The Story Of Our Time

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world. Nations went into lockdown, businesses closed, and millions of people lost their jobs. While all of our interviewees had different experiences and different stories to tell about their life during the pandemic, the common threads of these tales form the story of our time. This story played out everywhere, in homes, on the internet, and above all else, in the Working World.

To understand this world, we must first understand one key element of our interviewees’ stories – in the midst of the pandemic,

Why our interviewees worked.

Three kept working to make ends meet. They needed to keep making money to survive, and could not afford to stop working even during a global pandemic. They did not have enough saved to stop working indefinitely and still support themselves.

Seven kept working to serve others. They were pharmacy technicians, accountants, physical therapists, restaurant owners, and caregivers. People in their community still needed them during the pandemic, and they chose to keep working to satisfy that need.

How they adapted to the new world.

Seven of our interviewees began wearing masks and gloves while at work. They did this both for their own safety and to protect their customers. Several of them were also required to wear such protective equipment by their employers.

One of our interviewees began wearing gloves but no mask at work. Her job had initially forbidden employees from wearing masks, but as of our interview had made them optional.

How they felt at work.

Seven of our twelve interviewees felt more stressed after the start of the pandemic than before. An additional seven felt frustrated with the pandemic and the changes it forced.

Living through the pandemic.

Our interviewees experienced shortages of a variety of goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses shut down and more people lived and worked at home, demands shifted, straining supply lines and making formerly common items difficult to come by.

The Social Sphere.

Due to the social isolation measures required to combat the spread of COVID-19, our interviewees felt cut off from their

Some of our interviewees still lived with the people they felt this distance from. In these cases, our kept their distance at home to protect their loved ones from the virus.

The Mental World.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected our interviewee’s mental and emotional health – their thoughts and feelings – in many ways. In our interviews with them, they expressed

Our interviewees felt compassion for others, gratitude for their relatively good situations during the pandemic. They also felt more stressed, depressed, and anxious than they did before. More than any other thought, they feared spreading the virus to other people, be they strangers or loved ones.

Of our twelve interviewees, ten expressed this fear, and five of them told us it was their greatest or only fear.

The Stress Of Survival.

Living during the pandemic, with its fear and frustration caused significant stress to our interviewees. Seven of them talked with us about the effects of this stress.

Five of these seven interviewees felt drained of energy because of the stress they were under.

Three of these seven felt a sense of boredom and cabin fever because of the stress from being quarantined and isolated from friends and family.