Storyteller: Alex Mason
“These years will be in the history books” was said by Scott (43) of Bay City. Scott is a Welder/Robotics Technician, a programmer, holds a basic certification in CNC machines, and dabbles in electrical work. He’s regularly found fixing mistakes that not a soul knew of their origin, he is also in and out of the office where it is air conditioned in the summer, and even setting up robotic cells of various complexities to machine or weld automotive parts. He believes that this time in our lives will be well documented as proven to be, and that the view in future will always be different than the reality that we live today.
The first time Scott had heard about the pandemic and Covid-19 was about 3 weeks prior to the shutdowns. The shop he works at had a board meeting and they discussed the factory shutting down for a brief time due to the Federal order. He went to work every day leading up to the indefinite closing and had a really hard time with the time off when he was forced to stay at home. Scott is a man who must stay busy. He went stir crazy when left to his own devices for the few weeks during his unscheduled vacation.
In the weeks that Scott had been off work, he had noticed a few things that changed while traveling into the public. He observed many regulations such as the mask mandate, the six-foot rule, and he noticed how afraid people became of others that did not follow by these standards. Scott felt uneasy about going into public places. He became skeptical of everywhere he went and didn’t trust others. He was afraid that he’d catch “the Rona.”
Scott would find comfort amid all the new day to day changes in the jokes to be made. He often laughed about how people would hoard toilet paper, and it being nowhere to be found on the shelves. Scott liked to joke about the origin of the pandemic as well. These minor jokes or memes that he would see on Facebook had kept his spirits high. He believes that natural selection will run its course, and eventually everyone will catch Covid-19. But until that time comes, its best to keep a light-heart and laugh about it.
When returning to work, Scott was not doing his regular job. In fact, he had been in the assembly line creating mortuary trolleys (dead body carts). Every day that he’d go into work, him and another worker would put together/weld around 60-70 carts a day. It was a welcoming change to Scott as he itched to get back to work, but it also amazed him that so many of the carts were made to aid in New York City’s rise of Covid deaths
Eventually Scott would return to his normal job in the factory, but that experience alone frightened him. He may not have lost anything other than comfort, but the pandemic sure taught him a few things. Scott says that mankind has went too far with experimenting. He says that people can be easily manipulated, and that the fears that many hold can easily be used against them in unprecedented ways. Scott continues to work through this rough time in 2021, but with the teachings from the initial stages pandemic, he will persevere through all that is to come.
MIPandemicStory 