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Old 04-08-2020, 10:22 AM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 24,977,965 times
Reputation: 50794

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We are two retired people with three adult kids with spouses and two grandchildren. While we don’t have to worry about income because we have SS and pensions, we have taken paper losses in our savings which were invested. I don’t think we are alone in this. This the second time for us in this. We went through this in 2008.

The “kids” are working remotely. Two spouses work, and one is semi retired.

One of my kids and spouse are not maximally healthy. I worry about them. They have health issues which are managed with meds. Normally they are fine, but these are not normal times.

DH and I are healthy enough for our ages—73 and almost 78. But we are quite aware that we are vulnerable to covid-19. So we began withdrawing several weeks ago, mostly because of the situation in WA State, where this infection got its foothold in the US. This withdrawal has been hardest on my introverted DH. He likes to get out of the house frequently, to eat out or do errands. In my case, I have adjusted to social withdrawal better, but am confronted with distinct unease when I do go out. I have made us masks which I understand are to protect others. I am shocked that I see many, many people out and about who are not wearing them! I am unnerved a bit. I want protection too!

Mentally, I am taking things a day at a time.
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Old 04-08-2020, 10:45 AM
 
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I’m still working so it hasn't affected me financially, yet. Seeing how quickly life can change in the wake of an event like this is definitely a wake up call. I like to think of it as a teaser to some of the things that could happen if something worse ever happened. Im definitely envious of those that have successfully adapted to the self sufficient lifestyle. Being single and living alone, it’s something that I’ve been thinking more about recently.
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Old 04-08-2020, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,379,375 times
Reputation: 101025
I think this thread is very interesting, because it shows so many different perspectives. And I don't think any one perspective "wins" any sort of "I'm the most affected" because every single person brings not only their own experiences, but their own personalities, memories, upbringing, etc. to the equation.

For instance, my husband and I aren't in financial straits, thank God, even though we've lost considerable money we've been setting aside for retirement for decades, and our current income is cut in half. But financially we're going to be OK, I figure. We also aren't having to stay at home and homeschool, which would be difficult. But we miss our adult kids and our grandkids terribly, and we can't see any of them. Anyway, for us, I'd say that the three biggest challenges - in "emotional order" are 1) Concern for our kids and their families, 2) Boredom, and 3) actually getting sick. And 2 and 3 are pretty even and sort of alternate - LOL.

But then - in the same family - there's my brother. He's younger. He's single with no kids. He's on disability so his income hasn't changed. He's also mentally ill so the stress of this affects him differently than it affects me. He doesn't really understand where I'm coming from, and I don't really understand where he's coming from. But we can't judge the others' situation because we don't really grasp the emotional nuances.

Out of our five adult kids, two of them or their spouses have a steady income - but they have kids. One lives in Germany, so that's a different sort of shut down. One lives in Louisiana so THAT'S a different situation too. Then of the three guys, all three are laid off. But two of the three can get unemployment - and none of them have any kids. But the oldest and his wife were BOTH laid off and since they live in Guam, neither of them can collect unemployment. So they are all our kids, but they each have different situations and stressors.

So that's my point - let's just try to be empathetic to each person we encounter, because we really don't know what they are struggling with. But at this point, everyone is struggling with SOMETHING.
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Old 04-08-2020, 12:22 PM
 
15,715 posts, read 20,258,585 times
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Started off with a bang for us with my Mother-in-law becoming one of the first 10 official confirmed cases in her state, and the first to be admitted to the ICU. I only emphasize the "first" part of that because that early in the crisis, the medical personnel we dealt with didn't know what to do exactly. We got conflicting statements, couldn't visit, couldn't get in touch, and it was just stressful to the family. Fortunately, she recovered, and is how now resuming life as best she can.

Myself, wife and kiddos were tested for COVID due to close exposure and the kids having symptoms. All negative.

Financially wise, no effect. Wife is a teacher doing remote learning, and I am in critical manufacturing as an engineer. Our industry is about as busy as it's every been and I personally haven't worked so much throughout the entire day than I have in the last 2-3 weeks. We are on work-from-home other than essential personnel (me) that need to go into the office. Our employer apparently has enough confidence that yearly merit increases still went through this past week.

Since our income is constant and employment secure, we've made an effort to spend more in the local community. Less amazon, and more local farm delivering milk and eggs and other essentials.

On the homefront, 3 kids under 7 keep me and my wife busy. I feel bad leaving her when I do, to go into work. She's stressed, i'm exhausted from working all day and night (we deal with asia a lot as worldwide demand for our products is up) The "outside world" is different now. Everyone backs up, people wear masks and gloves and the empty highways are just eerie.

I have family that are nurses and firefighters. They've been tested a few times for covid and all negative thankfully.


We are doing "ok", and that has more to do with the fact that so many people have lost much more.
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Old 04-08-2020, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Camberville
15,807 posts, read 21,325,233 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon View Post
I think this thread is very interesting, because it shows so many different perspectives. And I don't think any one perspective "wins" any sort of "I'm the most affected" because every single person brings not only their own experiences, but their own personalities, memories, upbringing, etc. to the equation.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my boss. She has a difficult home life in the best of circumstances - a very energetic middle school aged boy and a severely disabled younger daughter who requires round the clock care with a wonderful husband who is an essential worker and pulling long shifts out of the house in a first responder role. In our first one-on-one since we all went to work from home, she told me that every time she starts to get upset about how hard her situation is at home, she thinks about me home alone and cries. I told her that every time I get worked up about MY situation, I think about her and cry!


We're experiencing this in different ways, but we're ALL experiencing it. Even those who are dealing with similar things are experiencing it in very different ways based on upbringing and other experiences.



Today, I found out my direct report's uncle is intubated with suspected COVID-19 (waiting for the test). There's no script or rulebook for this.
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Old 04-08-2020, 05:45 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 24,977,965 times
Reputation: 50794
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00 View Post

There's no script or rulebook for this.
This is so true. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this. Nothing in my life has been remotely like this.

I feel as if our new normal will be different from our old normal.
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Old 04-08-2020, 06:18 PM
 
Location: Louisville
5,254 posts, read 5,977,953 times
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I'll be glad when we know what the new normal is. My employer has been deemed "essential", as we are supplying certain items(non-medical) for the field hospitals being built. The leaders of my company are responding in a way that they appear remarkably unaware, or unconcerned with the situation. My job is typically between 85-90% travel related. I stopped flying around March 13. So I have been driving to the manufacturing facilities I work with. I have been stationing myself in a hotel about 800 miles from home for a few weeks at a time, driving the most rural route possible, and trying to take extra precautions so that I don't contract or spread anything while I'm driving.

Those of us who work in these traveling roles can do our jobs from anywhere with an internet connection. Granted we are more effective onsite, but we could attempt to create a model to manage more in depth remotely. We have questioned repeatedly why they won't allow us to work from home until things start to return to normal. We are told that if we feel that we are taking too big of a risk we are welcome to return home and work from home. Though they "can't gaurantee they will need us". Today they announced a 20% reduction for salaried workers across the board just in case. I am ok making this sacrifice, and I was preparing that it could happen at some point. However they are STILL going to pay the $1200+ a week it costs to keep me on the road. I can't wrap my head around this logic. Even greedy corporations at least feign that they are concerned for the well being of their employees. The guys who run our company are acting like industrial tycoons prior to the workers rights movement lol.

This is how it's affecting me. I am stuck 800 miles away from home in a facility full of workers who are terrified I'm going to infect them with this virus. Working for an employer who's stringing us along for as long as they can. I was hoping they would just lay us off because I could at least return home. I can't quit because I wouldn't be eligible for unemployment, and I am not being allowed to even briefly go home to make some adjustments to my recent cut in pay. It feels a bit creepy to be this far from my support network if society contracts any further. I don't want to contract the virus, or worse yet give it to someone else, but I feel a bit helpless in how to proceed so I'm doing what I can.

That said I'm grateful that I have a job. I'm also grateful for all of the healthcare workers who have to take much bigger risks than I do. I want to keep it in perspective, and keep my complaining to a minimum. It still felt good to do a little venting here.
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Old 04-08-2020, 07:36 PM
 
Location: West coast
5,281 posts, read 3,014,451 times
Reputation: 12259
Hmm... interesting.
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Old 04-08-2020, 07:38 PM
 
Location: West coast
5,281 posts, read 3,014,451 times
Reputation: 12259
Our fields might bump.
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Old 04-08-2020, 08:19 PM
 
Location: Oregon Coast
15,228 posts, read 8,835,836 times
Reputation: 20247
Not really something affecting me personally, but the governor of Oregon finally extended the school closures for the remainder of the school year. Also all high school seniors who had passing grades at the time of the school closure, will automatically get their diploma. Which got me thinking that in mid-March the students here got a two day notice, that they were going to be out of school for two weeks. Seniors went home expecting to return in two weeks, not knowing that they would never step foot in their school again. They graduated that day, and didn't even know it. That has to be pretty weird for them.

I would say that students have to be the most affected by this. Mostly negatively. They are missing a lot of classroom time, and the remote learning is just now ramping up after three weeks. Some students who had low grades at the time of the school closings will likely fail and have to repeat the entire year. Those who do pass will still miss a lot of instruction time. That is a lot of negative impact on education for all students.

I have to admit that when I first heard about the school closings, I wasn't thinking about remote learning. I was thinking that students would be going to school over the summer. When I went to school, sometimes the school year was extended for one or two weeks into the summer, due to time missed for winter weather. Times have changed.
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