YAYA KNOWS BEST

Emma Rylands

Real Heroes

It's Saturday, March 28, and I'm two weeks in self isolation and social distancing. It's exactly 14 days since I last hugged a friend and felt someone close to me. By the time you’re reading this a lot of things will have changed even more. I wish I could be optimistic and say that things will be better but statistics and facts from other countries are telling us that we are only at the very beginning.

Don't get me wrong, things will get better and we will get to enjoy all the things we used to, prior to Covid-19, but not just yet. Be patient. Even though no previous generations have ever experienced what we are currently going through, they have been through wars, poverty and other horrible situations that ended. And once all these things end, new life begins.

The entire world is collectively going through the same as us and we all are equally helpless when faced with this virus. Our race, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status and skin colour doesn’t make us immune when it comes to pandemics.

I do hope that once this pandemic is over we will all have reflected on our lives and realised what is and isn't important.

If anything, this situation has highlighted and reminded us who are the heroes and zeroes of our times. The ones we used to idolise and treat differently are all cooped up at home with luxuries and comforts. Footballers, Instagram influencers, artists, celebrities and other A to Z-listers, which can make in a month what your average worker makes in their lifetime, are sat in their lounge encouraging their followers to stay at home in order to stop the spreading of the virus. ‘Average’ workers are out there fighting the virus.

From nurses and doctors to supermarket employees, everyone is out there every single day, risking their lives in order for us to be able to stay at home and avoid getting infected. They are literally the backbone of civilisation and they are keeping everything in working order yet they struggle to pay their monthly bills, student loans or any other expenses because our society doesn't reward them for their efforts and achievements.

“They are keeping everything in working order yet they struggle to pay their monthly bills... because our society doesn't reward them for their efforts and achievements”

When I was growing up everyone wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, a pilot or a firefighter, a teacher or a police person. These days everyone wants to be famous, they want to have followers, they want to get likes and make money to live in a big house like the Beckhams, while driving expensive cars and dining in overpriced restaurants. But none of these things are of any worth today. None of these things will save your life.