I worked my last shift at my part-time job at a local clothing boutique, Empire South recently and was expecting it to be a slow day, maybe 10 customers to come in over the seven-hour shift. But to my surprise, I was mistaken.

The store was full of customers carrying to-go boxes from local restaurants and pushing babies in strollers. I always greet customers and try to get to know a little bit about them. But the things they told me this time were shocking: “Oh, we’re from out of town just visiting friends.” Only a few customers seemed to understand why I was using Clorox wipes after each of them checked out and why I was wearing gloves. 

COVID-19, Coronavirus, is something we should all be greatly aware of at this point. The World Health Organization classified its outbreak as a global pandemic. Originating in Wuhan, China COVID-19 has been spreading since late 2019, now making rapid appearances in the United States. The scariest part about this pandemic in the United States is American’s ignorance towards the caliber of this pandemic and their blatant disregard for necessary social distancing. 

Terms like “flatten the curve” and “social distancing” were coined to curb the spread of the virus to soften the blow to hospitals and medical care facilities. It is so important that the American people take these precautions seriously and start to hunker down in their respective homes. It should be a simple response, especially with the closures of massive state and local government, schools, restaurants and shops and the cancellation of large gatherings. 

It seems that the American people believe that they can be untouched by this virus, only slightly understanding the gravity of the situation because of celebrities like Tom Hanks and Kevin Durant who contracted the virus. College students were enjoying their spring breaks, partying on the beaches of Miami and having to scramble for flights home from Europe. It is not like we did not know this was coming. And, although our President may have downplayed the situation for who knows what reason, the time is now to make up for our mistakes of the past couple weeks and learn from those who are suffering the most right now. 

The fact that should shake the American people the most is the exponential growth at which this virus spreads. I challenge this country to practice social distancing for a couple of weeks and see how much of an impact we can make. We always want to be the best in the world, and we are given the chance to now learn from the mistakes of others. Italy has warned us that we are 10 days behind them. 

I say we all challenge each other to find motivation in someone you want to see live. Stay inside, avoid gatherings of 10 people or more and remain six feet away from others. Now is the time to make a difference, and the longer we wait for the worse of a position we are putting ourselves in. Now is the time to enjoy some much-needed rest and family time. I challenge you all, and I hope in the next couple weeks this dialogue will change.