What COVID-19 Has Taught America

We can agree that everyone in the entire world has one way or another been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is probably safe to assume that most people have been negatively impacted by this virus. 

Unfortunately, the pandemic took lives, ruined lives, and divided a nation.  

There is no turning back to what happened but COVID-19 has taught America more than we could ever have expected. 

I first planned on titling this post “What COVID-19 Has Taught the World” but soon realized that other countries do not have the same freedoms as we once did in America.

Most people can remember where they were when the news of lockdowns and death tolls from people in other countries broke. 

They can still feel the fear and uncertainty that they felt as the news was reported on every single channel, every single radio station, and newspaper. 

Oddly enough you would think that the COVID-19 pandemic would have brought people together. Instead, it divided family members, friends, and neighbors. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 has taught America many things. 

It has taught us many things that are not only eye-opening but it has taught us things that we should not be very proud of. 

What COVID-19 Has Taught America

• Stockpile–  When COVID-19 was first reported and then discovered to have been brought to America people began to panic buy. Toilet paper was almost impossible to find. Meat along with eggs and even noodles were rationed at stores. Hand sanitizer was impossible to find. It didn’t help that people were stockpiling it and reselling it at an inflated price. With most of America being shut down and cities being on lockdown, people were panic buying. They were scared because of the unknown. After a few months, the panic buying slowed down, and eventually, everyone began to shop normally and sanitizer and toilet paper magically reappeared on store shelves. This taught us the importance of having a stockpile of some sort. Water bottles, toilet paper, canned foods, pasta, batteries, and anything you think would be useful during an unexpected pandemic or even an unexpected weather situation. If you can’t stockpile everything at once, try adding a little after each shopping trip that you do. 
• Essential/ Non Essential– I grew up thinking that every job was essential but once the lockdowns took place, I came to realize that not all jobs were essential according to our government. Apparently, if you worked at a craft store, a clothing store, a hair salon, and a variety of other stores then your job was not necessary and you were not worthy enough to continue making a livable wage to support you and your family. So many jobs were lost. One lesson that we can also learn from this is the importance of trying to have another creative way to earn an income. As the government forced businesses to close I saw many women and men use their creative talents to supplement the income that was greedily taken away from them. I saw online businesses that began to sell awesome political t-shirts, masks, and even workout streams. Find your talent and utilize it. 
• Appreciate Friends and Family– Nursing homes were forced to deny visitors, hospitals did not allow visitors and we were told to avoid crowds, non-family members, and social distance. Unfortunately, many people lost their loved ones and friends due to COVID-19, another illness, accident, or even suicide and were never able to say goodbye. 
• Parenting- For the parents that primarily work outside of the home, send their kids to daycare or to school,  parenting is a job that you were blessed with when you chose to have children. It isn’t always easy, especially when you are having to now deal with the stress of working at home or even losing your job due to the pandemic. As parents that work outside of the home, we learned to appreciate our teachers, our daycare providers, and anyone that takes our children under their wing while we are not able to. 
• Creative- Each state had different lockdown rules. While in some states you could not buy gardening supplies, in other states you could purchase anything that was for sale at your local Walmart. No matter what state you were from and what their lockdown rules were, in order to survive, most of us had to find some form of creativity to not only pass time but to possibly survive financially. 
• Common Sense- Many Americans learned that common sense can be lost due to constant propaganda that filled the radio, social media, television, news, and everywhere else that they looked. Sadly, many Americans forgot that it was smart to listen, research and determine the actual truth. Instead many Americans blindly listened and believed everything that was said over the airwaves along with everything that Dr. Fauci said to be true. 
• Political– For the Americans that paid attention they soon realized that the COVID-19 pandemic soon became political between both the Republican and Democratic parties. Stimulus packages were created to help Americans affected by the pandemic, which most of us were in one way or another. Sadly, these stimulus packages were filled with an incredible amount of pork and hardly any money was put towards the American people affected by COVID. Each party criticized one another for how they handled COVID-19 in their state. Sadly, this taught Americans that nothing will any longer bring the Republican and Democratic parties together, as September 11th did. 
• Science– Science is science. Science changes often. Sadly, Science means nothing when it is being misinterpreted and twisted by our politicians and the media. As Americans, we learned that it is our job to pay attention, listen, analyze, and create our own conclusions as to what is factual. 
• Lazy– I hate to say this but the way that many government officials, along with the President of the United States handled the COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately, created a lot of lazy Americans. An incredible amount of jobs had to close and many people were laid off. Unemployment was paid, which was much needed. Sadly when businesses started to open again, more unemployment was paid on top of what was already being paid. The government was handing the unemployed so much money that it gave many, not all, the mindset of wanting to stay home and being paid versus finding a job. I fault the Americans that chose to be lazy but also fault the government for allowing and encouraging this. This not only hurts individuals but also hurts our economy. 
• Blame Game- Another sad thing that Americans learned was that many people like to play the blame game. If you don’t wear a mask you are the reason people are dying. If you do not get a COVID-19 vaccination shot then you just don’t care about your neighbors and the sick. 
• Media– Americans learned that the media cannot be trusted. We were told “facts” about COVID-19 and if anyone questioned these “facts” they would be told they didn’t believe in science. They would be shunned and not allowed on social media. The media would repeat talking points and if someone said or challenged them they would continue to degrade them. They are complete propaganda.  
• Rights– I think that the biggest and most important thing that COVID-19 Has Taught America is that we are Americans and being an American means that we have rights. We have a Constitution and we have the Declaration of Independence. Sadly too many Americans have forgotten that as Americans we have freedoms, rights, and choices. 

As an American, I absolutely hate that we have allowed the COVID-19 pandemic to divide us. 

When the pandemic crept its way into America, I truly believe Americans did come together because we were confused and scared. It wasn’t until the media and politicians got involved that America became divided. 

Sadly, this was the biggest thing that COVID-19 taught America.

It taught us that America has changed and not for the better.