pandemic
Mandate or No Mandate, I’m Still Wearing a Mask — for My Own Damn Health
It finally happened: One of my best friends lost their “COVID-19 virginity” over the weekend. After over two years of not knowingly contracting any coronavirus […]
If You Won’t Get Vaccinated, You Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Have Fun
In one of my all-time favorite films, Mean Girls, there’s a scene in which the alpha-female of her high school, Regina George, decides to wear […]
Here’s What Happened When I Turned the Tables on a Street Harasser
It was a Friday morning in Center City that was off to a good start. Then things got tense. I had wrapped up a monthly […]
Notable Philadelphians on the People and Places That Got Them Through the Past Year
We asked some notable Philadelphians what local institutions helped get them through this long year. Here’s what they had to say. Kiley Reid, author “During […]
Why Am I Not More Excited That Philadelphia Is Finally Reopening?
June was supposed to be the month when everything changed. I was looking forward a red-carpet kickoff to Hot Vax Summer, one filled with maskless […]
How to Have a Hot Vax Summer and Be COVID-Safe, Too
“The streets are calling,” one of my best friends texted me last week when Governor Wolf announced that all statewide COVID mitigation restrictions (other than […]
How Will We Know When the Pandemic Is “Over”?
It’s been 407 days since the World Health Organization first declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, in March 2020. On most of those days, at […]
The Pandemic Will End. Our Respect for Service Workers Should Not
Last weekend, my fiancé and I went to the movies together for the first time since the pandemic started. From the time we began dating, […]
The Pandemic Made Me Realize I Hate Everything About My Old Social Life
As vaccinations accelerate across the region, I received my first invitation to a “vaccinated-only” private, in-person networking soirée scheduled for next month. The promise of […]
I Never Thought I’d Move Back in With My Parents. But Here We Are
It occurred to me one night at midnight that I never really knew exactly how many clocks my parents have. I know it was midnight […]
I Took a COVID-19 Vaccine Selfie. Then the Questions Came Pouring In.
On Saturday, I walked into Deliverance Church in North Philly and got my first of two injections of COVID-19 vaccine. A few days earlier, I […]
2020 in Review: These Are the People and Things I’m Grateful For in a Challenging Year
While stocking up on last-minute groceries at Whole Foods this week, I got my privilege checked. As I was wrapping up a call, I began […]
With COVID-19 Cases Spiking, Philly Needs to Shut Down Completely
The best way to describe Philly’s current approach to the pandemic is this: It’s a walking contradiction. Last week, I made the unusual-for-me decision to […]
I Was a Virtual Teacher This Summer. Nobody Is Talking About the Real Reasons Public School Kids Will Struggle This Fall.
“Make sure their cameras are on and they keep their mics muted,” my program director advised us on a Zoom conference call. “Even though we’re […]