Do you feel like someone has clicked the pause button on life? Like we’re all in a video game and the person playing the game finally got bored and threw the controller to one side and left us all here in limbo, not really knowing what’s going on?
That’s kind of the way I feel about things at the minute. Like nothing’s really going on and I can’t plan going forward either.
LUCK OF THE DRAW
I guess it was kind of pot luck, where you were at the time covid-19 hit. For me, I wasn’t very lucky being in New York, America’s epicenter back in March and April. However, being there and seeing how New York and New Yorkers handled things made me very proud to have been in that city as it’s probably one of the best states in America at the moment.
Related: The Impact of Coronavirus for a J1 Trainee in NYC
Things slowly started to reopen in late summer and we enjoyed dining outside, going to museums and visiting places we probably wouldn’t have if covid-19 hadn’t come.
But then again, I was in America planning to travel around different states which didn’t happen, Broadway closed the curtains until mid-2021 and New York just wasn’t the same without the tourists.
But imagine if you had been living in Australia or New Zealand when the virus hit and had been able to stay living there until today. Life is basically back to normal for them; going to nightclubs, concerts, large gatherings and not wearing masks.
Their governments got a handle on things as soon as this virus appeared and so the local people did what they had to do for the six weeks so that they could go back to their normal lives.
THE UK’S HANDLING OF THE VIRUS
Now if you look at us here in the UK, it’s been seven months and nothing has changed. If anything, it’s worse. But now that we’re seven months in, the public are angry, they’re sick of all the constant rules and regulations and their businesses have been financially destroyed.
If you were one of those people who had their business closed, with a partner who had also lost their job and their kids were out of school – wouldn’t you be angry at the government?
There does seem to be a lack of care and actual knowledge coming from our government and most of the time, they themselves either don’t know what the guidelines are or they’re not even following them whilst expecting the general public to.
If Matt Hancock can’t leave the pub at 10pm, why should the rest of us? If Margaret Ferrier can test positive for covid-19 and get on public transport afterwards, why shouldn’t we go out even if we have symptoms? It’s the blind leading the blind at the moment.
LIFE AS WE NOW KNOW IT
My new job that started in September was supposed to be in Canary Wharf in London, yet here I am in Liverpool.
Why? Because we don’t see the offices reopening in the next six months and why would I pay £1000 per month for a room in a house with strangers when I can pay less for a two-bed flat in Liverpool and be around my best friends in a city I know so well?
We only have a six-month lease on our flat so that we can re-evaluate when March comes around. Will it be London then? I find it highly unlikely.
For us, it could be another six months in Liverpool or it could be living in a brand new city in the UK for six months, because why not? I don’t think we’ll ever have an opportunity like this to move around while working remotely, so we may as well take advantage of it.
After that second six months, my year contract will be up and it could be back to the job market again. But if things are still the same here covid-wise, then it will most definitely be a one-way ticket out of here, if I can.
CAN WE BE HOPEFUL?
But what is our hope for the future? Where will we be in six months’ time, or a year from now? Will we be able to travel? Will there be any jobs? Will things be back to normal? Will I be back buying tickets for gigs or the West End?
I never liked to save for a rainy day because why save for a future you may never have, but right now, I’m saving for visas and a ticket out of here because whatever the future holds, the near future doesn’t look very promising.
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