All I Want for Christmas is Social Distancing

Alexa David-Lang ‘22

Once again, the holiday season is upon us. I myself know many people who took out the Christmas decorations on November 1st, but this year, we have to approach the holidays with more than just our usual festive cheer. As you definitely know, there is still a pandemic happening. So, as painful as it may be, we won’t be able to see all of our loved ones or do our traditions in the same way. It’s important that you stay inside, or if you have to go outside, make sure you stay six feet apart from others and don’t go to large gatherings. I’m sure you’ve heard this hundreds and thousands of times, but I just wanted to really hammer it in because it is particularly important right now.

As of right now, November 24th, all New York City public schools are closed because of the recent spike in COVID rates. Now, this is worrying for a number of reasons. First, it’s bad for parents who have young children and are working full time. Whether or not parents are working from home, it is so hard to get through a workday when you have to worry about your kids. Trust me, I have a cat and a dog. Second, it’s bad for students who are just starting new schools. Either 6th grade or 9th grade or transfer students now have to make new friends solely through a screen. Lastly, and this is the one you should care about the most, although we all say that we don’t like school and it’s so annoying, it is a crucial part of growing up. Our teenage years are slipping away from us while we sit at home and stare at our computers all day. School is a huge part of our social and mental well-being. I have many friends who hate school, but are the largest extroverts you could ever meet, and this is really hard for them. 

(Also, the numbers are showing that the rates of COVID in school aren’t going up so it doesn’t make sense that they were closed especially since restaurants and gyms are still open at limited capacity, but that’s not what this article is about.)

And another thing that really needs to be said: just because you’re not being affected by the pandemic does not mean that it is over. So many people are going out and seeing friends and breaking social distancing rules because they see more people outside, so everything must be fine, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. We are in the middle of the second big wave of COVID, so we need to take things seriously. Some people might be thinking, oh, but I’m healthy and my family’s healthy. Even if we get the virus, we’ll be okay. That’s great, I’m glad that your family is healthy. But if there’s one thing that we need to get through our heads about this pandemic, it’s that the sooner we start caring about each other, the sooner it will be over. Let’s say you get COVID, and you’re a little sick, but you quarantine in your home and after a few weeks, everything’s fine. That seems like it would be all over, but you have to think about where you’ve been. At this point, most people are leaving their house, at least sometimes, to buy groceries or see friends socially distanced. If you think back to all of the people that you probably passed, any one of them could have gotten COVID from you. You have to contact trace, and maybe one of them is immuno-compromised or has an elderly family member, and that’s when you should be worried.

One of the main problems with the virus right now, in my opinion, is that people aren’t seeing it in their daily lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all saying that more people should be getting sick around you. But because some people’s lives are slowly getting back to normal, they think that everyone else’s are too. In fact, it’s the people who think that everything’s fine who are going out and getting and spreading COVID, and then eventually that finds its way back to people whose lives are not fine.

Okay, that was a really depressing article to write, so to lighten the mood I decided to add a short list of things you can do this holiday season that are safe and fun!

If you want to stay inside your home or around your neighborhood, you can watch holiday movies. There is no shortage of them on Netflix. You can make gifts and send them to loved ones, or just sit down and write a card. When was the last time you actually wrote to someone and told them that you love and appreciate them? I’m not sure you caught the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade that was online this year where there was also still a National Dog Show after the parade, which I’m only a little ashamed to say that I watched. If you’re careful, you can do a cookie swap with some neighbors or friends. Have everyone bake some cookies and then leave them on each other’s doorsteps.

If you want to go outside and still be safe, there are still some options. You can go ice skating very easily. Honestly, there must be many rinks in the city. You can go to the holiday shops at Bryant Park (which also has an ice skating rink) to buy gifts for friends, family, or yourself. Midterms during a pandemic are hard, you deserve that fiftieth pair of holiday socks! You can go see the famous Dyker Heights lights. Join a bunch of strangers and wander around this random neighborhood to stare at people’s houses! (But honestly, the houses are so pretty, you should definitely check them out). You can venture on over to my neighborhood of Park Slope to watch people light a huge menorah. If you’re okay with swarms of white girls, then it’ll be a blast. And, of course, if you’re feeling a tad bit insane, you can do the Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island. For those who don’t know, that’s when people jump into the ocean at Coney Island on New Year’s Eve. It’s pretty cold.

So in conclusion, have an awesome holiday season, stay the heck inside or at least away from other people, and don’t forget: finals start in January!