Quarantine perspectives: Not much change for a family of essential workers

by Jamilyn Hiskes, Lansing Journal reporter

Editor’s note: The people who write for The Lansing Journal represent a diversity of ages, occupations, and family situations. I asked them if they would be willing to share their perspectives on the ways COVID-19 is impacting their personal and professional lives. -Melanie Jongsma

LANSING, Ill. (March 25, 2020) – I work in the news business, designing papers for several states; my dad and brother are in IT/telecommunications; my mom is an occupational therapist. So to be honest, life in our household has not changed all that much—we’re all still leaving the house to go to work every day. I’ve been given the option to work from home, but my company’s network isn’t built to handle more than 15 remote workers at once, so I haven’t been able to take that option yet. Just in case a full-fledged lockdown is enacted in Illinois, I and my co-workers who commute from Illinois to the office in Munster were given official signed letters stating we were exempt because of our profession.

I’ve been to only one store since all this happened, and it was the Target on Calumet Avenue. I couldn’t believe how empty the shelves were, but I still managed to find milk and a case of bottled water. That’s the last time I’m going shopping unless I urgently need to. My brother and I have decided to stay at home as much as we can, so we don’t somehow carry the virus into the house. My dad has asthma, so we’re most concerned about him getting it.

Mostly, we’re hanging in there. My dad installed more powerful internet in our house, which should help if/when my brother and I have to work from home.

The cat doesn’t seem to notice anything is wrong.