Page 117 - COVID Consortium Journal - An Edited Collection of Student Art and Writing

It Used to Be

Verginia Ganfalean, School of the Future

It used to be very loud during the day and night. There used to be plenty
of happy people having family gatherings but that changed. There used to be
more parties and people at bars but now the closest you can get to a family
member (who doesn’t live with you) is on FaceTime. It used to be very loud in
stores, on the street, and even in public transportation. But now, all of that has
changed. It’s almost like NY is now the city that is partially sleeping instead
of never sleeping. Everything is changing. It felt like there were parties every
night and no one would be sleeping because of the lights in the buildings
lighting up the city. People were having good times and kids playing at the
playground and having fun, then hearing the Ice cream truck and asking their
parents, “Can I have ice cream, please?” Then everybody going to the beach and
you can barely see the water because of the people. When you crossed the street,
you could barely get by and it was over crowded. There were probably 25 people
crossing the street at once. There were parks that were full of people talking
and playing sports. The train was packed in the morning and most of the day
and there were also performances in the train dancing very dangerously and
playing loud music.

Now everything is very quiet. No loud parties at night, no family gath-
erings, no nothing. Now during the night, it’s like when you’re home alone and
don’t have anything to do so you decide to go to sleep and take a nap. It’s almost
too quiet. You can hear a mouse at night squeaking in its own language. You
can’t really see anyone after 8 PM because of curfew but you may see essential
workers because they work later than 8 PM. There is absolutely nobody on the
street unless they are going to their house. Manhattan is very quiet with people
staying home and having jobs from home and no traffic. No honking, no par-
ties, no taxis, no more loud music at parties, no family gatherings. All of this
defines Manhattan and Manhattan is fading away. People moving out of the
city to the suburbs means that it would be quieter because less people = peace.
No one is allowed to make play dates or real dates or go to school. Slowly NY is
starting to open stores and go to phase 1. Most people quarantine themselves
because they are scared and don’t want to leave their apartment.

It is beneficial to have noise during the day because then you would be
able to hear people enjoying themselves and hearing that boosted your day
with joy. It would also give you happiness in your life. But what is not beneficial

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