Jimmy, Bay County

Storyteller: Ryley Hart

Jimmy is currently in the delayed entry program for the United States Airforce and is looking into cybersecurity there. He is 18 years old and lives in Auburn, Michigan. Jimmy first heard about COVID over social media back in November 2019, when it first was spreading over in China. His day-to-day life changed drastically, because instead of going out with friends he stayed inside quarantined and did all his shopping online.

When asked what he earned from COVID-19, he responded with “COVID-19”. About a month and a half ago his household consisting of him and his two parents, was infected with the virus. His mom is very big on social distancing and masks, yet she was the first to get sick. This skewed his belief of the effectiveness of wearing masks and all the precautions recommended. His mom was hospitalized for a brief time, Jimmy showed common symptoms for a little over a week and his dad was barley effected. Ultimately, they all recovered and are doing great now.

Jimmy took the decision to stay isolated and quarantined, which was a smart idea but it had some unfortunate results. He didn’t want to be around other people to keep himself and others safe so he did not spend any time with his girlfriend for some time which proved to be too much for her as she broke up with him.

A sensory detail Jimmy noticed that some people will take off their mask to cough and not even cover their mouth. It’s one thing to not want to cough into your mask, so you just cough into your sleeve, but to not cover it at all is careless. He thought it was strange how people cough wherever they want when that is the whole reason our nation is how it is right now.

He has had quite a rough time through the pandemic with getting infected and losing his girlfriend. On top of that he was having a hard time trying to find a job. So, when asked if anything funny happened he didn’t have anything to provide.

He stated, “The pandemic has taught me that the government can force you to follow rules but the government doesn’t have to follow the rules.” He gave the example of how some politicians will not wear masks when they should and openly confess to it.