Apr 2020 - Present
ESSENTIAL IS A PROJECT I STARTED TO HIGHLIGHT THOSE STILL WORKING DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. I ASKED FOLKS TO SHARE HOW IT INFLUENCED THEIR WORK. ALL PHOTOS WERE TAKEN FROM A SAFE, SOCIAL DISTANCE.
Forge Baking Co. Christina (she/her) and Ben (He/Him) said it was nice to see people still supporting the business, and that the community had a presence despite the isolation. . The Pandemic forced the Somerville chain to close 2/3 of its stores, merging the staff into one new group. They had to create a whole new work flow, no longer taking customers in-store . As a frequent patron, I am very grateful to still have the comfort of picking up my morning coffee there.
Wakefield Rehab Center. L to R: Josh PT, Julia OT, and Andy SLP (they/them). Andy said “it takes a lot of time to come to work. I have to conquer it. Everyone is doing their best, but it’s scary. It’s in most of the nursing homes, and these people need care. These people have value and they aren’t disposable. Taking off ppe and going home is such a relief.”
Massachusetts General Hospital. Skeeter (she/her) . Skeeter said “It has influenced every part of my daily life. Originally when it started, it was really terrifying. There was a massive overhaul of everything we were doing. Every day felt like your first day on the job. Now the entire hospital is dealing with COVID patients. I work in the ICU so we are equipped to treat this, but now we have to figure out how to help every other new ICU that the hospital has created.”
Jared and Tim are both grad students at my institute. Jared said “A few of us in our lab have fully converted our efforts towards producing coronavirus spike proteins for labs that want to study it. Luckily, I get to come in everyday; it feels good and gives a sense of purpose.
Somerville Fire Dept. Firefighters Mike, Brendan and Troy said “we just take the precautions that we need to take, like masks and stuff. It’s a little intimidating going out on calls knowing it might be COVID, but you hope for the best and try to help people”
Downeast Cider House. JR said “We’re taking all the precautions. We’re happy to still be in business and providing cider to New Englanders.”
TEKK Automotive. Chris is my dad. This is the last time I went to my dad's shop. He vacated less than 2 weeks later because of inability to pay rent. . He said "nobody is using their cars, so they aren't getting them fixed. I now owe a lot of rent back that I can't pay. I was getting too deep of a hole so I cut my losses and moved home. Luckily I had the place setup."
Amelia (she/her) works in hazardous waste management, as well as EH&S. She said “it has totally changed the way we structure work shifts. We have added additional shifts to perform temperature checks. I am occasionally working at hospitals to do temp checks in COVID wards. It has completely changed the structure of my day and the level of people that I interact with.
State Elections Division at the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Gaby (she/her) is the Bilingual Coordinator/Elections Specialist at the State Elections Division. She said “the pandemic has made a really stressful election year a lot more stressful. Being open to the public sucks, but it’s nothing compared to other essential workers, so constantly check my privilege. I’m taking a lot of time to do grounding work in order to deal with the anxiety that working during a health crisis gives me, and that’s been really helpful. It’s also nice to be able to see some coworkers to retain some sense of normalcy. It’s interesting to think of my work as essential but it makes sense democracy and elections are essential components of our society and I’m glad to be doing my part.” .
Salisbury Police Dept. Tim is a sergeant officer in Salisbury, MA. He has 3 kids at home and has been reading children's books during his shifts that then get posted to the department's facebook page for many families to put on for their kids. He said "They have us working different shifts than we usually do. Now we're working 24hrs on straight and then 4 days off. They want us home more to limit exposure to our families."
The Pandemic forced me and my coworkers to transition to working in shifts. Only one person went in each day to take care of our mouse work. It took a lot more effort to communicate about work that needed to get done. I felt stressed nearly every day going into work, not knowing if I would cross paths with others or not, and not knowing much about the virus or any long term effects.
Trader Joe’s. Jude (she/her) said work was now visibly different. There’s a mask policy in place, carts get sanitized after every use, and there’s about an hour wait to get inside. It has been less stressful since shipper limits were set.
Olivia Antczak (she/her) "I began 2020 thinking I was going to Shanghai, China in March to teach English. I knew I wanted to be a teacher and I thought that would be a fun way to travel and get some teaching experience. My program was cancelled because of COVID less than two weeks before I was supposed to leave. I was devastated. Then when the virus came to the U.S., I lost my job as a substitute teacher. It was one of the lowest points in my life. In August, I accepted a position at The Community Day Charter School in Lawrence, MA. I'm an assistant teacher in a middle school science classroom. I also enrolled in the Master's in Effective Teaching program at Sposato Graduate School of Education. Learning how to teach in a virtual setting has not been easy. First of all, I feel for the kids. They're losing motivation, they want to be in school. In September and October they kept asking us when we were going to go back to school; now they've just accepted their new reality. I really worry about them, stuck at home all the time. And for many of them, their academic performance is suffering. It's crazy working with students that you've never even met in person. I see them every day but there's so much I'm missing out on - seeing them interact with each other, little chats in the hallway. I can't wait to get back in-person. As for grad school, I really feel like I missed out on making friendships and professional connections I would've made if I'd done the program a different year. Meeting people over Zoom is just not the same. But there are a few positives! I don't have to get out of bed until 8pm. Teaching in sweatpants and fuzzy socks. I've taken to spending my prep periods in my bed with coffee and a good book. I also love that I get to see my students in all their beautiful messiness - with bedhead in homeroom, or fighting with their siblings. I was even on Zoom with a student when his mom went into labor, and got to see the newborn baby a few days later! I'm trying to appreciate those small moments."
Eve (she/her) "Since March 17th I have been working from home. I used to see clients in an office but now I only see them through zoom. As an expressive arts therapist i've had to get creative and adapt the things I can do with people. Now if they want to do art it has to be digital or they have to provide materials themselves. I'm grateful that there are some resources that allow us to adapt. I'm grateful that I can do my work and that I have a job, but I miss sitting in the same room as people."
Emma (she/her) works as a data analyst for an education company. She thinks she will stay remote working even when the pandemic ends and I think we will probably stay remote, which she prefers. "My commute was terrible. I have a lot more time in the mornings and nights, and have adjusted to be more productive at home. I actually like it way more than I thought I would."
Joseph works as a consultant doing financial fraud investigations.