Author: ganesh
March 5th, 2020
12:56 PM
Dear Diary,
Just woke up and it just hit me that I haven’t been uploading anything to openlab, can’t lie I have been enjoying life living inside. I had free time but I guess it just slipped my mind to upload. however I have been reading some of you guy’s posts and it is really interesting to see how everyone is doing and how they are dealing with this crisis differently. It has been a week since I have uploaded during this time of absence I have been enjoying these Netflix movies and series also I have been eating a lot, I actually gained some weight. Yesterday I tried to go grocery shopping and had to wait in a huge line just to get in, that wasn’t the worst part, when I finally got inside they had limitations on almost everyĀ items toilet paper was limited to 1 pack per customer and water was limited to 2 cases per customer. while inside the manager made an announcement saying that they wont be getting supplies for a while so they might be closing the storeĀ for a few days. As I looked around I can see the facial expression on everyone’s face and all I saw was everyone looking anxious and nervous. hope everyone is doing well…stay safe.
ONE STUDENT, ONE DAY AT A TIME, NYC PANDEMIC
Ganesh Sitaram, English 1101 361
March 23-26, 2020
MARCH 23, 2020- OZONE PARK, JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
2:25 PM
Dear Diary,
I’m writing my first entry after checking open lab. Today started out as any normal quarantine day, with the abundance of sanitizer, gloves and masks making my job a little difficult since I’m not accustomed to wearing gloves and a mask. For my job I depend on the feelings in my hands because I detail cars, so I must feel the paint in order to know how to proceed with the detailing. Anyways I’m on lunch break right now so I decided to start my diary entry. Today I grabbed a small lunch because my options were limited since majority of places are closed, I got a chicken parm with a 20-ounce coke. Surprisingly its tasting really good, not going to lie I was skeptical about it because I never ordered anything from Ozone Pizzeria before. Just finished my lunch, didnāt have much time to write a lot so this will conclude my first diary entry.
MARCH 24, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
6:17 AM
Dear Diary,
Literally just woke up to my phone ringing, when I checked I saw that I had 7 missed calls from my boss. When I saw that I immediately knew what it was about, yesterday I had to close the shop since I was working the afternoon shift, and instead of leaving the keys in the locker I kept it in my pocket. Now I must get to my job before 7am and its my day off. I’m kind of angry but it’s my fault so I can’t complain. Got to go so I will continue after I return home. Now its 9:39am came home and made some breakfast. I made a turkey-bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with a glass of orange juice and a cup of Keurig Starbucks medium roast coffee. I donāt really drink orange juice that much, but since the corona virus attacks your immune system, I’ve been taking a lot of vitamins. Other than that, today will be a chill day I will be continuing my online courses for my other classes, I have a lab report thatās due by 6pm today and an online test starting at 4pm and ending at 6:30pm. So, for the remainder of the day I will be performing an experiment and studying.
MARCH 25, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
4:03 PM
Dear Diary,
Today has been going pretty good so far, I woke up around 9:30am and headed to the grocery store. It wasnāt a shock to see the shelves empty and cases of water that was once 3 cases for $10.00 is now $7.99 each. After I was finished from the grocery store I went to the pharmacy only to see the vitamin and nutrition isle was full of products. I found this very odd because as we know the corona virus affects the immune system which means we should build our immune systems by using vitamins. I got a few vitamins, such as b12, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Iām kind of taking my own approach on the virus but at the same time still doing the basic social distancing, and cleaning of the hands and face. Since today is Wednesday I have a couple of classes today, I just received an email from Art history saying that instead of us meeting online every Mondays and Wednesdays we will be given a test on each of those days since many people is having so much difficulty with the distance learning. Luckily for me this English class has made it easy to communicate using the open lab website.
MARCH 26, 2020- SOUTH JAMAICA, NEW YORK CITY
3:46 AM
Dear Diary,
As you can tell by the time that Iām writing this, you can tell that I am REALLY bored. I already feel like Iām doing the same thing every day, not going to lie I kind of feel like Iām in prison but at the same time not really. Ever since we got the news that we will be doing distance learning, and I wonāt be able to go to work since my job is not āessentialā I finished twelve seasons of Criminal Minds on Netflix and Iām already on season 10 of Bones on Hulu. At this point I feel like Iām watching a full season per day and its beginning to get very boring. If I happen to leave my house it usually really fast, just going to do something important then rush back home. Even when Iām outside its really depressing because its not the usual sight, the roads and side walks are almost empty. Even on social media and T.V all you see is some type of ānewā information or some sort of broadcast on the corona virus. I know itās something life threatening but I feel like if they donāt find a cure soon we will all go crazy from being in our homes.
I have been home from school since the 11th of march, cant lie at first it was amazing, I worked more hours hung out with friends a little but things took a turn for the worse. on the 16th my boss closed our shop for a week so we can see how the virus is progressing. however we had to reopen within 3 days because we got a lot of cars. since I work in an auto body repair shop I’m in a closed up shop all day so I was starting to feel a little nervous since there is no constant air flow. luckily my boss is really understanding and cooperative, he got an air flow system for the entire shop. although we got the system for the shop all of us are still wearing gloves, face masks, and washing our hands and face frequently. not going to lie the corona virus is bad for the environment but I’m considering my self lucky because I’m not feeling sick at all and I can still make money while still attending classes. honestly while writing this I’m at work right now, I would add a picture but I haven’t figured out how to on mobile. hope everyone is safe.
During this coronavirus situation I feel very tense, I feel like it’s made me more aware of my surroundings. Honestly the only way I’m coping with the situation is by washing my hands and using hand sanitizer frequently. During this crisis I noticed my mom bought a big bottle of hand sanitizer and placed it right next to our front door, she also bought a bunch of wet wipes and is constantly wiping the door knobs. I feel like this virus is causing people to make unnecessary changes to their lifestyle, for example many people who drank corona beer don’t drink it anymore because they think there is a link with the beer and the virus. The only advise I can give is, if you feel even a little sick or even under the weather GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Like I mentioned before the only good thing that happened to me since the virus started is; it’s made me more aware of my surroundings.
