Objects for Museum Collections:
Technologies in the Workforce
We interviewed nine essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asked them what objects helped them adapt to pandemic work conditions. These objects will be considered for museum collections on the COVID-19 experience.
The diagram below shows connections between each worker and the technology they used for pandemic work. Each link also indicates what tools were shared across different industries.
Listen to participants describe their objects
Leah
Transcript
"So for me, I always wore my public health lens, which is...it's around social norms and public health norms. And it's interesting when I, I was in China years and years ago, and it was interesting to me that that the idea of a mask was a social norm and it's just culturally and geographically normalized there to wear a mask.
And, and I remember thinking how weird it was to go out in public wearing a mask and seeing people wearing masks and thinking they must feel really weird. And then fast forward to now, how normalized it has become and how we have no seasonal influenza at all anywhere. Right? There's absolutely no cases. And so it's interesting because I've always been a hand sanitizer user, but I used to have to put it in my pocket and discreetly squirt a bit into my hands because I looked like a weirdo.
You know, two years ago using hand sanitizer, and now it's it's it's out there. It's like lip balm. You just put it on and you know, so yeah, it's it's interesting to me the normalization of those self-protective and common behaviors. So whether it's the mask, the hand sani, or not shaking hands.
I see that shifting as well, the elbow bump. So I'm interested in those, those human interactions that we've we've pulled back a bit because there's always been international differences in those salutations with each other. And yeah, I think we're probably going to be more similar."
Natalie
Transcript
"Oh my gosh, I don't know, the mask?
We had some masks made, yeah, absolutely. Actually, talking about the community, we were actually donated, just like the two laptops or two tablets were donated, there was a knitting and crocheting and sewing group in Edmonton that donated over two hundred masks to all of our residents.
Also, like ear savers that were being designed, so that, those were donated. Yeah, our knitting and crocheting group were making masks as well. So, yeah, the mask, maybe. I know that's kind of a sad one, but the computer the technology piece."
Margaret
Transcript
"And I think like obviously it's like, oh like you could collect like some of the masks I'm wearing, 'cause I have a lot of them I need to wear at work. But then I was thinking, about some of the fliers that we send out with our clients' meal packages.
So those were, there were few things,when the pandemic first started we sent out one that was detailing like our social distancing procedures, like the clients should have a chair that they place at the door. Then they step back, we place the meals on the chair, we step back then the client grabs them, so even just that little like sheet that we sent out. And then, we, we're also sending out sort of like, encouraging letters to our clients.
So like children and the community would like do little, you know drawings and write little messages like, "Oh, like, I'm thinking of you guys," like "Stay strong" and we would, you know, print those out and put them in the meal packages for our clients. So I think those are, you know, would be good things."
Matt
Transcript
"I mean probably lots of people say PPE right, ‘cause that’s like the most common, the different masks. Honestly for, for me, what I came up with to add to that question is, myself and pretty much every officer, we have these little like calendars we carry around in our pocket, and that’s where we like, we highlight our days off, when we’ve worked over-time, all this stuff.
And I think to me that would be it, right, to see, ‘cause that’s the big effect that people are up to working 400 hours of over-time since this started. You know, I’ve worked almost 200 hours of over-time since this started. Like, the thousands and thousands of hours that are being worked in over-time, to keep shifts filled, people being ordered to stay at work.
You know, not knowing if, you know, when you go in on a shift basically, you know, the feeling is if I go on an evening shift, which is from basically 1:30 in the afternoon to 10:30 at night, chances are they’re going to tell me I have to stay overnight.
So that I think, where people have that little book where they track everything and they highlight or whatever their system is for marking down what shifts they worked, the over-time they’ve worked, you know what days they’ve taken off…that’s kind of a reflection in a shift-working environment…"
Ken
Transcript
"I couldn’t think, I couldn’t think of any one thing that would be unique to me, like, you know, having a laptop set up at my dining room table is something that is, is different in our household because it was, like, the dining room was for show only and used 2 or 3 times a year.
Now it’s like a clutter of mess and papers and equipment and different things. Um, you know, my, my ridiculous Amazon bills that I get, that’s uh, (laughs).
That’s another thing but I’m sure that’s not unique to me. Um, you know, I don’t know, um, maybe, maybe something like a photograph of, of a transit station like a Tunney’s Pasture or Blair’s Station sort of pre- and post-Covid.
And, I remember looking at photos of, and I was looking at them this morning of, of a Tunney’s rush-hour or when there’s a minor hiccup on the train, and the platforms are so full that it looks like people are going to spill out onto the roadway because, like, it’s, it’s just so full.
And then a whole bunch of buses would come in and fill up and it would sort of clear people out, but then a train would come in and back them full again. Now, like, you know, immediately post-Covid you’d be lucky to find 2 or 3 people on the platform.
So, you know, you went from hundreds or thousands of people on a platform and then 24 hours later there was three.
So, to me, that, that was, you know, a huge, like, a huge eye-opener that, that things were gonna change for us and that it would be like this for a while.
Um, you know I’d like to share something on the Para side, but not a whole lot, like, other than the PPE that they’re wearing and the reduction in the rider-ship it’s business as usual in the Para
."
John
Transcript
"...you know, really like an iPad is an example, is one that I thought it's been very important. And, you know, for a couple of reasons. One, I mean, technology has changed, you know, in the way that we work. But this was also an absolutely essential tool for us to keep families connected during this time as well.
And when we shut down visitation where family members can go and visit mom and dad, that was tough on everyone. I mean, it was tough on, you know, the the kids. It was tough on, you know, the parents. And we're dealing with issues around social isolation and depression, you know, among seniors, too, because, you know, they're in these facilities alone.
And, you know, so we actually beefed up not only our staffing, but we did invest more in that because it was really the only opportunity that we had to keep people connected in some way. Was it ideal? No. But it did actually make a huge, huge difference, and I think it will continue, you know, in the future. And, you know, hopefully not to the same degree.
I mean, actually, in some respects, some families were connected more, you know, during COVID than they were before because some families just don't have time to visit. So we were actually able to control more visits for them, right? And and stuff, too. So it was a, you know, I think technology is a big, big part of this for me."
Chantale
Transcript
"...what I do think is since, you know, the friends, they don't, they don't see each other as they used to do. Usually, you know, we, we would maybe invite people or would, would visit some friends and but we since we don't do that, I think, you know, the people are maybe suffering about the isolation.
The, this is quite general I would say, some there's, like there's lots of people that are really, really social are into that. Like, I'm thinking about my father-in-law, he's, he's so social, he likes to go out, he likes to, to see, to have visitors and to visit his, his kids. But now, you know, he's not doing anything about that. And he's quite, he's a bit depressing.
You know, so. So this is why I'm thinking that in the long term, you know, we will, we will have some problems, some mental, mental problem with, with regarding the COVID, maybe. So this is, one impact, and also with the environment. This isn't, this is, there is another in because there's lots of consumption of, of you know, with the, with the mask and everything that we need to, to do like, because now the rules is being changed, we can't use the material masks.
We have to use, when we work, we have to use the blue ones...
..The medical one, and this is the only one that we have to use and we have, we have to change it every four hours...
... That's a lot of waste. This is the same rule at the school. My son is going to the high school and this is what they do, so the high school has to pay that. This is, this is a lot of, there's lots of waste regarding that. And the other impact, that would be...they did, yeah, regarding health.
Of course, because I do think that people, they are doing less exercise. So I I think, you know, this isn't another impact on the health because, you know, some, some, some people, you know, they keep, they keep doing exercise, they keep doing things on their own. But you know, some people they are, they are, they don't like to do that.
They don't like to walk, they don't like to ski. They don't like to, to, to bike. So, so then they, they, they don't, they don't do lots of activities because they're used to, to go to the gym or to, to go to the other type of activities for them. So I, I do think...this is another, another impact the, the health.
"
Denise
Transcript
"...I don't know. I'm trying to think, I'm making a lot of masks recently, that's something...I'm hoping, yes I've been trying out a lot of different designs, and I'm hoping that that's something that, you know, I'm making more of them now because it's something that I think realistically, we're going to have to wear for several months to come.
But I'm hoping that at some point, you know, in 20 years from now, we'll take out like, "Look, we had to wear these all the time anytime you went outside of your house, you know, you had to put one of these on your face." And yeah, that's what I'm hoping that we never, you know, in like two years from now that we never have to wear them again."
Pamela
Transcript
"Covid affected how I live in many ways. My daughters moved back home, and my husband was working from home. I had to care more for parents such as buying all their groceries and doing their errands.
If a museum asked me what one object they should collect and display to tell future generations about my experience of living and working with Covid I would suggest N95 mask. They should talk about the difficulties in purchasing them, fitting them properly and wearing them in the workplace all day - they are so hot and uncomfortable!
."