Jack Yesner Week 19- Apocalypse Day Anniversary

 This past Sunday, March 13, not only did we observe Daylight Saving Time by shifting our clocks forward, but we also commemorated the second anniversary of Apocalypse Day. Apocalypse Day, or Friday, March 13, 2020, was the day the world fully shut down due to COVID. It was a day of panic and distress. No one knew what was going on or what they were going to do. It seemed like the world was going to end.

I remember that day especially vividly. Over the past week, we had witnessed case numbers steadily increase and heard of infections in nearby schools. Speculation buzzed rapidly about school being shut down. By Friday, everyone was adamant that the school would close, even though they had still made no formal announcement about it. When we heard that a town hall was scheduled just minutes before the meeting took place, we knew there could only have been one reason why. Everybody cheered from the floor of Zinman Hall when it was announced that school would be closed until Spring Break, and we would receive a five day vacation while the administration figured out how to run school virtually.

The next day, I went to the supermarket to try and buy any items that we still could. That experience is still one of the strangest I have ever had in my life. I walked in and saw dozens of shoppers frantically running across the aisles, desperately searching for available groceries. Entire shelves of food were completely empty. It looked as if there had been a terrible catastrophe, like a natural disaster or zombie apocalypse. 

These events prove that humans have a terrifying, innate fear of the unknown. People weren’t buying groceries because they knew what would happen, they were buying them because they didn’t know. Hours-long lines to take a flight back to the United States before the border closed didn’t exist because people knew precisely what would happen, but because they didn’t know how long they could be stuck in the foreign country and what it would be like. Fear of the unknown can drive humans to do wild things, but as we saw in this situation, it likely saved many lives. 

The most ironic part of Apocalypse Day was our shallow anticipations for the future. “We will be closed for three weeks and then reassess to reopen” the school said. “This could be a virus that plagues this country for two full months” the government warned. Little did anyone know, we are celebrating the two year anniversary of Apocalypse Day with an average case count more than one hundred times higher than when we shut down (March 13, 2020 had an average of 271 cases, while March 13, 2022 had an average of 34,232 cases). Hindsight is 20-20, and there was no way for anyone to know the longevity of this event. But throughout all of it, the human mind, and its fear of the unknown, pushed us through and helped us persevere through this traumatic experience. When COVID finally ends, the human mind will be a lot stronger, and it will no longer have as strong of a fear of the unknown, especially for diseases such as COVID. 

What was your Apocalypse day like? Do you have a fear of the unknown?



-Picture taken on March 14, 2020 at Publix. There are zero toilet paper rolls remaining on the shelf.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ben Nikpour - Week 10: Oscar Viewers are Dropping

Image
     Before a few days ago, I did not know much about the Oscars. I knew it was an award show, but besides that, I was basically clueless. It wasn’t until the Will Smith and Chris Rock situation that I spent the time to look into what the Oscars are.       For some background, the Oscars, properly known as the Academy Awards, are awarded to artists in the film industry. The first show was in May of 1929. At its peak, in 1998, the Oscars brought in over 55 million viewers; that same year was the release of one of the biggest movies of all time: Titanic. Since then, viewers have been dropping. In 2020, the Oscars had their lowest amount of viewers with only 24 million people watching the event. In 2021, the Oscars broke their 2020 record of lowest viewers by only bringing in less than 11 million people. This year the Oscars brought in close to 17 million viewers which is an improvement but not by much. Award shows like the Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes, ...
Read more

Noah Bard Week 1 - The Misunderstanding of our Modern-Day Gladiators

Image
   When I hear the word gladiator, I Immediately think of the Colosseum and humans being eaten by lions. However, times have changed, and so has the term gladiator. I’m talking about the sport of MMA, and more specifically, UFC fighters. Besides the few million crazed fight fans out there like myself, the current consensus about MMA is that it’s stupid. At face value, it’s a very sensible conclusion to make. Why in the world would anybody want to risk their lives on national television, or in that case at all? Well, here’s why.      Every day before that bell rings, these men and women are mastering the art of fighting. It takes much more than just supernatural athleticism; it ultimately comes down to the fighter's mental fortitude. Every slight move in the eyes, feet, and hands of your opponent must be taken into account to win. It’s a common stereotype to think that fighters aren’t very smart and not only because of what they do for a living, but oftentimes it...
Read more

Ariella Green Week 7: The Airport

Image
  Ariella Green Week 7: The Airport      Don’t ya hate going to the airport?       I absolutely can not stand going to the airport. As I’m sure most of you know, I am very organized and like to plan out everything. When things don’t go according to the plan, it stresses me out.       Thursday morning, I assumed I would have an easy experience flying from PBI to JFK on JetBlue airlines. Little did I know, there would be many little bumps along the way that I had to deal with while trying to catch my flight.       First, we arrive at the airport at around 10:30 for our 11:45 flight. I personally believe that you should always give yourself enough time at the airport, so you don’t have to rush at the gate or if you want to make a purchase. We also had to face the challenge of finding somewhere to park, which is nearly impossible sometimes. After searching for a while, we found...
Read more