An Opinion Piece
By: Allison Rossell
We have seen a grossly negative impact on society by COVID-19. There are a few new and trending habits created by the pandemic that has helped our society.
- Food service employees wearing masks.
Now imagine prior to this, what was happening instead? If you have ever worked in the food industry you will soon come to realize that the industry is filled with people on all different walks of life. A lot of them though, are just struggling to make ends meet. It is not often they will call out of work just because they are “a little under the weather” as one Calhoun freshman said.
So, imagine that tray right up in their face, what are they doing right next to it? Pretty sure they are breathing on your food. The implication of face masks in the food industry has given us better health standards for ourselves and our children.
- Regular handwashing.
“I don’t even think about it anymore. Washing my hands before and after I did just about anything has become a habit at this point.” said Payton Wallace, a Business major at Calhoun Community College.
This might not be the case for all of us, but by far the student body report declared a general increase in hand washing and sanitation. Your hands and nail beds are one of the most germ-dense areas on your body based off exposure. By keeping our hands clean we reduce the risk to infecting not only ourselves, but other people as well.
- General “well- preparedness”.
There have been some students who have reported that the pandemic “taught them how to stalk-up, save, use coupons, and learn to set aside finances’ for their “future-selves.” Being well- prepared most likely won’t hurt you in the long run.
Learning the “adult-ing” skills of life happens as we experience hardships and thus experience growth. One of those “life skills” is being able to save money and not live paycheck to paycheck if that is an option.
You at some point must learn to accumulate and expand what you have so that you can provide for yourself and your family. This can be more clearly put as being able to do your finances and keep a budget; give yourself an allowance and stick to it or being able to ensure you have a safety net to fall back on if your car broke down and you couldn’t get to work.
These COVID habit have developed due to a time of tribulation for most people. We have experienced warfare physically and mentally over the last year on our bodies and minds. COVID has pushed us to become better, be better, and do better for ourselves and future generations by improving our quality of sanitation in our personal lives and commercial ones.
COVID has taught many people some healthy habits.