Coronavirus Interview

Isaac Wax

3/22/20

Have you ever been so bored that you are excited to call your Aunt to do an interview about coronavirus? Well, I was, and I learned some good ways to weather the storm. She is a lifelong Democrat, 60 years old, grew up in LA, went to college at UCSC, lived in Massachusetts for the last 40 years. Now she lives with her partner who has a kidney transplant and is immunocompromised so they have to be extra careful.

I asked my Aunt to compare the current crisis with the ones that she has lived through. She thinks that this one is much worse because it is more personal. She said that she remembers waiting in line at the gas station during the oil crisis and hearing about 9/11 on the television, but none of those felt very personal. This crisis is much more personal; it changes every single aspect of your life and the personal actions you take affect other people to the extreme. She has never been quarantined and only had chickenpox and mumps as a child. She remembers visiting her great-aunt Ann who had polio as a child which left her crippled for life.

I asked her about what trait she values in a president. She said that she values intelligence and truth-telling - not qualities that the current president has. Her favorite President was Obama because he passed the National Healthcare Act as well as many other progressive Federal policies. The National Health Care Act is very important to her because it is how she buys her healthcare. Most of her adult life before that point she had no health insurance. Her partner qualifies for Medicare and would be a huge deal if he didn't. qualify for Medicare. Medicare has much better health coverage than her plan on the exchange, and she thinks there should be medicare-for-all. She has been a lifelong Democrat. She will vote for a Democrat in September because of their platform on health care, the environment, and reproductive rights.

I asked my aunt about the recession and this is the advice she gave me. She said it is very important to think about how you are investing your money. She said that her whole retirement fund is in the stock market and it is so bad right now that she doesn't even want to look at it. She is also worried that her renters may move out since there is no school. She thinks that it is a good idea to invest your money in things such as property and CDs because they are much lower risk. I agree with my aunt that this crisis is very personal and these are crazy times. I am incredibly grateful to her for giving me advice on how to weather the storm.