image of a highway with trees and grass on the side and a sign in the distance
Lifestyle

Community Matters Most During Social Distancing Amid a Pandemic

So lately…things have changed in this world. A lot. Like…a lot.

image of a highway with trees and grass on the side and a sign in the distance

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t fully understand everything that’s going on and I don’t want to say that I’m scared…but I definitely don’t feel safe.

I don’t feel safe in the sense that I am constantly in fear for my family members, as health issues run rampant in my family. 

Last year, I suffered immense loss and I can’t imagine doing it a second year in a row.

In 2019, I lost my doggy (lung tumor), my father-in-law, my cousin, my uncle, another uncle and it has just been a struggle.

Last year was also a struggle financially where without the grace of God and the help of our support system, I have no idea where we would be.

This year, things are finally stabilizing for us. And as soon as we are able to take a breath and enjoy life without worry, we are now in a pandemic.

I’ve been so worried this entire time. I’m worried about the economic effects this will have on my community. 

I have a small business. I’ve been learning how to navigate the space (as seen by my website store STILL not being complete). As much as I want and need my business, I’m fortunate to be in a situation where we will still make rent if I take a hit during this time.

However, not everyone is that lucky. I met so many vendors a couple weeks ago when I was working a wedding vendor event show. I saw so many people with businesses trying to get clients and continue their success. 

My first thought went to people that rely on others for their business model. No one is having weddings or events at the moment. That creates such a huge barrier for businesses.

In Ohio, there’s a ban on eating in any restaurants. However, carry out is open.

With the restaurants having to close down the interior eating spaces in their restaurants, this means that many servers are laid off. This also means restaurants might not be able to keep their doors open, pay their rent and might have to close up permanently. 

I think losing a bunch of small businesses is devastating to a community. The small businesses here are a large reason why I want to live here long-term and purchase a house here.

My biggest concern is figuring out how to be a good community member in a time such as now.

There are a lot of people angry that restaurants are still able to offer food to go and delivery. A lot of complaints are from people that feel that people should just cook instead of ordering food.

I don’t agree for many reasons. For the first reason, these local businesses need our help to stay open. There’s such a small risk of transferring the disease that way when proper food handling and CDC guidelines are taken, which helps more people stay employed than otherwise.

Another reason I disagree is because our first responders need to eat as well. We have doctors working 18-24 hour shifts. They need to eat and expecting them to go home and cook for 30 minutes before they eat is an undue hardship that they should not have to go through. 

They are spending their entire days trying to make sure that the communities are safe and have the best shot at surviving this pandemic, so if they need to grab a pizza, or a burger so they have the ability to try to rest before they go back out and save lives, then maybe we should have Joe’s Pizza Shack open. 

I don’t have any answers on how to survive this, but I do want us to think of our neighbors and what’s best for the community as a whole.

Be good to each other…from 6 feet away!

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