COLUMBUS, Ohio — What is that saying? You’ve heard it: “You don’t know what you’ve got 'til it’s gone.”
Recently, at a distance that was socially safe, 10TV Reporter Bryant Somerville sat down in the Short North to discuss what people are missing eight months into a worldwide pandemic.
“I miss talking on the phone without a mask on,” Miki said.
“You just miss being able to travel,” Kyla said. “Like, go visit family and friends and stuff like that.”
“I miss just being able to breathe,” Cassandra said while laughing.
Other people reflected on what they took for granted before the pandemic.
“I think I definitely took physical contact for granted,” Ayla said.
“I think I took for granted sitting inside places, like sitting inside coffee shops and just hanging out with people,” Kyla said.
COVID-19 for many has forced upon us reflection; an unsolicited thought of appreciation for what once was.
“I haven’t hugged my staff for, what is it, eight months now,” Elizabeth said.
“I miss seeing people’s faces,” Cassandra said.
Cassandra started working during the pandemic; during the age of masks.
“There’s people who work here who don’t know what my face looks like,” she said. “Which is weird.”
“I miss just the regularity [and] having the routine,” Chaz said.
Chaz is a cook by trade. If businesses shut down again because of spread – he doesn’t want to think about that.
“Having it ripped away possibly for the third time now, it’s getting real taxing,” he said.
No matter what we miss, no matter what we feel we took for granted, all of us have something.
“I feel like there’s some sort of element missing when we have to stay so far apart from each other,” Ayla said.
But some think missing is a good thing. In some ways, people say it helps us remember.
“It’s not so surprising when you think about how we always forget what we should be grateful for,” Jordan said. “But, then we have to periodically remind ourselves of that.”
A mindset of gratefulness. Making us appreciate all the more that saying.
“We do so much subconsciously that we don’t even recognize how important it is until it’s gone,” Ayla said.
Yeah, that’s the one.