Interview 2: Ms. Judy

Description: Ms. Judy is a 67-year-old white woman from Kirksville, Missouri. She is of slight build with pretty brown and heathered gray hair. She considers herself to be middle class. I approached her at the Hyvee cafeteria and asked if she would like to be interviewed for a school project.

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

What does community mean to you? 

Where you live and the people you love. 

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

I don’t have any family in town and I never married, so my community has always been my girlfriends and some of their husbands. I don’t like all of their husbands though. [How did things change with them once all the precautions were put into place? Or did things not really change?] They did. We used to all come into the cafeteria and eat lunch most days a week. Now we can’t and the few times we have tried I can’t really enjoy myself with all the masks on and new rules. 

What did those moments you were able to have together looked like?

Well, before our vaccinations we would try to space ourselves out to eat. And there was the mask mandate at Hyvee so we were wearing those. But I don’t think masks are very effective. [Why’s that? If you don’t mind me asking.] Just look at Florida! They are totally open and have the same rates as California. [What would you rather Hyvee do then?] Go back to normal! It’s God’s decision in the end. It’s hard for old people. There isn’t much to do at home so it is very annoying when the government tells us how to live. [So for you it’s a matter of freedom almost?] Not almost. I do consider it a violation of my personal liberties. 

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

Yes. I lost one good friend and then another friend’s husband. Luckily I didn’t like him all that much. But yes, my girlfriend I will miss a lot. That’s all you have when you get up to my age. [What’s that again?-sorry] Your friends. That’s all you really have when you don’t have much family.