When we saw this essay, we just thought it was worth publishing. It underscores the differences between the lucky ones, and everyone else. Lucky to be healthy, lucky to have family, lucky to have resources, lucky to be riding out this crisis in the best of ways, not the worst. That’s why it’s called, We Are Not All In The Same Boat.
I keep hearing people say that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip-flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial and family crisis.
Lone boat at Martha’s Vineyard.
Photo by Crispin Haskins.
For some, work life has been stressful, sad and draining both physically and emotionally. It has shown them the difficulties and horrors of this pandemic. Others feel, “It’s what you signed up for.”
For some who live alone, it’s endless loneliness. For others it is peace, rest, and time with their mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.
With the $600 weekly increase for some in unemployment, they are bringing in more money to their households than when they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.
Some families of four just received $3,400 from the stimulus while other families of four saw $0.
Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk, and eggs for the weekend.
Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others are outraged by the selfishness of those who break the quarantine.
Some are home spending two or three hours a day helping their children with online schooling while others are spending two to three hours a day to educate their children on top of a ten or twelve hour workday.
Some have experienced the near-death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it, and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others have contracted the virus with few or no symptoms at all.
Photo by David Henderson.
So, friends, we are not in the same boat. Some are in rowboats in danger of capsizing. Some are on yachts. Some are on huge ships. We are all experiencing very different journeys. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us, we can only hope, will emerge, in our own way, from this storm.
Contributed by “Anon.”
Well said. Thanks for whoever shared this story! Hope is a good thing.
Well written. I totally agree and think you accurately capture the facts. This pandemic has not impacted everyone in the same way.