A plea for compassion — CatlinSpeak

Successfully made Dalgona Coffee. Photo by Lauren Mei Calora

This morning I woke up with the simple desire to attempt to make Dalgona Coffee. Dalgona Coffee recently blew up on Tik Tok and originates from South Korea. The coffee consists of four ingredients: coffee powder, sugar, water, and milk.

Unfortunately, my fridge lacked milk and my pantry lacked coffee. So I took a trip to the grocery store, my first major outing into a public area since the recommendation for social distancing began in Oregon.

It was weird to walk outside of my house and see that the main street was nearly empty during morning rush hour. I walked in silence as the sun provided me solace.

As soon as I walked into Fred Meyer, I overheard a conversation between two employees. Fred Meyer had just restocked the paper towels, and the employees were worried about the chaos that would soon ensue.

As I walked through the aisles, I felt my heart begin to race as I received side eyes and glances. I walked nervously and turned my head down to pretend I couldn’t see the looks I was receiving.

Coincidently, I walked through the paper towel aisle on my way to the milk. I noticed a woman customer standing defensively around stacks of paper towels, but another woman customer yelled at her frustratingly because Fred Meyer had posted signs limiting each customer to three products.

What world did I live in where people fought over paper towels? Why was I receiving glances for the way I looked? How were the Fred Meyer employees surviving in this climate of stress?

I went to the store simply for milk and coffee, yet I received and observed so much more.

I hope we can all take a moment to reflect on the stress of the world we live in right now, and how we might be placing that stress onto others.

I feel fearful of interacting with others because I am Asian, and I hope to never experience the discomfort I felt at the store again.

President Trump has begun to refer to the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus” which may seem harmless, but it has real consequences on people. To blame the virus on Chinese people is unfair: “pandemics have no ethnicity” and calling the virus “Chinese Virus” implicitly encourages xenophobia.

I didn’t take the Coronavirus seriously enough before this week of social distancing, but the virus has undoubtedly changed our day-to-day lives, and I hope we can spread love and compassion during this time.

It’s difficult to process all that is happening right now, but I hope we can all take the time to be patient with one another because this is a new experience for everyone.

I am lucky to be able to self isolate at home, but when you go out and interact with people at stores or food places please treat them with additional kindness.

When ordering food consider leaving a larger tip because everyone is feeling a financial hit at this time. At stores there’s an unprecedented amount of stress, so please be patient and kind to all the employees you interact with.

Also please take care of yourself. There is so much going on and taking a moment to listen to your emotions and feelings is important.

If all else fails, take a break from life and attempt to make Dalgona coffee.