Thursday, 19 March 2020 – Ace Asim I’m in a confused and upset state of mind. It’s sad to see what’s going on with the Corona Virus and how it’s affecting people. I’m mainly upset because the American habit of hoarding has once again come about. People are selfish. In light of the news of the virus in the country, I went to go get some bananas for my house and other essentials like milk and eggs at the grocery store. When I got there, there were absolutely no bananas left. Now my family couldn’t have a healthy snack to eat. I need bananas especially because of my low potassium intake. From the looks of it, people buy way more than they need to. I saw people buying all of the cans of black beans left, leaving none for anybody else. This is what bothers me the most. People are too busy worrying about themselves. What about the people that come to the grocery store an hour later, desperately looking for black beans and can’t find any? What about those people who are poor and can’t afford much, but all of the cheap items they want to buy are gone? This makes me upset and I feel for them. They should have the same amount of opportunity to get the food and items they need. People need to start caring for each other more. The way to overcome this tough time is not by buying everything in sight, it’s buying enough and helping each other out. Hoarding, at this point, is hurting more people than it is helping. It’s a confusing time as well. People can’t go to their jobs; they are staying at home with their families. People are living with each other after a long time, especially kids who go to college and live there, coming back home to live with their family after a while. People with jobs are trying to find ways to keep money flowing. Teachers are finding ways to teach their students--props to them by the way. It’s a tough time and a confusing one. This kind of thing hasn’t happened in a long time, so acclimation is tough. People aren’t used to this. I’m not used to this. School at home is weird. Last week, things were pretty crazy as well. I remember making fun of the Corona Virus and thinking it was China’s and Italy’s problem until right before last week; I heard of the first confirmed case of Corona Virus in my hometown, Cherry Hill. This scared me, but also made me realize that it’s now America’s problem. I was more optimistic. I thought that if people just took care of themselves, this problem would go away quickly, but the opposite happened. There are more cases now and I am sitting on my bed under quarantine. This was a really quick change of pace. Times have changed a lot ever since last week. This change has been confusing, scary, and upsetting. But like last week, I am optimistic that we can get through this tough time.
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