What they don’t tell you about a pandemic is that at some points it’s easy to forget that everyone else is going through a pandemic, too.
I see it in students and parents – the frustration at difficult circumstances is misplaced to their teachers. I see it in customers, who get irrationally angry about things that are far beyond the store’s control. I see it in myself, when I get upset at others’ behavior, forgetting that they, too, are living through a pandemic.
So I remind myself, and I remind my students, and I remind my children: hold kindness. Hold kindness for all you meet, for all who are impacting your life. Make generous assumptions about others’ actions, and hold kindness for them.