| April 8, 2020 | Dang Le | managing editor |
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It was a mellow evening as I was working at home just like most U.S. citizens currently dealing with this pandemic. My phone rang, and it was my mom. She wanted me to go back to Vietnam.
She has a point. Most of my Vietnamese friends have returned home. By now, they have less than 300 cases of coronavirus with zero deaths.
People believe in #StayHome, masks and hand sanitizers are everywhere, and the Vietnamese government has prepared for this battle since mid-January.
Deaths doubled or tripled daily in the U.S., so flying home seems like the safest bet, but I won’t, and there are many reasons for my decision.
It’s not a fast trip to be home. My hometown is 8,000 miles away from here, and it takes around 19 hours to reach home.
In that amount of time, the traveler will have to walk around the airport with millions of people, stand in line which may not practice social distancing and sit next to at least two people if a person’s flying economy.
That would make a person very vulnerable to contracting the virus, seeing how they’re allowing themselves to be in an environment where millions of people interact.
And, I really don’t want to carry the disease home to my parents.
While they’re not old, they don’t have the best immune systems.
Also, even though campuses are closed, I still have my classes and job here. Going back home will affect my entire schedule, as Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of the U.S. Most of my online lectures will happen at around 1 a.m. if I go home.
So, all of that combined, I told my mother that I would stay where I am.
It’s a tough decision, as Vietnam has now closed its borders, and I won’t be able to see my family for a while.
But people tend to forget that staying at home where they are is not just for themselves but also for the people in their surroundings, and that’s the biggest reason why I didn’t fly home.
