[Whitney Woodard]

This is an interesting topic that I don’t feel would be completely solved by the suggested intervention. One thing we can all agree on was that most Americans had little to no back up plan for child/family care when the country shut down. In most homes, both parents work full time and leave the house to do so. In fact, my 5th grader’s teacher told me often how she had a couple students in her class at home by themselves or caring for even younger students while doing at-home schooling. Yet there is little to no support from the workforce when it comes to family care conflicts. I don’t know if this childcare benefit that the author mentioned is the solution. These governmental benefits tend to only benefit the lower income class, yet most middle class families cannot afford to pay for childcare services on the regular. Child care has become incredibly expensive (but that is another topic) and cannot be afforded in many families. Will there also be additional taxes imposed on American’s with and without children or aging family members who may or may not even be able to utilize this benefit? I feel like the focus is in the wrong area. There should be more pressure on business and corporation to value and provide family benefits for those wishing to work who have families at home. Unfortunately, I think we are a long way off from any sort of solution.

[Whitney Woodard]

This post is interesting in multiple ways. First, there is a definite biased against the Trump administration and his leadership, or lack thereof, during the majority of the COVID pandemic. The author makes some interesting comments, although somewhat skewed, I do think the his election was founded on the luxury that we have as Americans and our rebellious nature against the government. If has no doubt left a long lasting effect as there is still a massive and entitled attitude afforded by many Americans. Aside from President Trump, there is a more pressing issue that the author noted-the acceptance of experts and their advice. There is no doubt that a number of Americans continue to wear their “I Know Best” hat, but many pulled together and trusted those who have studied for years. This renewed sense of trust in medical experts surely gives faith that one day the government may be able to win back the large number of Americans that have lost faith in them.

[Whitney Woodard]

I find this discussion interesting now that we are on the “back end” of the COVID-19 pandemic–at least that’s what I hope. When it first started, there was this sense of “no way it’s going to get as bad as they described” and “that only happens in the movies or third world countries, not here.” Of course it did happen here and it happened big. As an ER nurse, it was horrific. I was practicing a kind of nursing that was dangerous and hopeless. And I’ll be honest, I never want to do it again. I won’t do it again (unpopular opinion I’m sure). But there were some interesting things in the way of education and communication that emerged. I found I really enjoyed distance learning and zoom meetings. They allowed me opportunities to be more present and connected with my family instead of sitting in traffic and going to in person meetings. I did not realize how much of my life was spent doing that! I did not miss the human interaction as I was faced with so much of it at work. So it’s possible that was my blessing and curse? I don’t know. But I do know that incorporating certain aspects of online learning and teleworking for meeting was extremely beneficial for my mental health.

[Author]

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