A Wild Night
“Don’t risk your life on this. Would you cancel it, like now?”
After being nicely “suggested” by my mom and aunt and cousin, I gave up arguing. My boyfriend has been planning to visit me for months, but because of the global crisis, we decided to cancel the flights, hotel and everything.
Yes, I get it. You have a higher risk of coming across someone with coronavirus at Chicago’s O'hare International Airport given its normal amount of passengers. And it’s just scary to be stuck in an airplane with potential viruses. We thought we'd prepared to deal with it by packing masks and hand sanitizers (yes, plural) but we failed at the last minute.
To be fair, I didn’t panic until Friday night. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been wearing masks whenever I go. I thought I’ve learned enough from my Chinese friends and families to conquer the virus. Not until recently, I was the one urging my family to stay at home and keep social distance, but now the situation is totally reversed. While my friends in China started going out cautiously, my parents check in on me every other day to persuade me to stay indoors. As a recent journalism graduate from mainland China, I’ve been hearing different voices from multiple sides - is this disease dangerous? Do we have to wear masks? Can we hang out as normal? How cautious shall we be?
Of course I’m not giving you an answer here. I’m just trying to document the frustration I felt last night and hoping my experience echoes yours. Even though Chinese are constantly fighting for fr** sp**ch, most people are happy about actions the government has been taking since the outbreak, including my family. Especially the extreme measures that China is taking to increase social distancing seem to work out, at least to “bend the curve,” experts said. It’s fair that our system works for major crises like this as it’s supposed to be; but please don’t forget, deny or wipe out previous mistakes if you really want to be and stay strong. I was having an intense conversation with my Indian friend who went to the same school with me and works at a law firm about how dangerous the disease is and what we should do. She was worried about her sister who is in Britain and got a fever but the hospital refused to test her because she wasn’t in contact with people diagnosed with coronavirus. Is it fair? I don’t know. I’m annoyed that some people don't take the disease seriously and I’d leave the country if I were her, but I don’t want to judge without knowing enough about the history, ideology and culture behind the policy.
Until yesterday, when I was told to work from home starting next week and that my friend’s internship got terminated, things were getting real. The trip to Milwaukee that my boyfriend and I planned months ago was ruined because N.B.A suspended the whole season. I have zero interest in Bucks v.s. Heat, but the truth that sports and movie stars in the U.S. are tested positive for the coronavirus made the crisis even more intimidating. Have we heard any celebrities caught the virus in China? Interesting. Chicago’s legendary Saint Patrick’s Day parade was also postponed. EVERYTHING is literally canceled. Honestly I was glad that the U.S. is finally taking actions. But then you started seeing people panic buying until the whole shop is empty. Even one of my roommates couldn’t help but join the long line and got us an extra bag of toilet papers.
My Chinese guts are telling me, the best way is to stay at home and avoid social contact as much as possible. If I have to go out, I’d wear masks and wash my hands a trillion times. Wearing masks for months, have I been discriminated against? Not really to be honest. I can tell eyes are always on me whenever I’m walking on the streets or taking buses. But nobody has ever said or done anything to me except one guy once saying “don’t let the mask cover your pretty face.”
Today, I spent every minute dealing with my panic. Chatting with my Chinese friends for five hours, canceling all the memberships I used to cherish, gym, AMC theaters (oh they’re the worst, you have to wait for hours to chat with an online agent), and getting temporary insurance for myself that covers COVID-19. It’ll be a nightmare if I feel anything wrong but with no medical insurance in the U.S.
Any good news? Stay tuned and I may have some next week.