Opinion piece by Gaelle Nohra, Staff Writer

July 24th, 2020

Over the four months span at home, you have probably came across those advertisements recommending endless ways in which your quarantine could be efficiently invested. From improving your LinkedIn profile to attempting fancy Asian recipes - a whole lot now revolves around your dexterity in proliferating your skills and bringing your resume (CV) to an edgy eye-grabbing level. All self-enhancement seeking endeavors are unmistakably added pluses wielded to resist the inefficiency struggle 2020 has placed all of us in front of, and it originally goes beyond the socio-educational sphere as in the first place, it amounts to a personal achievement amidst unprecedented settings. Notwithstanding the intellectual and moral assets forged, quarantine self-growth should be a significant component, yet not a vital requisite or directive for the professional career to sustain or for the future self to excel. 

Your daily need to workout, watch out your carbs intake, spend quality time with your family, take care of your garden, consider applying for virtual internships, read psychological pregnancy books if you’re an expecting mum, keep track with the latest Lebanese news in order to thoroughly engage in political Sunday lunch discussions…it goes on. In fact, none of these ‘recommendations’ is labeled as disciplinary or is granted a criteria headline, but daily media exposure implicitly dictates how an ideal quarantine ought to be and how your daily routine shall comply to the code of conduct guidelines smoothly decreed by our virtual surroundings. 

On one side, for many of us the above cited list could be one step closer towards our perceived ideal, whether it be a perfect full-time position, social standing, body shape, garden, motherhood experience, wisdom, Lebanese eco-political knowledge or understanding, or parent-kid relationship. The elements of the list are catchy, utilitarian and capable of altering your whole life equation. But… on the other side, for the rest of us, those that may not come from well-orienting and privileged backgrounds, universities and communities, where no instructions were given about why or how you can, should, or need to contribute to your self-growth, for the ones that do not enjoy spaced residences accommodating for virtual work meetings and trainings, nor for the ones that cannot afford medical, psychological or nutritional virtual consultation fees to maintain their health status, nor the ones unable to access decent network connection to either upload their 7 megabytes university lecture or submit their take-home assessment on time, and nor for large-sized families possessing limited smart devices.

This equally applies to non-material conditions and let’s face it, beside the inability to afford the required materials or ingredients - not all of us share beautiful bonds with our parents or siblings to engage in culinary or gardening activities, not all of us possess convenient home environments to either attend online classes or undergo examination, not all parents are pedagogically aware of how their kid’s ‘annoying’ behavior should be addressed and most of all not everyone has access to luxury means (Netflix, Youtube, Gaming ….).

The strained economic situation and rising extreme poverty are inevitable facets to consider when questioning why not all of us share the same quarantine routine, we simply have different life données and innate conditions. As mentioned earlier, media exposure is a key component for us to realize the actual gap existing, and while keeping in mind its failure in depicting the entire truth, it remains an instrument rendering inequality a more and more trending topic. 

Each of us has a distinguished track and yet, we are humans, we compare. The less we see, the less we feel underprivileged and the more we look, the more tempted we are to scale down our success aspirations to non-flawless temporary images. Back in mid-March, social distancing was the primary concern and while weren’t placed in the same chaos, we weren’t expected to figure out our post-pandemic educational or social, pre-planning was a great anticipation but not a determining factor of our lifetime success, and when it comes to inequality, it cannot be eradicated, but less exhibited.