Article: If the pandemic has made you anxious about returning to "normal," you're not alone
And some people don’t want to return to work as they once knew it at all.
“Why on earth am I spending all my time either at work or thinking about it?” said a 25-year-old researcher from the tristate area who asked to be identified as KB. “It sure as shit doesn't think about me. As cliche as it sounds, I realized [during the pandemic] that I care so much more about seeing my family, working on my hobbies, etc., than I do about a career. I've definitely reevaluated what success means to me.”
“I'm worried about losing my new lease on life,” said Jane, a 26-year-old digital strategist from Louisiana. “Before the pandemic, I lived in a stressful city and dealt with a competitive work environment. I got so caught up in the rat race and trying to get ahead that I was burning myself out. After my office went remote, I decided to go back to my hometown. This has allowed me to spend time with family and reflect on what's important to me in life. I realized so many things I was chasing are pretty meaningless. I worry that when I return to the office and competitive environments, I'll lose that perspective and the sense of inner peace I've had over the last couple of months.”
“I never want to work for another corporation again,” said Nicole Peevy, 33, a student and entrepreneur in Los Angeles. She was fired from her job during the pandemic, a crushing blow following a couple of deaths in her family. “I was so angry [about] how things were initially handled and how employers literally don't care if you work yourself to death, and that really depressed me and caused me to question the purpose of living. I want to work to live, not live to work.”
this is so... something
i feel like you shud actually read the article before declaring that random people deserve to suffer lmao. i only included a few paragraphs in the post, but the people interviewed range from students to formerly unhoused people to physicians assistants. it also discusses the rise in anti-asian hate crimes and how many asians are afraid to have to share public spaces with racists that could commit violence against them at any given moment, something i think white people especially should be paying attention to.
but here, i'll include another passage here for any other white people that don't wanna bother clicking into an article:
Given the horrifying surge in anti-Asian violence since the start of the pandemic, some Asian Americans find crowds daunting for another reason. “I don’t go out by myself because I’m always looking over my shoulder hoping that nobody attacks me,” said Jasmine, a student in Texas. “I shouldn’t have to be living in this world afraid.”
“The burden of racism that we ... face due to COVID-19 will make my life different,” said Eunice Kim, a 25-year-old New Yorker. “I don't want to go to areas where it's predominately white, and I will avoid areas where I know I won't be welcomed because of my race and ethnicity. Being called the Kung Flu, corona, Wuhan virus, and the Chinese virus, I don't think I'll feel safe going back to the life we once had given that so many people make us, Asians, feel guilty.” Even if the pandemic ends, “I think I'll be in full survival mode,” Eunice said.
