This morning, I logged onto Facebook, as many of us tend to do early in our day. I was expecting to read the most recent damage report regarding COVID-19, but instead the first thing that caught my eye was a post made by my sister-in-law (Hi, Regina!!) about a shooting in her neighborhood.
Perhaps for many of my readers, this is not an unusual occurrence. However for her it is. She and her family live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in one of the nicest Tulsa suburbs. It is one of those neighborhoods where you design and build your dream home and commit to a life of being house poor for the next 30 years all in an effort to keep your children safe. It is neighborhood where kids can ride their bikes with minimal supervision and you know your neighbors. This neighborhood HAD A SHOOTING.
This Facebook post was unfortunately quite timely given a conversation I had with a friend the evening before. The quarantine situation in America (allow me to clarify, the greatly needed quarantine situation in America) is going to have some unforeseen nightmarish effects to society. Human beings were not designed to live solitary lifestyles. This situation is creating side pandemic that looks, or will look a lot like a metal health crisis.
Case in point, another friend of mine works as a 911 dispatcher. I asked her just the other day if she was fielding many calls fro individuals fearful that they had been infected by the Coronavirus. She said no. In fact the majority of her calls have been domestic violence calls. In fact, she continued on to say that she has never had so many domestic violence calls in her career as a dispatcher (Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-20/domestic-violence-spike-amid-coronavirus-crisis/12074726).
The UK has even reported a fear of increased gang violence since the onset of the global pandemic (read more: https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-outbreak-court-increase-gang-132549879.html).
Drug problems, domestic violence, physical violence... What can be done to offset these terrifying predictions? May i recommend kindness in quarantine? What sounds so simple (and believe me my haters have been telling me I oversimplify for years!!) can have a huge impact on society. Just like one individual infected with COVID-19 will likely infect others (https://www.vox.com/2020/2/20/21143785/coronavirus-covid-19-spread-transmission-how), we can do the same thing with kindness. For example, if I am kind to 10 people, and that inspires them to be kind to 10 people, and that inspires each of them to be kind to 10 people, the movement become monumental!
Much like the movie, Pay it Forward, we can use the time on our hands to start world movement that does not involve guns, drugs or child abuse. What can you do from the safety of your quarantine space to spread love over hate?
Some ideas?
Reach out to others! Make the phone calls you have been wanting to make! Want to kick it up a notch? Try Facetime! Make those oh-so-important human connections even from a distance.
Offer to help someone who is immuno-compromised. Do you have an elderly neighbor who needs groceries? A pregnant neighbor who needs toilet paper? If you are healthy go for them! And if you can afford it, pick up the tab!
Support small businesses who otherwise will not make it through this crisis! Order take out from your favorite local restaurant (don't forget to tip) or fuel up at your mom and pop service station!
Donate blood! If you can't donate blood, donate to a local food pantry!
Just be a decent human being! Don't hoard resources and be friendly to others. That nurse or Wal-Mart cashier is literally risking their life to serve you, so don't belittle them or be mean in any way! Thank them for their willingness to help in a difficult time.
Above all else be the person, you need others to be! Look out for each other! We are all in this together!
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