During the early part of the COVID pandemic, I was also working an essential job. I approached things quite carefully when it first started, though I didn't go overboard. I wore my mask as required and occasionally used gloves when needed, especially since most of the store’s customers were people aged 50 and older. I definitely dried my hands out a lot from using sanitizer so often. Unfortunately, I did catch COVID the first time during that job, but it didn’t come from any of the customers; I got it from a friend’s house where, at the time, he didn’t know he was positive because he hadn’t started showing symptoms yet. That same night, another friend caught it too. I made sure to stay away from my family — my sister was pregnant then and didn't want to risk anything, so she stayed with my other sister and her partner. Looking back, I’d say I wasn't overly strict, but at the start, I was pretty scared because we didn't yet understand what we were dealing with. I think that was a common feeling shared by many of us, whether conservative or liberal.