A salaryman in his late 20s, a son to a widowed wife, an older brother to his two young sisters, this is his story, my friend's story, told from a first-person perspective (Based on a true story).
The setting was 2019 (in the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic), in a country called Indonesia.
Hi, I'm Kevin, a 23 years old salaryman, living in sunny Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2017, I graduated from a Business School with a Bachelor Degree of Business Administration.
Before graduating college, never had I thought that my life would take a turn for the worst like this.
I studied at a great Private Business School, I had a Dad, I had a girlfriend, I had already worked 9 to 5 as a Marketing Officer before I even graduated, and I leisurely play my PC Games everyday after work hours. I was a big and healthy guy, I stood tall at 176cm and 65 kg, never goes to a gym before, but I was healthy, I feel good about myself, I feel confident and productive.
But then, COVID-19 hits Jakarta, everything turns for the worst. People dying due to COVID-19 daily, news about people got laid-off and business go bankrupt, criminality soared.
For me personally, I got a notice from my company that my next paycheck will be 30% short. I got a notice that I need to start preparing and learning how to do my job from home (from WFO Marketing, to WFH Digital Marketing).
And lastly, both my Mom and Dad got tested positive for COVID-19 and that both of them needed to be hospitalized and quarantined for at least 2-3 weeks.
Everything turns to shit for me in just 1 month.
My Dad was an entrepreneur, our family had a little bodega and a laundromat, and we have 8 employees working for us, 2 shifts, both the bodega and the laundromat opens for business at 7 AM to 10 PM.
When it was COVID-19, business runs slow, most people stayed at home and avoids getting contact with other people.