By Salvatore A. Barcia Jr.

Posted March 31, 2020

We huddled around the TV awaiting the official call.  Schools were going to close.  I was dreading this moment.  Things had disintegrated quickly.  COVID-19 lingered, but things were clearly becoming more serious.  I wanted the life I knew to remain.  But once schools closed – indefinitely – it became much more real than anyone had ever imagined.

Business as Usual

The virus appeared like any other.  We hear periodically about a disruptive virus, but life goes on and it eventually falls out of the news cycle.  So, we continued our daily lives.  Travel, work, school, social occasions, and plans for the spring and summer went on as if things were fine.  Toilet paper was simply one item on a shopping list, and handshakes or hugs were still in the realm of normalcy.

News reports lengthened.  Discussions around the disease became more extensive.  People were increasingly concerned, and some started wearing masks.  Anxiety grew.

Still, we continued along with our daily lives.

I traveled during my winter break, and checkpoints were met with questions about recent excursions.  It was still “over there” and everyone wanted to keep it there.  With a busy period following, I barely even thought about coronavirus – but it was progressing, and cases were popping up in the United States.  Talk of protection began.  People avoided shaking hands and started keeping their distance.  Misinformation flowed.

Still, we continued along with our daily lives.

The Slam Dunk

One evening the news exploded across our screens.  The NBA was suspending its season, and the floodgates opened.  Leagues canceled seasons, Broadway shut down, stores closed, bars shuttered, and restaurants were setup for takeout.  It was a steady progression from suggestions to orders, from 50 percent capacity to full closure, from spectator-free games to cancellations.  By the hour conditions were changing.

Still, we were hoping to continue with our daily lives.

We went to stock up at Trader Joe’s, our favorite shopping spot.  Usually there’s a relaxed atmosphere, with people smiling and casually browsing. This time it was different.  There were no free samples.  People moved with purpose, barely exchanging glances. Everyone looked anxious, wanting to get necessities and exit – no small talk.

My son Luciano chose a bag of gummies as his emergency stockpile, his “end-of-the-world” stash.  A few days later the entire bag was gone.  I have enough Q-tips to last through 2021 but still need to run out weekly for milk.  We both need a lesson in doomsday prep.

The Big Moment

Mayor De Blasio arrived (late) and we knew the next step.  He made it official – schools would close. Like many I was in denial and questioned the extreme response.  It’s worthy to be critical, but perhaps this truly western ideal is what put us in danger.

I was to develop a remote learning system for my class, almost from scratch and without being able to model it in person.   At the same time my wife Noriko and I were going to guide Luciano through his 4^thgrade education.  Like Barney Stinson would say, “Challenge accepted.”

For an indefinite period my son will be without peers, therefore Noriko and I have downgraded our maturity levels so he’ll feel like he’s playing with fellow nine-year-olds.  We’ve been having catches, running movie nights, playing chess (I must be more careful with the queen), reviving board games, and enjoying a balloon volleyball game specially crafted for our living room.

Perhaps this is a silver lining.  Lives get busy, and spending time together is a box to check.  It’s good to slow down and savor each other’s company.  I’ve been enjoying extended phone conversations, playing music, reading, and joining video chats with groups of friends suddenly with nowhere they “need” to be.  Projects set aside for “another time” are getting done and purchases gathering dust on a shelf have found purpose.  We’re realizing what’s important, appreciating what we have, and scaling down our complex lives.  Nonsense dominating the news has faded (although there’s plenty of other noise to take its place), less gas is being burned, and people are buying less junk that winds up in the ocean or a trash heap.

As multiple people have noted, maybe the universe is forcing humanity to correct itself.

Of course the negative sadly outweighs the positive, and many are dealing with struggles we can’t fathom, whether it’s effects of the disease, financial hardship, or the burden of caring for the sick.  Uncertainty coupled with flawed information is surely weighing on our collective mental health.  Many are missing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.  The innumerable repercussions of our necessary response to the virus may be profound.  And, while crises bring out the best in people, they also bring out the worst.

Final School Daze

Into school we went.  We had three days to create a remote learning plan (after major disasters in each of the previous two decades, NYC’s Department of Education surprisingly had no long-term closure plans).  On the first day a premature shelter-in order had some of us to scrambling to bring all necessities home with an eerie feeling like loading a car before a volcanic eruption.  The real statewide order followed some days later.

The final day was emotional, as our longtime payroll secretary was retiring without requisite hugs.  “Have a great break” was replaced with “stay safe.”  I thought of my students:  Will they miss graduation?  Will they keep their routine?  Will they feel isolated?  Will struggling students turn off and fall into a negative abyss?

Riding it Out

As we navigate this crisis, music is always a soothing healer.  I’ve heard many adept song references suiting our current situation.  The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sunwill be my anthem for the day we know the virus has passed.

We are all trying to traverse this new world; some are working to solve it; and others are fighting for their lives.  I sense the melancholy as people avoid each other like the plague (a more meaningful expression these days).  All of us must adjust to life without expected conveniences.

For a low-tech guy preferring analog phones and paper/pen, I’ve made enormous strides in my use of technology.  Class pages, spreadsheets, online assignments, digital check-ins, video chats on multiple platforms.  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.  The students have been incredibly resilient, although they pine for the classroom.  Kids wish for no school and then miss it when it’s taken from them.

How will this get solved?  I am crossing my fingers it turns out eating bacon or watching The Simpsons creates immunity.  In the meantime we’re all awaiting the end – whenever that may be – and wondering what the new normal will be for us.  Hopefully it will pass quickly, although I gather people thought the same at the dawn of many historical events.  When it’s over it may feel like we had a Thanossnap and simply jumped ahead in time.  Once again, the guy in the foil hat was right, and sci-fi writers were more prescient than we’d prefer.

I’m concerned for my son and these tense months of his childhood, but I will ensure he stays the course and becomes stronger for the experience (and understands others are losing so much more).  These unfortunate situations can make us better as a society.  Are we at a transformational moment, possibly causing “precorona” and “postcorona” to no longer earn a red squiggly line in spellcheck, or is this a temporary dilemma and by this time next year we’ll all be sharing our quarantine stories at the next big gathering?  Either way, hopefully we come out better on the other side and those silver linings take root.

Still, I hope one day we can resume our daily lives.