a new normal in 2020. Celebratory gatherings this weekend should be virtual, and takeout orders will have to do. With the Stay at Home order extended to April 30th, there is an abundance of caution and uncertainty in the air.
Yet, the goodwill of the people is resurrected in difficult times. Ordinary people are being asked to do extraordinary things for their country, for their community, during the pandemic. While many of us are at home, either working, or taking care of each other in what ways we can, the essential workers and businesses continue to do what is required for society to function at a minimal level.
My friend is a pharmacist at a retail pharmacy chain in Chicago, Illinois. How this employee approaches every work shift is sobering: “Treat everything as positive, [with Coronavirus] unless otherwise. Do everything I can to protect my family and everyone else.”
It sounds like a soldier going off to war, rather than the carefree friend I grew up with. But it is a war zone out there. Essential workers are more exposed to the Coronavirus than perhaps the public knows.
Hopes of flattening the curve abound, but projections of the Coronavirus peaking continually change. As NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN in March, “…You don’t make the timeline. The virus makes the timeline.”
One of the hazards that is less spoken of, is how these essential workers are coping psychologically. Compounding things further, are how the human factor and the corporate model are clashing over purported safe working conditions during this crisis. Supplies are distributed unevenly to employees, resulting in the haves and have-nots. Issues that are more reminiscent of the American factory worker’s condition during the industrial era.
In the past few days it was revealed a co-worker tested positive for COVID-19 at a Chicago store. Another pharmacist there who has been in close contact with the infected person, still continues to work instead of quarantining, and has yet to be tested. This is becoming an industry norm, as similar reports of potentially sick employees at other pharmacies circulate among the workers themselves, affecting morale. A few are sounding the alarm. But what will it take for them to be heard in the din of so many alarms already ringing?
Ashley Arvind: What was your reaction to the news from management?
Pharmacist: I recently learned that a coworker tested positive, and a pharmacist who knew that, spent a lot of time with that person. I originally thought everyone would be tested at the store. That we’re going to clean the store. But I had no information regarding that. They said we’re not high-risk.
Ashley Arvind: What are you concerns about this situation?
Pharmacist: There’s possibly a positive person working who may be exposing us. … So, it’s scary just coming in.
Ashley Arvind: Do you currently feel safe working at your store?
Pharmacist: No, because of the lack of the PPE. On top of that, they’re not going to test everyone. Maybe people are carriers, but may not have symptoms, and they’re still working. Then they can pass it on to us, or to customers. I just don’t feel safe working. … There’s no plan in place, saying we’re going to get everyone tested, [that] we’re going to shut down the store. Like, there’s nothing.
Ashley Arvind: Is there any sign posted in your store that someone tested positive for COVID-19?
Pharmacist: No. I don’t think they have to reveal that information to the public. … But it’s definitely not what I expected, in making sure we all get tested and disinfecting the place. Those are the two things that I thought would happen because other places have done that too.
Ashley Arvind: In your opinion, what should the store have done after finding out that an employee has Coronavirus?
Pharmacist: I know they’re trying to consult the CDC or public health. The best thing is to test everyone. No matter what, we’re in a closed environment talking to each other. If people are positive, then they can stay home and quarantine, so that will keep the team safe. Versus not testing everyone. We don’t know and we’re still working.
Ashley Arvind: What PPE supplies do you currently have at your store?
Pharmacist: Masks: limited. It’s understandable, the nation’s short on PPE. Gloves: they ran out. The XL gloves are not fitting well. Most of us need medium or small.
Ashley Arvind: When is your store going to provide more PPE?
Pharmacist: They say that they’re going to, but they say a lot of things. We were supposed to have the sneeze guards. Certain stores have more priority than others, like corporate headquarters. Other areas may not have it yet. My technicians that work there [corporate store] have the masks, the gloves and the plexiglass sneeze shield. I was kind of surprised.
Ashley Arvind: Even one of our local grocery stores has a big, clear shield at the cash registers. Have you seen the company’s sneeze guard?
Pharmacist: Yes. I’ve seen photos and it looks totally ineffective. I imagined it’d be from register to register, but really it looks like a stand-up plastic. It looks so flimsy, like it could get knocked over and just crack.
Ashley Arvind: Can you currently get tested in Chicago?
Pharmacist: Due to limited tests, I don’t think we’re able to. There are certain locations where you can get tested, mostly for first-responders. Or, if you actually go to the doctor and have severe symptoms, they may test you.
Ashley Arvind: After you get home from work, what do you do to decontaminate?
Pharmacist: I go straight to the shower. I make sure to wash my hair. Then I put away the clothes in the washing machine or I put it in a basket and quarantine that. The usual; try to clean as much as you can. Disinfect any commonly touched areas like doorknobs, sink handles, refrigerator. Right now, I’m quarantined in my own extra bedroom. I have a little box where I put my shoes in, so it’s quarantined too. That it’s away from the family.
Ashley Arvind: What is it like being an essential worker, going out and working now?
Pharmacist: You come to terms with it. It is your job, something you have to do. … At first, it was nerve-racking, but over time I was able to deal with my anxiety. I try to protect myself as much as I can, like try to avoid touching my face. I would try to stand back and consult if I can, if patients don’t have a mask. That was the days before we had a mask. And now we have some masks. I can put on my mask and consult patients. So, I don’t have to necessarily stand far away.
Ashley Arvind: Before you had masks, how were you consulting patients who came in during the pandemic?
Pharmacist: I personally didn’t feel comfortable just standing really close to the patients, so I will consult further back. But it can’t be too far, because I still have to show them the prescription. I’d say it would be an arm’s length away. Before we would stand at the counter and consult the patients.
But lately, most of the patients have been wearing masks. If that’s the case, I’m able to go a little bit closer and consult them. If they are coughing and they don’t have masks, then I would stand farther back. But it’s not part of the policy. It’s up to you, whatever you want to do.
Ashley Arvind: Your store has no policy for its pharmacy workers on how to deal with patients who do not wear masks?
Pharmacist: No, because it’s law. Illinois law states that you have to consult all new prescriptions. We do encourage patients to go through drive-thru. We changed our store hours, so it limits traffic inside the store, but there’s still lots of prescriptions. We’re in contact with the patients all the time.
Ashley Arvind: You work long hours as a pharmacist. Going to the drug store is as a common routine as going to the grocery store.
Pharmacist: A lot of people come in and they think all we do is count pills all day, or slap a sticker on a bottle of medication. They don’t know what our job title entails. Like, how we have to check to make sure there’s no drug interactions, to make sure the dosage is correct, or sometimes we have to make sure if the drug is appropriate for that patient. So, the laypeople, they perceive us as pill counters. But we do so much more than that. Nowadays, because of the lack of primary care physicians, they’re putting more on us. With screenings: blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol. Now we’re doing lots of immunizations.
We’re basically the first people they see, before they see the doctor. If they’re not feeling well, they’ll come to the pharmacy first, cause they don’t have to make an appointment. They just come in, ask the pharmacist questions. And we would either recommend stuff for them over the counter, or recommend they see the doctor, depending on the condition. We’re accessible.
Ashley Arvind: Many essential workers are on the frontline. A lot is being asked of people like you right now.
Pharmacist: If I had to put my risk versus a doctor working at a hospital, I would say the doctors and nurses right there treating people in the ICU, they’re the most likely to be exposed. So, I understand if we need to give all the PPE to them. They totally deserve it.
For us, I feel like all we need is masks, gloves and a shield, and we’ll be good. We’re not asking for much. We just want to feel protected. For example, doctors have to put patients on the ventilator or intubate them—that’s a very high-risk procedure. So, they need to be properly dressed. Pharmacists, we’re seeing hundreds of patients a day. We’re talking to them and consulting them. It’s some risk. If there’s some risk, we should at least feel protected, too.
Ashley Arvind: What does the lack of PPE mean for you and your co-workers?
Pharmacist: Some technicians…they feel more protected with gloves…But if they don’t feel confident, they’re always scared and they’re anxious. That’s going to make work even more stressful. And obviously we’re already all stressed—we don’t need additional stress. … For me, if I don’t have gloves, I’m fine with washing my hands all the time and not touching my face. … It’s an emotional thing, sometimes.
Ashley Arvind: The public doesn’t know the psychological stresses of what essential workers are going through. Can you talk about that?
Pharmacist: Coronavirus … can infect any gender, any age, healthy people—it doesn’t discriminate. But we’re more afraid of passing it along to our loved ones, or the vulnerable population. We’ll have conversations: My tech will say, ‘I’m sharing a house with elderly people and I’m afraid everyday, that I’m going to come home and give it to them.’… I’m afraid of passing it along to someone who may not be able to handle it.
I even told [my partner] I’d rather die than passing it on to my loved ones. [Starts crying.] I’m sorry. I can’t imagine if I pass it along, and someone doesn’t make it. That’s the worst feeling. Take me instead. I don’t want to spread it to anyone.
Ashley Arvind: Don’t put that pressure on yourself, because that stuff if out of your control. You’re doing the best that you can.
Pharmacist: It’s so difficult. … But now, finding out that one of my team members is positive, the anxiety came right back. … I would feel so much better if they [store] implemented the things they’re supposed to do. But they’re not. So that makes me more anxious. … At one point, a tech was like, if they’re not going to give us any PPE or protection whatsoever, I’m not going to go to work. … It’s just crazy. Everyone’s so stressed.
We feel like we’re going to battle with water guns. Just sending us to slaughter. … For the first couple weeks, we didn’t have anything. No gloves, no masks. Nothing. … Once the CDC started saying people should wear masks, it forced the company to give us something.
Ashley Arvind: Did you have masks in March?
Pharmacist: No. We just had masks this past week. If techs had their own mask, then they would bring it and wear it. … They’re [the store] like, ‘try to reuse it as much as you can.’ There’s a shortage.
Ashley Arvind: Reusing masks has become the fallback-solution to shortages across healthcare. Are you able to take a new mask for every shift?
Pharmacist: So far, yes. But it’s running really low. I don’t know if it’s going to be enough for next week. Until the next shipment comes—if it does. This is so emotional, you know. I’m so angry at the company and how they’re treating everything. As if it’s not a huge danger at all.
Ashley Arvind: I want you to be safe at work and your co-workers. Your voice is important too.
Pharmacist: I want to talk to someone high up in the government and let them know what’s going on. … We’re all kind of hush, hush… I’m afraid of losing my job. I need it right now. We’re getting backlash for saying anything.
Ashley Arvind: Backlash from your company?
Pharmacist: Just in the industry. We can’t say anything about our condition at all. Everything’s supposed to be perfect. There’s this article another technician had from [a retail store] that said this person had Coronavirus symptoms. But since you can’t test, just keep working. I was outraged.
But it’s very true to about what’s going on in our culture. … We’ve told corporate we need more hours because customers are not happy. They don’t care. They just keep cutting. They measure everything by numbers. You’ve got to get this prescription done in this time. … Corporate’s thinking everything’s all rosy. It’s ridiculous.
Ashley Arvind: How do you think this is being handled?
Pharmacist: Terrible management. You can ask any pharmacist at large retail chains if they’re happy with their jobs. If you find a happy one, that’s the rare one. Everyone’s been complaining for years. I guess the reason we stay is because we have huge loans to pay off.
Ashley Arvind: As this is unfolding, you’re not even sure where the instructions to employees are coming from? Whether what you’re being told is directly from store management, or if it’s company policy or not?
Pharmacist: Totally correct. Also, I feel as if they’re minimizing our risk. They’re saying we’re low-risk, because we weren’t in extended contact with this [infected] person, such as conversation when they were doing meetings. To my point, we work in close quarters. The pharmacy is not large. … To me, how’s that different from just talking to a person for an extended period of time, if we’re crammed closely together and talking for the whole time [from] when the store opens until close. It’s a closed ventilation system. … Someone’s infected, so other people may be infected, too. … What if a bunch of us are infected and don’t even know it, because we don’t have symptoms either. It’s not a low-risk. This is how infection spreads.
Ashley Arvind: How do you feel about your work environment?
Pharmacist: If you really think about this scenario, it makes sense; it’s why there’s social distancing. We can’t social distance because we’re in the pharmacy all the time. Try to talk six feet apart. Basically, it never happens. We’re next to each other talking and working. It’s like a breeding ground for Coronavirus.
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