When I was having my virtual office hour with students today – I never had more than four at a time – we talked first about assignments a couple of them still needed to turn in. The rest of the hour was taken up by causal chatting. Those of us with dogs introduced our furry friends to one another. One student and I pulled out our guitars, and we strummed a few chords. Eventually, the conversation led to, of course, the coronavirus. One student, who has been showing up to all our virtual conferences and hanging out the whole time (he’s pretty bored), asked what was the first thing we bought when we found out about the need to shelter in place. He said his dad bought a new TV. Nobody else could really remember, so I shared that I went to the grocery store. But what was the first thing you picked up, he wanted to know. I guess it was kale. Yup, it was definitely kale. Kale? They were not impressed, not one bit.
We talked about how long vaccinations take to develop and possible treatments for the virus, and then one student said he heard Idris Elba has it. I looked it up, and sure enough, he and his wife are recovering from it. They have started a $40 million fund to help people in poor, rural areas affected by COVID-19. Then, the same student who asked about the first thing we bought asked us what we would do with $40 million. I said I would pay off my house and car, make sure our extended families are taken care of, buy a beach house, donate to a number of worthy causes, and then invest the rest. Another student said he would buy tons of mansions and build a giant roller coaster to connect all his mansions and a special roller coaster for his dog. He would also build a time machine to go back and buy shares in Amazon before they went big. I think his first plan would exceed $40 million -not sure he’d have much left for Amazon stock.
A common theme during this time is the importance of nurturing the connections we have with others. When would I have ever taken an hour during the regular school year to just shoot the breeze with these kids? When would they have been inclined to do the same with me? Yes, some good is definitely mixed in with the scary and unknown these days.
My Corner of the Village 