COVID-19 Timeline
Thursday, March 11, 2021
I started writing what is written below nearly a year ago on March 20, 2020—9 days after the 11th, which was the day that the NBA suspended its season and the day that felt like, to me, when the bottom fell out. I felt a pull to simply document these days before they slipped from my memory. It’s very stream of consciousness and matter of fact, I don’t think I had the bandwidth or energy to analyze any of it. I was simply writing what I was seeing, this happened and then that happened. Some of it is capitalized, some not. I kept most of it the way I originally wrote it, without editing, to reflect my state of mind. Working in the grocery industry, I had a front row seat to that aspect of how the pandemic played out in the early days. Days documented: Tuesday, March 10--Sunday, March 22, 2020. Both pictures were taken on March 16, 2020.
It’s been 9 days since the world went insane. I don’t even remember what I was thinking about before. I know I was aware of coronavirus, and was tracking it’s spread in China, but it hadn’t yet stopped life everywhere else. So it seemed like a distant non-possibility. it feels weird. like it was normal normal normal and then bam. everything changed. overnight. I was exchanging texts with family, but still going about my usual business. making appointments. taking the car to get the oil changed. most of this I pieced together from texts I sent to my family to be able to follow a timeline.
Tuesday March 10: Theo and Sophie stay home with a cough/fever. Sophie had thrown up the night before from coughing so much. when I call in to work to call off, I reach Debby, our store manager, who does not seem irritated i’m calling off. she asks how my kids are doing and tells me to stay home if i’m not feeling well myself. I text my sister in law, asking if there are any dc cases and wondering if schools will shut down for a bit. a nearby school district announces they will shut down for two weeks bc a student had tested positive. we also texted about spring and Conan O’Brien podcast. it still feels like a far away problem.
Wednesday March 11: matt stays home with Theo and Sophie while I go back to work. I go to bed early, i’m on my period so im tired. I wake up around 11 to the news that the nba will suspend its season, which scared me. I can’t get back to sleep. I lay in bed, talking to matt, anxious and shook. we decide to keep all kids home from school on Thursday bc there is all the sudden so much uncertainty. The WHO declares coronavirus a global pandemic.
Thursday March 12: all three kids home. matt goes to practice, but gym is cancelled. I go to work. people are starting to freak out. cashiers are telling me that people are checking out with $200-$700 worth of stuff. Matt’s seasons gets put on hold. nhl postpones season. march madness gets cancelled. Theo’s weekend tournament gets cancelled. that evening, it’s announced that Indiana schools will close come Monday. I take a break and sit outside with kiriana, in which I am quite shaken and am having trouble concentrating. it’s a lot happening very fast, and I feel untethered. after work, I go to target with the kids. certain shelves are sparse. pasta. toilet paper. I spend nearly $200.
Friday March 13: I was supposed to have off but I texted my boss to see if I could come in to work. I knew it would be busy. I had requested off the entire weekend bc matt was supposed to be traveling. his trip got cancelled. he has no practice either, so he stays home with Theo, who is still sick. they go to Nike and do some returns, they get me the black and white sherpa i’ve been eyeing and the green and white one for Ali. the girls are begging to go to school one last time before it shuts down. we let them. all hell breaks loose in the store. crazy busy. we do over 100k in sales, a normal day is 60k.
Saturday the 14th: I wake up with a fever blister brewing, unsurprisingly. again, I was supposed to be off. but I offered myself to grocery, who was ransacked. I get in at 7, help stock the shelves. I stock toilet paper to begin with. it’s busy again, but not as bad as friday. it starts snowing. big, fat flakes. it’s quite beautiful. I finish work around 1. there is nothing left to put out on the shelves. I go to Nordstrom rack to do a return for matt. before that I had gone to trader joes. it’s not too busy. some stuff is wiped out, but I was able to get what I needed. I bought some really good glazed chocolate donuts. cashier and I talk about how crazy past two days had been. he notes that it’s not any busier than a normal Saturday. I get home. don’t remember what the evening entailed. I think I was trying to decompress.
Sunday the 15th: I had texted my boss on Saturday, said I could come in Sunday to cut fruit in the back. can’t quite remember what I made, but I just did what I could. slower again. not crazy. shelves sill pretty wiped. I think it was on this day that Debby announced anyone who tested positive would get two weeks of paid sick leave. if only anyone could get tested. it’s either today or yesterday that a notice is put up at work that anyone who would like extra hours (plus a $15 gift card per shift) can pick up shifts at the 86th street store to do prime shopping. i’m intrigued, but also exhausted. at this point, matt is still set to go in to practice on Monday. but then he starts receiving texts from some of the guys that they don’t think they should go in. he talks to the coaches. it’s decided that they will postpone practice until at least Thursday the 19th, though I think it will be and should be cancelled further out. I texted susie in the am to check in on her and Larry and find out Tim’s wife, Mary, is due any day now. later on, I get an email from Larry about all the craziness. welcome to retail he says! ha.
Monday the 16th: kids are home from school but not actually yet doing e-school. Teachers are taking Monday and Tuesday to get everything together to start e-learning on Wednesday. I get tons of emails from all the teachers and it’s too much. I already feel overwhelmed. I have work, a regular scheduled shift. We don’t get a truck on monday, so there is almost nothing to make. I do make a single batch of guacamole, then spend time deep cleaning. at some point we hear that there is a press conference later in the day at which point the president may invoke martial law. I don’t know exactly what that means, but it sounds scary. I text Jon and he texts me back that it’s an unfounded rumor. turns out a foreign government (hint hint Russia) likely planted the rumor to create chaos and fear. tick that box. again, I am shaken. I help clean some stuff on the floor. Debby comes up to me and kiriana and asks us how we are doing. I tell her I am not great, feeling a little unsettled. she is too. I don’t take a lunch and go home a little early at 2pm. on each of these days I am taking home a few things here and there after my big shops the past Thursday and Saturday.
Tuesday the 17th: it’s announced at work before we open that everyone will get an extra $2/hour through the end of April. so I email the 86th street store to pick up extra shifts since we are getting extra pay. might as well strike while the iron’s hot. i’m working in specialty today. our truck doesn’t come in until later, so I help out produce putting product away when theirs comes in. stock is very low. I think it’s today that my throat starts hurting and i’m just feeling wiped out from the extra shifts as well as the speed at which everything is coming at us. it’s all too much to take in, and the stress is manifesting itself in my body. I leave work a little bit early. I probably took a nap when I get home but I can't remember. Evelyn is still sick. Jon also texted in our family text chain that the federal government is working on stimulus package that will include cash payments to citizens, which is something i never thought America would do. shocking, really. but needed. social distancing enters the general lexicon.
Wednesday the 18th: I am scheduled to be in produce but I call out of my shift. I need a day to recover. my throat is really hurting and I’m exhausted. I have worked the past 9 out of 10 days. plus, it’s the kids first day of e-learning, so I want to help get them set up. i’m up early tho, and Jon and his colleague Amy and I get on Skype and recite a prayer together. we are all weary and worried. I type up an e-learning schedule taken from someone’s Instagram, but it’s a little too regimented for us and by midday we are way off. lol. at first, I can’t get anyone to log on. Internet is slow. then we realize that Theo is missing all of his books and folders, so matt goes to the school to get them. my fever blister is still going strong. but eventually we get the schooling done. I make lunch, then we have creative time. Evelyn FaceTimes her teacher and spends much of it in silence and one word answers lol. the kids get two hours of screen time, which they are thrilled about. matt gets word games are cancelled until at least may and practice is cancelled through mid April. i reply to the email about going to help the 86th street store, and tell them I can come in on Thursday and friday. the kids try to watch Lego masters, but the new episode won’t be up until 2 am. restrictions are put into place—only essential travel allowed.
Thursday the 19th: I think Evelyn wakes up without a fever. it’s first day of spring. I take a selfie on my way in to work (a rarity) in the car, showcasing my tired eyes and fever blister lip and my self cut bangs that I had just chopped that morning after my shower. i’m late to work by about 15 minutes. I was getting the kids waffles as they were watching the new lego masters episode. but getting in late and calling out of shifts do not have any consequences for the month of march. maybe longer. I head over to specialty, where our truck is already in, which is early. I post the selfie to instagram at some point. Anna is the only one here, so Tara had been helping her unload the truck. the store is quiet. it almost feels a little eery. it’s been like that the past couple of days. two men run into each other at the store by our counter and have a conversation 6 feet apart. I don’t take a lunch again. I clock out for the day, eat some lunch, and then head over to the 86th street store to do prime shopping. 3 hours in and I am feeling it. my throat is killing me. I am exhausted. I clock out about 7:30, take my $15 gift card and buy a salad for dinner. vamsi texts me later that night that OT is double pay. so now I feel almost guilty for taking any time off. I go home and the kids are finishing up a movie. I know i’m going to call out of my prime shopping shift. I just need to give my body a break. it’s announced that schools will bet out until may 1.
Friday the 20th: I wake up early, around 5ish and email Liz that I can’t come in for the shift. I need to rest. I fall back asleep thank god. I take Wallace out around 8ish am and it is a shock when I walk outside to 65 degree weather and sunshine. it feels amazing. I feel better already at getting some extra rest. I tell the kids forget about school, we’re going outside. I get another email from Larry, telling me to hang in there and talking shop about the extra pay. I email him back and tell him we’re ditching school to go outside. unfortunately, the weather is set to go downhill as the day goes on. it’s supposed to end the day 25 degrees colder. we go out for a skate anyways, me and Sophie on roller skates, Theo on a skateboard, and ev on rollerblades. it’s not too bad when we start out, but we go out for way too long. by the time we are headed back it is much colder, very windy and everyone is tired. i’m thinking to myself why did we do this? my throat is starting to hurt again and I just wish I was at home resting. I fall really hard on my ass, luckily halfway in the grass but my new orange coat gets muddy. I tell Theo to shut up. he’s writhing around on the ground. we finally make it home. we do a bit of school. I take Wallace to his last round of immunizations. it feels weird—the news is so dire but it feels like life is going on as normal in a way. i get pizza from greeks bc I can’t be bothered to cook. matt and I rush out to post office to grab a couple packages. I take a nap from about 715-9. I get up and put kids to bed, then do the dishes and catch up on the Daily episodes. I am exhausted but I disinfect all the light switches and door handles and wipe down the bathrooms. matt and I get into bed about midnight.
Saturday the 21st: i have another day off. I wake up around 715, take Wallace out and go back to bed till nearly 10. matt gets up to go to one on one coaching, I FaceTime with Jon and Susie and Junie and Gwen. my cold sore is finally almost all better. I make some granola and yogurt with fruit. I hop back into bed with Oryx and Crake. reading feels really good, but also makes me tired. my brother Joe facetimes me, and he and I catch up and I get to see Reese. by 9am his time, Reese is ready for his first nap, so we get off. I do the census online. then I make lunch for everyone. kids had been playing prodigy on their school computers. after lunch, we take a walk with Wallace. while i’m getting ready to go out, Theo breaks my new-ish white and blue lamp. we go out, and it’s much colder than I thought it would be. it’s now 6:23pm and I still haven’t folded any laundry or done any dishes. I had considered calling in to 86th street store to log a couple of extra hours, but still feeling run down. hopefully I feel better tomorrow. kids are playing VR as I sit here and type. I need to make dinner. it still feels odd, all this so fast. part of the reason I wanted to document all this is bc as of 10 days ago, all was seemingly normal. but there is a definite break between life before march 11 and life after.
Sunday the 22nd: went into work at 7am after two days off. two much needed days off. i’m glad I didn’t go in for extra shifts. went into a nearly empty produce section. nothing in the back. I was able to do a few things until the truck got in, then stocked up and ended up staying until 4 to finish. we will see what we have left tomorrow. a man came up to me and said, very earnestly: “do you have potatoes?” I told him no, there’s none in the back and the truck won’t be brining any either. and then he says, irritated: “but are they any out on the floor?” huh? do you see any out? is what I thought. I just looked at him and said: no. it was a quiet day. slow even. it was crappy weather, raining and snowing and cold, which probably kept people away. kiriana and I talked about how weird it all was, about how fast it had all happened. she mentioned hearing some things about Indiana taking more stringent quarantine measures to be announced Monday. we shall see. things feel quiet and slow, like back to normal almost, like a false sense of security. I have no idea how long this will last.
