Author: Yash Sharma
March 24, 2020 – Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City 10:18PM
Dear Diary, I bought my very own bass yesterday. I had to drive to Long Island by Mount Sinai to pick up, but it was 100 bucks so it was worth it. I’ve been playing all day, recorded a couple of videos and even wrote down some music I made. Hopefully this bass will help me stay indoors and will keep me distracted for a while.
March 25, 2020 – Everything I did the day before, I plan on doing today. I have to learn songs that my friend wrote to help him with his band and I have to help write for this other project I’m part of. Hopefully this can keep me busy and productive. I got two of my midterms back, I didn’t do too bad so I’m not stressing it.
March 26, 2020 – My parents woke me up to go grocery shopping. Every store that we went to had a long line so it took forever to get everything we needed.
I’ve been feeling alright since last week Thursday, I haven’t really been in quarantine though. I go out to skate sometimes, I’m also a smoker so I kind of have to go outside. Since the streets have been deserted I go out bombing (to bomb or hit is to paint many surfaces in an area, i.e do graffiti). The other day I walked all of Northern Blvd in Jackson Heights with my friend Tocer2. Then we turned on Broadway and walked to Astoria. I know my friends skate the city since midtown is deserted too. I haven’t really gone to the city, just because I’m too lazy but I plan on going later this week to buy some clothes. I’ve been pretty calm about the whole thing. Yesterday I found out that there has been in 10 cases of people testing positive for covid-19 in Jackson Heights, here in Queens where I’m from. That made me a little cautious, maybe even a little nervous to be honest. Today my mom comes back from Colombia, so I plan on staying inside the house today until my mom lands in JFK. I’m nervous for her because I don’t want her catching corona in the airplane, her health hasn’t been so good lately so I’m scared that can get sick easily.
I feel like the whole thing with Corona is very dramatic, social media and news media makes it seem more dramatic than it is. Many people are taking precautions that are a little too extreme. I see people wearing plastic gloves on the train, I heard the mayor suggested people not to ride the MTA when it’s too crowded, and I see many Chinese restaurants being empty, as well as racist videos on Instagram against Chinese people. Just last week I went to buy some chicken and broccoli and the guy blessed it with a couple of egg rolls, I just assumed I was the only customer he had that day so he was being nice. There’s ways to prevent Corona, stay clean and wash your hands several times during the day. It’s hard for me to not touch my face, but I’m able to resist it because I’m aware of what’s going on. Schools like John Jay and Saint Johns’s are getting closed temporarily because of the virus. I just got an email from the school addressing the rumor that a student was possibly exposed to the virus while administering a chest x-ray to a patient who later appeared to be symptomatic in the Radiologic Technology Department at City Tech, so who knows, our school might get closed next.
