Storyteller: Toby Rey
Troy is a 49-year-old father who lives in Michigan he is the Greater North American engineer director for Dow, he has four kids two girls and two boys as well as a wife. He actually first heard about COVID-19 through the news in early December 2019, it didn’t seem like a huge deal at the time, but he decided he would keep an eye on it. As it started to spread into the U.S. Dow started to prepare employees for work at home.
Once the lockdown began it impacted Troy’s life significantly. He and most other employees had to start working at home, and with this came a lot more responsibility for him. Troy had to work harder and take on longer hours in order to minimalize the impact this lockdown and COVID-19 had brought upon his employees. Because of this he lost a lot of his free time while at home with his family by putting in the extra hours that were needed. Another thing Troy lost during the lockdown was respect for social media outlets during this time. A lot of these news networks seemed to be putting out their own opinions whether this was good or bad instead of presenting actual data.
During the lockdown Troy noticed how annoying it was to wear a mask while doing day to day things, he still wore it because he knew it helped keep him and others safe. Troy also started to appreciate how simple things were before the lock down, he could no longer hangout with other family members and participate in his spring golf league. Because of this he gained an appreciation of being able to do things when he wants to do them. Because COVID-19 shut so many things down he could no longer take his family out for birthdays or take one of his daughters to the movies, this was disappointing for him because he valued family time like this. During this pandemic Troy also came to realize that people cannot or refuse to do the most basic guidelines such as personal hygiene and wearing masks in public if it intrudes on their lifestyle.
MIPandemicStory 