“To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ The cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?”
-Chrisopher Hitchens
“Mortality” (2012)

The omnipresent threat of pandemics has always been a reality of life.

During the first century, the Plague of Justinian arrived in Constantinople and ripped through Europe, Asia, North Africa and Arabia, killing between 30 and 50 million people. The bubonic plague claimed the lives of nearly 200 million people during the fourteenth century. And the 1918 H1N1, the 1957-58 H2N2 and the 1968 H3N2 pandemics killed an approximate combined total of 52 million people throughout the twentieth century.

Today, we face yet another pandemic; COVID-19, which has sickened nearly 1 million people around the world and has killed more than 55,000.

In order to slow the spread of the virus and to save lives, the global community has taken drastic measures that have altered the lives of many.

Nations, such as Italy, have issued stay-at-home orders. States, such as Minnesota, have closed certain businesses to comply with extended social distancing requests. Cities, such as Los Angeles, have recommended that people wear masks while out in public.

At the University of St. Thomas, students have had to comply with an executive order from Gov. Tim Walz requesting Minnesotans to “stay-at-home”, classes have moved online for the remainder of the semester, students living on campus have been asked to move out, facilities, such as the Anderson Athletic and Recreational Complex and TommieMedia’s studio and newsroom have closed to comply with President Donald Trump’s extended request to practice social distancing until April 30.

Like many, I have found myself asking the dumb question Mr. Hitchens wrote about, why me?

Life under “stay-at-home” has been unbearably lonely.

I have been frustrated with online classes; they do not have the sense of community, or enable ambition, like the classroom does. Moreover, in conjunction with the evolving pandemic, online classes have made focus and retention practically impossible for me. I learn through books, newspapers and in-person discourse; not staring at a computer screen, while nearly having a full-blown anxiety attack from CNN in the background showing the death count rise and the Dow Jones Industrial Average flutter up and down, like a moth with a broken wing.

I have been sad to see my friends move home, some of whom I may not see for months.

I have been upset to see my studio and newsroom close, where my best work is produced.

And I have especially been devastated to hear those in my life who are facing economic uncertainties.

All things considered, I have found myself also asking the reply of the cosmos, why not?

I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to deal with the consequences of a phenomenon such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, I really have not faced any serious constraints from it at all. And this type of phenomena is not about me, it is about us.

Although complying with Walz’s “stay-at-home” order may be lonely for me, having class online may not be optimal for me, seeing friends move home may be sad for me and having places, such as my newsroom, close may be difficult for me, it is necessary for us to make it through this pandemic with as little loss of life as possible.

These constraints on my life are worth it. Nothing is more valuable to us than life.

If we push through this together, it will hopefully make the pandemic shorter. We can then focus on making those who have lost the most from this pandemic as close to whole again as possible.

Burke Spizale can be reached at spiz8477@stthomas.edu.