As the Spring 2020 Semester at UMaine finally comes to a close, the students and faculty make their way home…oh, I apologize, I must have forgotten somehow. Our semester ended right around spring break, while we were already back home. The coronavirus pandemic made it’s way to America, and struck every institution as devastatingly as it could. education being no exception. Online learning was instituted for all, and all of us could immediately see how ridiculous it was. And there was no one to blame. Blame schools and governments, for listening to the World Health Organization’s warning? To me, I cannot think of a better source out there, and somehow the nation is deciding to ignore it. Problems that are not immediately and personally dangerous will never be truly shown the proper attentiveness to until it is a problem too dangerous to be solved.
[aesop_quote type=”block” background=”#ffffff” text=”#000000″ width=”content” height=”auto” align=”left” size=”3″ quote=”This year has been a mess for everyone, and while the source of the problems is the coronavirus, everyone’s problems have been far from the disease.” parallax=”off” direction=”left” revealfx=”off”]
What I learned this semester was a lot of things, and while some of them were taught in the most painful way possible, I cannot say that this semester was the worst year for me. I did good in my classes, before and after this crisis, I made a lot of great friends and I feel as if I am one step closer to becoming a successful storyteller and filmmaker. I am a lucky one, however. Storytelling and filmmaking are a bit easier to be taught over online classes, compared to nursing or forensics, for example. The nursing department, I imagine, must be in shambles at this moment. We are in such a drastic demand for nurses and doctors, and yet we cannot create/teach anymore into the world. Think about it : Would you want to be looked at by a nurse who earned her degree online? Probably not.
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To pass the time for my quarantine, I have been doing deliveries for Domino. It’s a simple job, fun, and I get to blast music in my car all day. I have made some great money; I made $120 in tips last night. However, I feel horrible. I am an “essential” worker, which I understand, but I do not like taking all this money from unemployed people, especially during a time like this. I was expecting to make around $40 a night maybe, but this is incredible. On the other side of this, however, is my location. I deliver pizzas in Brockton, MA. If you haven’t been there, let me be the first to tell you that it is unsafe. Not the worst place in MA, or anything like Whitey Bulger, but it is still recommended to travel in pairs.
On one of my deliveries, I was robbed.
I hopped out of my vehicle. It was around 10:30pm, almost done with my shift. Cash order of $44. I call the number, and as it is dialing, I hear a “Yo, right here!” I turn around and see two men sitting a on a railway and say that the pizza is theirs. I walk over, hand them their soda, and remind them the order still needs to be paid for. The two murmur amongst themselves. They hop off the railway, one of them walks in front of me and the other behind. The man in front, who had a red fask mask, says to me “Yeah we ain’t paying for this pizza”
[aesop_image img=”http://jolineblais.net/nmd343/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/WEEOOWEEOO.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”300px” align=”right” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]I ask, “Excuse me? What do you mean like I nee-” He grabs the pizza box, as the man behind me approaches further; “We ain’t fucking payin for this.” Took me too long, but I realized what was happening. I try to calm them down, but I know the pizza is theirs. I take it from the bag, hand it all to them, and they run away. They snatched the receipt from me too, they probably thought it would keep them from being followed. I walk back to my car, call my boss, then head back to Dominos. The police come, I tell them the story, and then print them another receipt. The officer reads it, which has the NAME of the guy who placed the order, and says to me
“Gilford…wait, I know this kid. This kid has been shot so many times I’m surprised he’s not fucking dead yet”
That ended that story. They told me they would do what they can to follow up, but what happens from here is out of my jurisdiction. They thankfully only took the pizza, they did not take my money or assault me in any way, but I was not going to risk injury for the sake of two pizzas, which would just be thrown out if brought back with me and we would still not make the money from them. With that being said, I don’t really care if they catch the guys or not. I understand how this world is right now. Everyone is in a state of unrest and panic. Getting two pizzas taken from me is not worth ruining two mens lives.
Life continues. We will always find a way to keep striving forward as humans, no matter what. There is a reason that I put that first picture, of the sun. I am as uncertain as everyone is in this time. We do not know what will happen, for better or worse, and we do not know who we can trust. All we can do is move forward. The picture, is either of a sunset, or of a sunrise. To me, I cannot tell. All I see is a continuous cycle of life; wake up, do your job, go to bed, repeat. No matter the day. No matter the time. Forward, always.
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