Chronicles of COVID-19

Title

Aisling, Dublin

Contributor

Aisling

Subject

COVID-19 (Disease)

Coverage

Ireland; Dublin; 2020s:

Date

15 April 2020

Language

English

Creator

Cork Folklore Project

Rights

Cork Folklore Project

Description

GENERAL PHYSICAL LOCATION RIGHT NOW

Tallaght, parents' house

USUAL LOCATION

Sandymount, alone

Q. 1 STAGES

When it first happened in Wuhan I remember seeing weird images on TV news of Chinese people in masks and pyjamas, doing exercises en masse outside a hospital. I was abroad in the US for my sister's wedding when the first case was reported in Ireland. By the time we were leaving, LA had the same amount of cases as Ireland (13). The plane was less full on the return leg. I bought antibacterial wipes in the airport and used them to wipe down my seat and the surfaces around me. I didn't do that on the way over. (I had seen a video a few months ago of the model Naomi Campbell vigorously disinfecting her first-class seat and took inspiration from that). I washed my hands several times during the flight.
I returned to work on the Monday, anxious about what to expect. I work in a library so I deal with elderly people and kids on a daily basis. I was worried about them. I brought in disposable gloves on my first day back and I used them for about a day until I realised it was better to wash my hands even if the soap was killing my skin. I got really cracked knuckles that week. We spent the week leading up to the first wave of restrictions scrubbing our hands, trying to social distance. One of my colleagues who loves laminating, printed off all the HSE posters and laminated them, stuck them everywhere. We got upset about people who weren't taking it seriously. One older woman openly told us she had just come from the doctors’; snotting and blowing into a hanky, pushed the chair back from our desk as she sat down so she would catch anything FROM US! I realised it was getting serious on my first coffee run when I got back to work. My colleague Hayley and I brought our usual keep-cups to BEAR and we were told they could only use single use cups. They gave us the keep-cup discount for bringing them anyway.
We had a screening of short films at the library on the Tuesday. I'm friends with the facilitator and her husband through my boyfriend. We joking did the 'elbow tap' to each other before exchanging hugs and kissing. So that seems silly in retrospect! We did however wipe all the chairs down and left out hand sanitizer for people in attendance. Smaller crowd than usual. We also went to the pub afterwards and it was pretty empty. The day the Taoiseach made a big announcement to close the schools was Thursday, we awaited news of when we would also be closed. Storytime was scheduled for 3pm as usual, that came and went without any kids in the library.
My boyfriend visited me for a couple of days prior to the library being shut down. I thought I would basically be on holiday and be able to escape to where he lives in Cork. But we still had to attend work. The first few days of not having any of 'the public' in the building were pretty fun. I listened to Marty on Lyric FM and Ronan Collins on Radio 1. I listened to podcasts while I reorganised the non-fiction books and re-stuck their Dewey numbers onto the spines. I video called my boyfriend.
All my colleagues went through ups and downs for the two weeks we had to work behind closed doors. I felt like the council had forgotten about us because every group email and memo that came through my inbox referred to working from home and the 'office'. We don't have offices and our work is so physically based and people focused, you can't do it from home. I cried a lot, feeling ashamed of my organisation's reluctance to act and feeling helpless. I was glad to be getting paid, for sure, but I kept thinking, in 5 years someone would ask me what I did 'during the rona' and I would have to say '...cleaned the library'? We kept hearing that other authorities (Dublin City, Kildare etc.) had been sent home and would be redeployed to HSE, DSW, etc.
The unfolding of the restrictions and the definition of 'essential worker' took a long time to filter down to us. I felt really hurt and annoyed that while our work was not essential, we as council employees were seen as essential. I felt outraged on behalf of my colleagues who have to travel long distances to work, that their health was being risked like this. I only take a Dart 4 stops to work so that wasn't a fear for me. When eventually the Taoiseach made an announcement about shutting all the cafes and restaurants and exercising in a 2km radius I was told not to go to work the next day by my boss. I was relieved.
I also selfishly realised that if we do have another big recession my life and career plans are scuppered. I wanted this year to be the year I moved to Cork to be with my boyfriend and get a similarly nice library job down there. I worried a lot about my relationship and how we would get through it. I still worry. I miss the intimacy (sex) and hanging out. With no end in sight I can't make any plans to do something fun with him. So, for now we have movie night, he downloads the film and sends it to me and we watch 'together' via WhatsApp video call. Some nights we are on the phone 2-3 hours. With the tougher restrictions on movement now in place it feels so cruel that I can't visit him despite all my 'free' time.

Q. 2 EVERYDAY ROUTINE

My everyday activity has changed since the start of March. I went almost 3 weeks without seeing my parents. I asked to borrow their dog on the second week of the library being closed. I needed company, living alone. I went for a walk to the beach and around the streets of Sandymount most evenings. My boyfriend got really annoyed at me doing this and told me to stop telling him about my walks. He thought it was too risky. But it was my only activity apart from watching TV and drinking wine. On St Patrick's Day we even had a row over it and he hung up on me. My 2 friends were going for a walk to Phoenix Park and wanted me to join them. One friend in particular was really worried about my mental health so she was especially encouraging me to go. One week before, I would have said yes without hesitation. But weighing it up - a train to my friend's closest station then a lift up to the park with her - it seemed so risky. The week before I had gone to a crowded Starbucks for a catch up with my pal and that now seemed ludicrous - ridiculously risky. So I tried to apply the same reasoning to that situation - would I feel stupid in a week, curse myself for risking my health or others' just to get a walk in? I cried a lot that day. Ever since I heard the phrases 'viral load' and 'shedding' the virus I picture the virus just floating through the air ready to invade. Or attach to me to invade others. It's a pretty gross picture. I also think about the video someone in Italy made, leafing through 10 pages of deaths in one local newspaper. It's sobering. The day after I was finally told not to attend work, my parents came and collected me and I moved most of my stuff to their house. I'm glad of the company but that's not to say we don't get on each other's nerves.
Work wise, I help to man the community call helpline now. Because of social distancing I just do one shift a week on Sundays with the same people each time, starting with 6 people 9-5pm, but now we are split up and spread out over 12 hours. I'm expecting this job to change soon as the HQ sees the call stats and how they are spread out during the week. During the week I wake up at 9 and report to my line manager, basically to say I'm alive and available for work. We have access to email at home but that's it. No point in having the library management software at home anyway. Some of my colleagues are doing video recorded story times and craft sessions. I'm doing self-improvement courses and trying to bulk up my knowledge and keep my brain active. But it's hard! My sleeping pattern is so bad lately. I deal with stress by oversleeping. I nap a lot. I get up and feel like the day is over. I go on 3-5k walks with the dog and try to get some sunlight most days. I cook the dinner for my parents. My dad is also a council worker and is working 3 days on 2 off then 2 on every week. The council told him to go report to the cemetery near our house for work last week. But this week he's back cutting grass in his tractor, even though he believes that could spread the virus. My mam is a civil servant and she has been working from home. She isn't techy but she set up her laptop to work remotely and she's so chuffed with herself. I think she's doing more work than she normally does. She has a group chat with her 'girls' from work and takes calls from them when they are stuck on a case. She misses the office environment a lot; she can't wait to go back.
My friends and I have a (terrible) book club. We have read 7 books in 2 years. We had a 'house party' meeting on Easter Saturday which was really fun. It actually worked better than our normal one - because there were seven of us on the call, feedback was a big issue so we each muted ourselves ‘til it was time to talk about our view of the book. Stopped us all talking over each other like we usually do in real life!

Q. 3 GROUPS

I really feel for the over 70s, especially the active ones who exercise a lot and those who normally have lots of social contact. I think the problems of people in direct provision and homelessness are becoming even more unbearable - I can't imagine how it is to be in such cramped or unsanitary conditions especially now.
My friends and I have had a laugh about how you have to work for RTE to get tested for corona - Seeing how Ryan Tubridy and Claire Byrne got tested and diagnosed so fast.

Q. 4 WAYS WE TALK

My sister and I enjoyed calling it 'the rona' before it got serious. The remix of the Angelus to Michael D and Cardi B saying 'coronavirus' makes me laugh more than anything in a long time. TikTok as a family dance activity - kids making their parents viral (no pun intended). Such ingenuity. New phrases: WFH, ZOOM meetings, social distancing, viral load (yuk), the distinction being lost between isolation, self-isolation, quarantine..., people asking 'how are you holding up', signing off emails 'stay safe', epidemic to pandemic.
Older people sharing fake news via Whatsapp ('a friend of a friend is in the reserves and he told them that the army will be on the streets tomorrow...'), old memes, gifs and video clips I've seen tens of times before being repurposed and shared by my parents and their friends, 5G conspiracy theories, racist jokes about Chinese people eating bats, the Irish Times’ racist use of a picture of a random Asian person in a mask to illustrate a headline about covid. Irish Simpsons Fans on Facebook delivers a lot of laughs.

Q. 5 COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Kids put up St Patricks Day posters and flags in their windows. Easter decorations are apparently now a thing - lots of pastel wreaths on hall doors. Live streaming gigs - I 'went to' the Mary Wallopers gigs on Youtube and donated them some money for the effort. Annoyed by: a lot of littering going on especially of disposable gloves etc., joggers, people walking 3/4 abreast forcing me to walk on the road, lads spitting (see joggers), bulk buying people in the supermarket, people using masks and gloves incorrectly.

Q. 6 THOUGHTS AND PREOCCUPATIONS

It's very hard not to be able to go out and see your friends. It's even harder having a long distance relationship. I haven't had sex in ages. I miss going to the pub, and sharing a nice meal. I miss my job and even the bold misbehaving library borrowers. I worry about not being able to move up and on in my career. I worry about being stuck in one place. My granddad is in the hospital (for dementia not the ‘rona’) and we can't visit him, but a kind nurse has offered to let us video call via a hospital tablet. He was meant to go into a nursing home this year but they obviously locked down and thank god for that.

Q. 7 SIMILARITY TO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

No Response

Q. 8 CHALLENGES AND COPING

No Response

Q. 9 THE FUTURE

I feel like the lack of care for people in precarious situations is now too much to ignore - how quickly the government and people of means can sort out living quarters for front line / HCWs in a pandemic but not when it's a slow burning crisis involving less respected members of society like the homeless or asylum seekers. If we had a universal basic wage (which the covid unemployment allowance basically is) and had a guarantee to housing the government wouldn't have needed to hastily introduce these measures - it shows how solvable and unnecessary these precarious living situations are. The almost instantaneous removal of the private/public hospital barrier shows that two tier healthcare is not ethical. I worry that we become a police state, that people unthinkingly listen to a FF/FG coalition because of how 'well' Varadkar etc. handled the crisis. I think we are going to slip back into recession. But I think some people and businesses are showing just how adaptable and creative we can be.

Q. 10 IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT SPRINGS TO MIND?

No Response

Q. 11 IN A NUTSHELL

No Response

age

26-35

gender

Female