Never About The Mask

It is never about the mask. It is about what you can or cannot do with your own body.

It is far too easy to scrape off people that vehemently refuse to wear mask or to gather to protest the shelter-in-place as unintelligent, boorish, selfish. But did you also see the lack of self confidence there? In the guns they carry, in the placard they waved, there's fear there.

Change is scary. It puts you in an unknown territory, takes you away from your comfort zone. When the change is mandatory, it takes away your autonomy and you are in danger of losing control on yourself. Those who know to what extent their capability is (a.k.a. self-assured) will have no issue on this. Others, not so much.

This is why people haggle and scream at fast food employee or grocery store worker or anyone who works in service industry. It is more than just 'wanting my way'. It is an effort to gain a degree of control, to know the limit of what you can or cannot do. 

And here comes the mask. You have used the mask before when you're cleaning up ashes from your grill. You have covered your face before when the winter chill bites the tip of your nose and crack your lips. But now it is mandatory. It is mandatory for something that you don't quite understand. Of course you'll freak out.

It's the same as mandatory shelter-in-place order. Your routine is taken away from you. Your ability to move freely is suddenly limited. Even if you are not an outgoing person, even if it has been months since you last go out, that option has always been there. And then poof, it is gone.

This is not in anyway approving these behaviours. I am not above giving out coupons for penis enlargement surgery to those who protest while carrying firearm. And anyone who is in management position, including government officials, should wear mask because you lead by example.

Yet for us fellow commoners, it will help if we can understand other's woes. Shutting them down without understanding the reason behind their action does nothing but distanced us away from them and devoid us from learning to prevent ourselves from falling into such situation. 

"I would never, ever do such thing!" Maybe you will not do the exact same thing, but it does not guarantee you to not do something similar with the same underlying foolishness. I would not be surprised there are a lot of people who laughed at anti-vaxxer but now adamantly believe Covid-19 precaution is a government sham.

Do not hate the person. Recognize the fear. Pity the lack of self-assurance. Understand the uncomfortableness. You cannot change everyone, but there will be one or two that you can bring back to reality with your cool head and open heart.

"You know what, this is indeed a scary time. We are losing control of our life. Your fear and worry are valid. It is ok. Let us follow the guidelines and we will ride this through together."

Sekedar Indonesia

Hari ini saya memesan makanan dari restoran Indonesia karena kebetulan lewat di area itu. Dari yang harusnya siap 30 menit, baru siap satu jam lebih kemudian. Setelah sampai rumah 25 menit kemudian, baru ngeh bahwa dua item hilang walau di list terlihat semua sudah dicentang.

Saya terus berpikir positif bahwa hari ini Hari Ibu dan restriksi lockdown baru saja diangkat sebagian, jadi pasti orderan membludak. Tambah lagi menerima orderan online berbeda dengan saat pelanggan makan ditempat. Orderan online tidak memberikan waktu bagi restoran untuk membuat order sebelumnya dan penumpukan sangat mungkin terjadi.

Tapi sulit untuk tetap berpikir positif saat melihat ada jeda 30 menit antara orderan saya dan orderan online lain yang jam masuknya sama, padahal order saya cuma nasi kotak yang nggak ada yg dimasak spesial. Atau saat orang yang bolak-balik bertanya dengan cepat mendapat orderan mereka. Saat membuka somay Bandung saya ngeh kecapnya tidak dimasukkan, dan secuil kentangnya terlihat menghitam. Tuhan.

Mungkin saya kebetulan sial, tapi hal-hal kecil seperti ini yang membuat saya tidak terlalu minat berbelanja hal-hal Indonesia disini. Menu Indonesia yang rasanya numpang lewat, barang-barang yang tidak ada ukurannya (gue bayar $8 untuk sambal sekecil ini?!), sampai tantangan harus bolak-balik tanya harga, stok, dan shipping fee.

Apakah pendapat saya penting? Jelas nggak. Akan selalu ada yang membutuhkan seiris kampung halaman. Akan selalu ada yang membeli. Tapi apa salahnya sih kita mencoba maju dan menaikkan standar kita?

Era setelah covid-19 adalah era baru dimana kita tidak bisa lagi bergantung pada indahnya penampilan atau dukungan selebriti untuk menjual sesuatu. Era setelah covid-19 adalah era brutal dimana yang bisa bertahan hanya barang dan jasa yang kualitasnya bagus dan pantas dibeli. Turunnya daya beli jelas juga akan membuat konsumen semakin pemilih.

Seperti menu saya hari ini. Begitu saya membuka nasi kotak saya rasanya hati mencelos. "Beneran gue bayar $75 untuk semua ini?" Iya saat ditata cantik di piring saji yang sangat instagram-able. Di kotak siap bawa, nope. Saya rasa banyak orang baik di Los Angeles dan Indonesia yang merasakan seperti ini dengan pembelanjaan saat Covid-19.

Dan ini bukannya nggak mungkin lho. Saya bakal belanja di Toko Rame di Bellflower karena saat pesanan online delivery saya ada yang tertinggal ownernya sendiri yang akhirnya mengantar. Homecook yang harus pickup di rumahnya tapi rasa makanannya sama sekali nggak didiskon. Martabak OK yang saat saya minta tambah note kecil untuk teman saya malah dibuatkan kartu lengkap. 

Dan selalu ada Bone Kettle yang buat saya merupakan gold standar makanan Indonesia dan lumayan terkenal. Fusion sih, tapi kalau saya mau impress seseorang Bone Kettle pilihan saya. Atau Borneo/Uncle Fung yang direkomen justru oleh teman non-Indonesia dan sampai punya 3 lokasi, semua karyawannya konon diimpor dari Indonesia.

Kita senang dan bangga kalau Indonesia diapresiasi dunia, makanya dengar kosakata Indonesia dipakai di film Hollywood atau orang asing melakukan sesuatu di Indonesia rasanya bangga banget. Tapi itu nggak cukup. Nggak cukup hanya memanfaatkan "Indonesia" tanpa punya nilai lebih.

Kedepannya kita harus bisa mengikuti standar global, atau bahkan lebih. Karena untuk baik barang maupun jasa, rasa dan kualitas tak akan bohong. Baik rasa dan kualitas dari barang tersebut maupun rasa dan kualitas yang dirasakan si pembeli barang dan jasa tersebut. 

Jangan tidur terus. Dunia sudah memanggil kita lho.

Time To Be The Light

I went on an IG live with a friend yesterday, promoting a new initiation called LightUpIndonesia. It is a charity initiation to help provide electricity for people who cannot pay electricity in Indonesia due to Covid-19 related reasons.

Their goal is 100K IDR per low-income family (which Indonesian in their flowery way aptly called pre-prosperous family) for a month worth of electricity, and to reach 100,000 family. 100K IDR is only 6.71 USD. I spent more on MickeyD's fries.

This is a reminder on how Covid-19 is affecting everyone globally. Unfortunately, this illness will take toll no matter what we do. Our action to mitigate this disease comes with a consequence. The health precaution gives way to economic disaster. But this is not about bashing one action over the other. This is about realizing what really happened and how one action will lead to another. 

There are people, even here in the US, who cannot afford to social distancing due to the nature of their life (work and/or living condition). A temporary closure or reduced capacity of a business will affect not only the owner and employees, but also countless others who has relationship with the business. The vendors, the vendors' supply chain, the vendors supply chain's procurers. On and on it goes.

Even in the US there are many that cannot get government's help due to their legal status or lack of identity. It is worse in countries where government assistance, even for their own citizen, is little to none. Where even electricity for an average of 85 kwh per month is not attainable for millions of people. As a comparison, average electricity usage of US household is about 900 kwh per month.

To say we, who still have jobs and means to live normally, are privileged is a huge understatement. But do not look far, 8000 miles away, to realize how lucky we are. There are others near us here in the US that is not so fortunate. 

People who must work because of their essential status like plumbers or public transportation drivers. People who cannot work because of their health made them a high risk for Covid-19.  People who tried so hard, did everything by the book, but find themselves in the verge of losing everything because of the economic impact of this disease.

I cannot urge you enough to donate, to be kind in this calamity. If you still got paid, especially if you are working from home, the stimulus check you receive or even your allocated cocktail allowance can easily go to others who need it more. Even a $20 gift card per grocery store worker in your favorite grocery store can go a long way to light up their world.

The worst is yet to come. We are forced into hiding for the unknown virus and we are about to wake up to closed businesses and crippled economy. Not just US, mind you, but global. The darkness is yet to come. It is time to be the light.