Victor
“This is kind of embarrassing to say, but I’m actually washing my hands way more often. Not just that, but I’ve been starting to clean my room more often, and I’ve been cleaning around the house more without being asked to. I think that’s related to the pandemic, just trying to be more clean. It’s funny, because those things should already be the norm, but I guess society is changing norms of how clean folks should be. A very positive thing. It’s been refreshing. I’ve been doing that, but also, at my job there’s more hours available. I’ve been working more now because of the pandemic, which is odd, given what other people are going through. I’m working at QuikTrip. A lot of people left because of what’s going on, so we’re hiring like crazy over there. There’s some stores where, if one person is positive and quarantines, then the whole store has to quarantine. It’s already happened at one store in Saginaw and one store in Plano, where everybody’s not working for two weeks because of that one person. Our CEO goes hard. I think he’s a Republican, but he actually pays attention. We don’t get hazard pay, but we did get a random ass bonus, which I’m not going to complain about.
“A big downside to the pandemic, though, is that I’m definitely drinking more than I should be. I just turned 21 a couple weeks ago, so that plus already having easy access at home and work has caused me to drink a lot more often. At one point during the pandemic, I was probably drinking three or four times a week. All weekend long, Monday, hump day, I was always trying to find reasons to drink. I wouldn’t say it was because of my mental health, but it was out of just impulse. My mental health isn’t perfect, but for me I was just trying to pass the time and drink my life away. I’m working on it now, trying to not drink as much. I used to get blacked out all the time, but since I’ve turned 21 I’m trying to be way more responsible.
“I’ve also started working out more. I’ve finally started working out, because I’ve been gaining a lot of weight. Not just during the pandemic but in general -- since high school I’ve gained a lot of weight. I’m back at 155 now, so I’m starting to work out in my room and do little things. I run sometimes. Because I’ve been drinking less, I’m finally finding the time to do that.
“The pandemic has definitely canceled big plans, but it hasn’t really changed much for me. It’s definitely changed how cautious we are. Definitely. I’m about to be a first-time uncle -- my nephew is due July 14, and he’s going to be due in Vegas. I’m flying over there, but because of the virus we’re taking a lot of precautions. It’s really sad, you know, that I can’t go to the hospital and be there. Hopefully I’m still there when my sister gets out of the hospital and comes home, but those things are just really sad. My nephew’s dad has been vocal about being skeptical of having people around. They’re not dumb -- they know I haven’t been the perfect, most socially-distanced person -- but these steps are being taken that I never thought would happen when I found out I would be an uncle last Christmas. I was also supposed to go to South By Southwest, and obviously that blew it. When I went to Atlanta, I couldn’t see a lot of my cousins because they have weak immune systems. I couldn’t see the majority of them, and that was something that was pretty sad to me when I flew in. When it comes to my circle, my friends, and young people doing young people activities -- I’m still going to kickbacks every other week, but you won’t catch me at a club or a bar like you’d expect for my 21st. Those are really the only things changing about my plans.
“At first when Abbott started opening stuff back up, I thought, “This really good, that things have been going the way we were hoping they would go.” I was down, but I still had to wait a few weeks before turning 21. On the day of my birthday, there was already a spike of cases and it scared me and my girlfriend for me to go out. Good thing my 21st was after things started opening. I still haven’t been to a bar or club or anything like that. I’ve only been to a restaurant once or twice, and they’ve been using really good social distancing protocols.
“My very first protesting activity was during high school my senior year. It was the walkout because of gun control policies, because you know we were very vulnerable as an open campus. I thought that was very necessary and I participated in that, but I think that was the only protest I’ve ever done. I tried to go to the ones at the airport that same year because of the Muslim ban. I actually have a friend whose family was affected, because he’s Sudanese. That hit home, and I tried participating, but I couldn’t get off work that Friday. Besides that, I’ve been trying my best to be politically active. I went to a gay pride parade once in middle school, but I wouldn’t say that was a protest.
“With protesting now, I knew the risks. I know where I’ve been, but I don’t know where anyone else has been. It was like a rush to me, but there was so much to think about. I had discussions with my girlfriend too, of the risks and how the news makes it seem scary to go out and protest in certain areas. But I didn’t think much about it, because I felt like there shouldn’t be any factors preventing me from doing something that’s right. I don’t know how else to put it. I just knew it was going to be worth it in the end. And it has been so far. We’ve seen changes in certain places. Not federal yet, but with those changes I think we’re headed in the right direction. After this day, I’ll be proud that I participated in this.
“Oh! I forgot a protest I did before. I’ve been kneeling for the anthem for years. I don’t know how I forgot that. I actually went to an NFL game one time in Buffalo, New York. I was on the same field as Colin Kapernick, watching from the booth. The person that hooked us up with the tickets was playing on the team against Kapernick at the time, and I sat down during the anthem, in front of all these people in the booth. It felt good doing that. I also kneeled during every game and anthem for a while. It was a good consciousness starter. I couldn’t be one of those guys mad at everyone that was screwing me. I have no choice, I have to converse with a lot of people about these things. On my dad’s side, I come from a conservative household, and I’m like the black sheep when I go over there. I’ve had to talk about these things since a young age. In the future, I’m going to be proud of myself. Not proud because of clout, but that I know it’s something I’m not going to regret.
“Also, elections are super important this year. I’m really surprised that at the protests I’ve been to, barely anyone has spoken up about the politics in our area. Yeah, we saw certain people not showing out, like the police chief, but also our mayor was quiet. I don’t have her socials, but you’d think I would’ve seen her say something, at least. She just won reelection three years ago by like 60 or 70 points because no one wants to vote. I think it was only like 9 percent of Euless residents voted. 9 percent. Our last public census was like 50,000 in Euless, and I think they only counted like 5 or 6,000 votes for the mayor race. So that’s something important. I think she’s going to run for reelection again, but also she’s old as hell so she might retire. I’m not sure. That’s important. We need officials that aren’t critics of the movement, but instead are supporters and vocal about it. Not just now, but that have been. Especially if you want to be a politician in a diverse area, but anywhere in general if you want to be a progressive, not just a Democrat. That’s one thing that I think all progressives on the political spectrum should agree on. But it ain’t that way. Another important race going on that I noticed is our congressional race. It’s an open seat now because the congressman retired, and that runoff race is next week I think. We have the potential of having the first Afro-Latina congresswoman in our district. And the first congresswoman in a long ass time. The congressman retired, and the Republican side is a woman that won -- the former mayor of Irving -- and she’ll be running against whoever wins the runoff this week between the Afro-Latina woman and a veteran lady. Everybody in the nation is looking at this race as a very important seat. Beto won our district by three points during his senate race, so if we have the same energy and same turnout… And only one of those two women are vocal supporters and has been one for years. I’m surprised no one is talking about that. Even on Twitter, I haven’t seen anyone talking about that outside my feed. Another very important race for Texas is the Senate race. John Cornyn needs to get the f**k out of there. Both the Democratic nominees are really good folks, but no one’s talking about that either. No one is talking about all the most important races outside this very polarizing presidential race, you know what I mean?
“Everyone is saying they don’t want to vote because of this presidential race, but no. There are other important things besides that race. I think those other races are way more important than the presidential race. If we vote the way we need to, then he’ll have no power because the Senate would be a majority against him. That’s one thing I wish people would speak out about more, but it’s really hard to reach young people. They just weren’t taught that. At school, we’re told “Let’s not talk about politics,” and that’s something I’ve been disappointed in. I wish things would change about that. It’s a perfect opportunity to bring those things up. That’s just one thing I’ve been thinking about lately. I’m doing my best -- with almost every friend, I’ve had that conversation. It’s just like, besides my friends, shit needs to change. I’m doing my part, but I’m hoping everybody else does their part as well.”
Quotes edited for clarity.
Victor has been working as an essential worker at QT this summer. Vanessa has been facing some similar struggles working as a hostess — read her and Ryan’s story for more details.
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