Kathleen Ho, stuck in South Korea when the pandemic hit, finishes Professor Ying's "Letters from Seclusion" series sharing her frustration with the inconsistent behavior of panicked people during the pandemic.
by Kathlen HoDear Future Generations,
I am writing to you during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some crazy things have happened since the beginning of this year. Many people made posts about 2020 being the “decade” to turn their life around….. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah…
I was already studying abroad when the outbreak started. I was in South Korea. I was spending my winter vacation traveling to different parts of Korea. My friend and I wanted to go to Daegu (a province located in the southeastern part of Korea), but we decided against it. And THANK GOD WE DIDN’T! Two weeks after coming back from our traveling, a HUGE outbreak happened in Daegu. Apparently, some cult that didn’t believe in medicine infected pretty much the whole province within…… two weeks?
The one thing I really like about Korea is its emergency broadcasting system. They use that thing for practically everything! Bad air quality? Emergency broadcast. Protesting? Emergency broadcasting. THERE’S A FREAKING PANDEMIC? Emergency broadcast. I was pretty much getting hourly updates on what the government was doing about the infection.
When news reached the States though, my mom was freaking out! She kept calling me everyday asking about the outbreaks. It was getting annoying really. I would actually hang up the phone whenever she brought up the outbreaks. Unfortunately, my study abroad program ended because of the severity of the pandemic. Honestly, I think my mom was hoping for this to happen.
But yeah… The program was suspended and I had to buy the first plane ride home—which is another story of its own. Long story short, I had to buy another (MORE EXPENSIVE) plane ticket because the first one I bought got CanCeLLeD because of the huge outbreak all over Asia. I think it was back in… March? I can’t remember anymore. Time is a social construct anyway.
After coming back, the wack truly began. People started HOARDING SHIT! And some dumb shit too! Why in the world do you think you need to hoard toilet paper?! Why are you hoarding perishables??? What happened to all the fucking FLOUR???? I mean… If you’re going to be stockpiling, can you at least do it right? People are LITERALLY throwing fists to get that last roll of toilet paper. And this is only a couple weeks into the first major outbreak in the States…
Every time I walk into Target, the shelves in the cleaning isle are completely empty. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen them empty. There is a limit on how many items we can buy because of that. Do you wanna know what I find so funny? The toilet papers, hand sanitizers, rubbing alcohol, and soaps are sold out, but not tooth paste… Not water… Not non-perishable foods… People don’t know how to STOCKPILE!!!! Some more interesting things have begun to disappear from the shelves: board games, scrapbooking supplies, DIY kits, FLOUR— Okay, how much flour do you really need??? Are you baking for an entire village??? No one needs 20 bags of this stuff, unless you’re making everything from scratch! Please, don’t hoard. For the love of God, DON’T HOARD!!
Two months have passed— now people are protesting “the Coronavirus.” LITERALLY. Like, how??? What do you think is going to happen? Will the Coronavirus be scared into going away??? Other people are protesting to open up non-essential stores again. Like, okay Karen. I didn’t know your nails are… I don’t know… MORE IMPORTANT THAN SOMEONE’S LIFE. I kid you not, these people are protesting that the “CoRoNa Is FaKE” WHILE WEARING FACE MASKS!!!! No words can express the current emotions I feel about this situation… *GIGANTIC exhale*
One good thing has come from this though! I have more time to tend my garden! I have this HUGE backyard, and I always wanted to grow my own food. I never had the time because of my commute between school, work and home. Now that my traveling is significantly shorter, I’m growing things in my backyard. I currently am growing sunflowers, forget-me-nots, cucumber, carrots, corn, kale, a variety of mints, sugar snap peas, a variety of lettuces, and potatoes!
I can’t wait for this to end. If this happens to you, future generation, remember one thing. DON’T HOARD!!
The Old Lady That Never Leaves Her House,
Kathlen Ho