By Robin Renay Bolton, Opinion Editor
I’ve always been a homebody. Staying home has never been particularly hard for me. I’m not saying this to brag or sound like a pretentious introvert, it’s just the nature of who I am.
I like staying home and binge-watching shows on Netflix. I have a bookcase filled with over 100 books, most of which I’ve never read because I insist on reading the same five books over and over again. I like cooking, baking and coming up with new recipes. I love a lot of things, many of which I can do from the comfort of my own home. So being told to stay at home is almost like a vacation to me.
Now I completely understand staying at home is heaven for me but hell for a lot of people. My boyfriend is an extremely extroverted person and makes friends wherever he goes. I always joke that he’s a social butterfly, always booked and busy with someplace to go. Many people don’t understand how our relationship works because he loves going out while I thrive on staying in. My friends always ask if it bothers me that he goes out so much and most of the time it doesn’t.
I know people like my boyfriend love going out and having a good time and I knew when it was announced we were required to stay home and only leave home to do essential things, people would struggle. But my goodness, I did not think they would struggle like this.
Just days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the Stay at Home order, local news channel helicopters recorded people playing basketball at Venice Beach, hiking the trails at Griffith Park and a group of people playing beer pong at Huntington Beach.
As a result, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that all LA county parks would be closing their sports and recreation centers and closing parking at all city beaches. He ended his tweet by saying, “That doesn’t mean gather elsewhere. This is serious. Stay home and save lives.”
It’s not lost upon me that Mayor Garcetti urged people not to gather elsewhere because he knew people don’t listen. You would think a potentially deadly virus taking over the world and infecting thousands of people a day would encourage people to stay home but no, humans are hard headed and selfishly do what they want.
It seems to me people have interpreted social distancing as only hanging around people you already know. They have convinced themselves it’s okay to have friends over for drinks because you know them, and you know they don’t have the coronavirus (I would like to note I’m rolling my eyes). It’s okay to have family over for a party because it’s someone’s birthday and family should be together at a time like this (again, rolling my eyes).
It’s also not lost upon me that many people will not take this seriously until someone close to them becomes sick and possibly dies of the coronavirus. Excuse my French when I say this, but that is such utter bullshit. It shouldn’t take a family member or friend to get sick for this to seem real. This is a very real and very deadly disease. Yes, the recovery rates are much higher than the mortality rates, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously.
The most infuriating part about all this is by people choosing to disregard the Stay at Home order and doing whatever the fuck they want to do because they are bored, they put others at risk. Some people live at home with their parents who are in the compromised age group but still insist on going outside, doing non-essential shit. So not only are they risking their health, but that of their parents. Crazy right?
Look, I know staying at home when you really want to be outside living your best life is hard. You’ve watched everything on Netflix. You can’t go on a date with that person you matched with on Tinder. You can’t go to a bar, get drunk and make questionable decisions. I understand and feel for you. Honestly, I do but for the love of whatever spiritual being you believe in, suck it up and stay the fuck at home. People’s lives depend on it.
