Wictoria, Albany

“To make ends meet, my parents work as house cleaners from 9 to 5. On average they would clean four houses a day, even on the weekends. Once our county declared a mandatory shelter-in-place order, my parents didn’t work for about a month. We live in a relatively expensive town in the East Bay, so the fear of no income really scared my parents. I offered to work at Trader Joe’s to help out with expenses, but my parents refused to let me apply in fear that I would catch something. The first week of quarantine we had no money and refused to buy anything over $5. But because God is so good to us, my parents’ clients would send us money without cleaning their homes. Every day clients would mail checks to our home, helping us through these times. Now four months into the pandemic, my parents are slowly returning to work, but have lost a few clients due to job cuts.”

“Even when a vaccine comes out, I believe that people will still live in fear. Small social gatherings will seem strange and no one will dare risk going to concerts for at least a year. More students will probably opt for online learning rather than in-person lectures due to the flexibility and safety online learning gives. And maybe masks will be the new normal for a while.”

Wictoria, 19
Albany
7/15/20

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