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Does this time of the year feel different than it normally does, or different than it should? If so, give some examples of what feels different.
Tests are rationed in drugstores. Today in Boston: 4 per customer at Walgreens, 6 per customer at CVS. My brother-in-law wanted as many as possible, so yesterday my sister and I ended up in a bunch of different stores, and she bought 18 packages -- 36 tests -- in total. At $25/package, that's a pretty penny. I didn't say anything (though I did buy her an initial set of four to match her first 4 in the first store), but it felt pretty awful to me to be buying so many when there's such a serious shortage. Today the shipments seem to have just come in, but for days people all over Boston apparently were scrambling and home tests were completely unavailable. Meanwhile, people waited in long lines for equally hard-to-obtain PCR tests. My bro-in-law's justification is crap. Said something about someone last spring who'd said "it's everyone for themselves" upon scrambling to jump the queue to get vaccinated -- but of course he's doing exactly the same thing by getting all these tests.
December 27, 2021
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Talk about how the events of recent months have affected either your work or your ability to work.
Because I'm employed by my university through the Federal Work Study program, when we all moved off of campus in March, I essentially lost my job because my work couldn't be done virtually. Though my university gave out a portion of the leftover work study money to each student, it was not nearly as much as I could have earned on campus through putting in actual work hours. This meant a loss of income for me and many other students who were forced to move out. Now, many students have virtual jobs and are able to make an income, but that loss has troubled many students and families that rely on student incomes. I am now able to work at least 10 hours a week, which is really great, so I can pay for living expenses and other things, but for some students, that money is an absolute necessity.
September 17, 2020