By Maddie Wharton
I have spent a lot of time thinking about what this pandemic means for us as a society. All of us, from Wuhan to Seattle, the collective we. I often speculate about what is in store for us when this is all said and done, wondering how we will change over the coming months.
What will we learn from a seemingly endless isolation? Will we get to know ourselves any better? Will we grow more in touch with the person we’d like to believe we are or perhaps the person we’d like to become? I wonder, who is that person? How do they treat their neighbors? Do they purchase and personally pack the necessary supplies for vulnerable populations or do they load up for themselves, even reselling them for profit? Does the person we want to be choose to stay at home to prevent the spread? Or do they carry on, knowing the virus most likely won’t threaten their long-term health?
It pains me to admit I was once latter. Repeatedly interrogated and reprimanded by my own conscience in my now abundant time, I am forced to acknowledge that my behavior was not that of the person I want to be. That is not the person I wish I had been during my final hours of freedom.
I recently saw a viral video of Italians sharing a message for themselves ten days prior. Every single one of them expressed regret. You should have taken this seriously. You should have stayed home. You should have cared for the people around you. I was moved to tears with intense empathy.
The people of Spain and Italy, and China I imagine, had no way of knowing what was coming. We had no idea that the trivial joke we made to our colleague, or the eye-roll infused remarks exchanged with our hairdresser, or the downright dismissal of the fears of our students would be our last interaction with them for the foreseeable future.
If I could ask anything of the woman I was ten days ago, I’d beg her to stop downplaying the severity of this pandemic. Not only to protect the general health of this country and the world, but also to preserve her humanity. I’d remind her of the legacy she wants to leave, of the importance she bestows on being kind, and of the simple good she wishes to see more of in the world. I’d clarify for her, it’s not about whether or not this virus would directly affect her well-being, but rather about understanding that the precautions she’s being asked to take are a small price to pay for the safety of humans everywhere.
Maybe at no fault but our own, we weren’t having these conversations in Spain before the lockdown. No one was discussing the measures we could and should take as individuals to prevent further spread. Not one person used the term social distancing. By the time suggestions to avoid crowds began circling in the U.S., we were already confined to our apartments.
Only 24 hours before the Community of Madrid announced government mandated school closures, I shuffled up Gran Vía with more than 120,000 other people attending the Women’s Day march. Shoulder to shoulder, we were unconsciously contributing to the spread of a virus with a death toll that has now exceeded 600 in this country. I simply cannot stress enough just how unaware we were.
But that’s the beauty of the current position of the United States. You have been given the gifts of time and information. You’ve read the statistics, heard our stories, seen our mistakes. You have watched our example, now we beg you not to follow it. Learn from us, avoid our plaguing regret. Do whatever necessary to evade composing a remorseful message to the person you were ten days ago.
You have been given all the resources to do better than we did, to be better than we were. Personally, I challenge you to think about how you will answer the questions I’m asking myself. Ask, when I look back, what will I say I did to help those around me? How did I practice compassion in a time when the world needed it most? Who did I become when I had the chance to be anyone?
I urge you to turn these questions over in your mind, examining them closely. I implore you to reflect on your actions during this pivotal juncture. I encourage you to make choices that make your parents and your children proud, choices that positively affect your neighborhood, choices that speak to the person you are and have always wanted to become. This is a defining moment for us as individuals and as a global community.
To apply my favorite John F. Kennedy quote to a more international scale, in these trying times, ask not what the world can do for you - ask what you can do for the world.
About Maddie Wharton
Maddie Wharton is a Portland, Oregon native currently residing in Madrid, Spain. She made her way overseas to work as an English Language and Culture Assistant, teaching third and fourth grade at a primary school in the nearby mountain village of Navacerrada. Before teaching in a classroom, she was involved with a number of education based projects in her time pursuing her passion of social advocacy and philanthropy. She received a Bachelor of Arts in both Communication and Spanish from Boise State University where she served as the Communication Officer of the Associated Students for two years. It was in this role that she gained the majority of her experience as a journalistic writer. From lockdown in her Madrid apartment, she will return to writing once more to share the realities of living in the epicenter of COVID-19.
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