The Unity in Community

Our community has changed quite significantly over the last month, and I believe that most of the change has been made for the better.

I’ve noticed that our sense for community has grown stronger in the Quad Cities in multiple ways. The biggest one being citizens helping small businesses. It has been so cool to see and be a part of watching our community come together. I first noticed it when friends started making posts on Facebook, saying that they could run errands for you if you felt unsafe going out or were immunocompromised. I got invited to a community Facebook group titled ‘QC emergency takeout and delivery,’ where everyone shares news and information about the small businesses in the Quad Cities to help each other out. It’s so cool seeing the whole community interacting through the internet, and I’m glad that we can at least be virtually connected. 

On the negative side, I have definitely seen and experienced people taking their stress out on others, and it is quite a frustrating sight. Just the other day, I ran through a McDonald’s drive through and got yelled at by a woman for simply waiting my turn to merge into the line to pay for my food. I’ve noticed that a lot of people feel entitled or feel as though we owe them something, and act like we aren’t all going through the same general thing. This pandemic has really opened my eyes to the two main types of people, and has definitely further taught me to treat everyone with compassion and respect because being rude and bitter hasn’t gotten anyone anywhere. 

Yes, our community has changed, but I hope the extra love and positivity continues to be spread well after this pandemic is over with.