Interview 1: Ricky

Description: Ricky is a 10-year-old boy from St. Louis, Missouri. He lives with his mother in a single-parent household. They are Congolese American and his mother says they identify as lower-middle-class. Ricky has a bright smile and one visible dimple. He offered to run inside and get me a drink three times during our outside and social distanced interview.

The bolded text is my dialogue and everything else is the interviewee's.

What does community mean to you? 

“What- like groups of people and stuff?” [Yeah! Also, like time with friends and family. What’s important about that in your opinion? Sorry for the tough question right of the bat.] “Hmmm. It’s not that hard! I think it’s important because you get lonely without it. Like how people are sad when they have no friends or family to play with.”

Where did you find community during quarantine?/Did you find it at all?

“Well, my mom and my teachers said that me and my friends couldn’t hang out anymore last year. And that really made me upset. [Did your mom let you talk to them on the phone or on video call?] Yeah. But it doesn’t really feel the same. Some of my friends have Xboxes and they all hang out on that and play. There’s not anything to do when you don’t have the right console. I have a Wii, but it’s like old and stuff. 

What did these moments look like? The moments on video calls with your friends or family?

They asked me questions and stuff. I was able to call my cousins once and that was pretty cool! We showed each other what we got for Christmas. I got a drone thingy and candy.

Did you have different expectations on those moments than you would have pre-pandemic?

I don’t know. [Like, were things more fun in person?] Yeah! I like to ride bikes with my friends and that’s way more fun. [Did you ever get frustrated with them that things weren’t as fun as before?] No. I wasn’t as fun as before either. I like to tell a lot of jokes- I’m pretty funny- but it’s hard to think of jokes on the phone. I don’t know why. 

Will community look different for you after the pandemic is over?

Like the friends and family and stuff? No. Yes! I think I’ll appreciate it more. That was one of our words for the week in class! [That’s a great word! Thank you, Ricky! You did a great job.]