The generational diffrence As the Coronavirus outbreak continues and people are forced to stay at home, I take a look at how the different generations have been affected by social distancing from a 14-year-old to an 83-year-old we will be seeing how social distancing has changed there lives.
by carson holleb
These are all statements that come from three people from three different gen-
erations. All of their y Area where as of April 23, 2019, there have been 6,855 reported cases as well as 242 deaths due to this virus. California has declared a state of emergency and has instructed people to stay home and practice social distancing. This order has affected people all over the state in many different ways and in all 3 of the following interviewee’s lives. People are all being forced to stay home, only going out for essential needs and the occasional walk. The focus here is to see how this order has changed the lives of a Middle Schooler, a Millennial and a Senior. These three are all living through the coronavirus, they are healthy and don’t know of anyone who has contracted the disease, but they are still affected by this global phenomenon. However, before we get to their stories, let’s do a bit of history. COVID19, or better known as the Coronavirus, has led to mass panic all over the world, causing businesses to send home employees, schools to close and the economy to stumble. The Coronavirus started in December of 2019 in Wohong China, and on March 11th the virus was declared a pandemic
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by the World Health Organization. As of the time this was written, the CDC website reported that there were 2,638,024 active cases of coronavirus in the world and 205 counties had confirmed cases of infection. Out of those 2,638,024 cases, 849,092 of them were in the U.S. alone. This makes it the country with the most cases in the world. Out of all the states in America, California has one of the highest counts of infection with a total of 35,396 cases and the number is still growing. The following interviewees live in Santa Clara county which has the most reported cases in Northern California.
The middle schooler says “social distancing has personally affected my life in many ways, such as not being able to go out with friends, or playing the sports that I love”. His name is Brennon, he is 14 and currently enrolled at Crittenden Middle School. For him, there will be no Graduation, no 8th-grade trip to Great America and no final goodbyes to friends that will soon be going to different High Schools. Their campus was closed and they had to switch to online learning. When asked if Brennon preferred online learning to in-class learning he said “I prefer working at school because there’s a better environment there and I feel like I get a better learning experience” When asked what it is like to not have to go to school, he replied, “Not going to school is kind of weird because now, it’s harder to wake up earlier because you don’t really have a reason to, except for your online classes”.
In contrast, the millennial stated that “My life has improved from social distancing because I’ve been more effective in my business. Not commuting has been helpful and I am finding better cadence with my co-workers.” That’s Chase, he is 28 and currently working as an engineer. For Chase, like many others, he has been forced to work from home. However, when I asked him if he preferred working from home to working in the office his response was very 50/ 50, he said, “I think that there’s a lot of times that I don’t need to go to the office, but there are things that I do need to go there for. So I don’t think it’s quite a one-sided answer, but a lot of my work I can do here comfortably, CAD programming, things like that. But for experimentation, you know, I would need to go into the office. And I think that weekly in-person meetings with your immediate team are necessary for maintaining business relationships’’.
Then there’s our senior Nancy, who’s 83 and from the “Silent Generation.” The fall out from this virus has made her very lonely because she doesn’t get to see her family as much now or her friends. However, she does feel lucky that she has a nice house, is financially set and is in good health. Nancy is more concerned about her friends and feels that they are suffering the worst. She explains by saying “Well, they’ve been affected a lot of them who are in a care facility or assisted living or retirement communities where they’re locked in. They have two rooms, and their food is put outside the door at five o’clock and they have to bring it in. It’s kind of like being in a prison.”
Brennon’s daily activities include running on a treadmill in his home-
made gym, homework, and face timing with friends. Chase explains, “Well, I began a hydroponics project as a way to keep myself occupied during social distancing. I’ve also been exploring other hobbies, nature, hobbies in general, because I’m finding that, if I can’t go out to, you know, places, where other folks are such as concerts, going on hikes, is a great way to get out and find a way out of the house” Chase’s activities are similar to Brennon’s in that he was doing new things due to the shelter in place. For Nancy a daily routine is “cleaning out things, and then finding something that brings [her] pleasure, like playing piano, much more painting and doing puzzles” and she says that she’s “just enjoying things that I enjoy doing”. One thing they all have in common is socializing remotely through Zoom. Chase for work, Brennon for school and Nancy for Church. Social distancing has affected everyone throughout the country and yet there are still people who do not take the Government, Scientist and doctor’s recommendation to shelter in place or wear masks. When asked why they think people refuse to shelter in place, Chase commented that “It might be that they feel more of a desire to be around other people, or they find it too difficult to be alone and in their homes.” Brennon turns his attention to the younger generation thinking “that people don’t social distance, because they don’t really see a reason in it or they might say, oh, we’re young, we won’t get affected. For example, college people who try to enjoy their spring break. So they say this coronavirus won’t get in our way, and so they go and do it anyway.” Nancy is straight to the point and just says “They’re stupid.” All three mainly agree that the reason why people aren’t obeying these mandates is because they just don’t think that they can catch the virus. Everyone has a different opinion on the events that are going on. Some people, like Chase and Brennon, say what the masses are saying, others, like Nancy, take a more straightforward approach. Everyone sees things differently whether it be a day to day life or a Global pandemic. Everyone’s opinion is different especially among our different generations even though we are all facing the same pandemic none of them have the same option. I think Nancy sums it up the best “You younger people will look back on it someday and say, Oh my god, did we really live through that?”
About the Author
This is Carson Holleb and don’t worry he does have eyes under that hair (just in case you were wondering). He's 17 and currently a junior at Los Altos High School as well as Freestyle Academy where he is enrolled in film. Currently, his life, as well as the lifes of many others, is being affected by the Coronavrisue. So at this time all, he can do is stay at home and wait for it to be over.
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