Santa Clarita residents enjoying their time at Old Orchard Park

Before the pandemic, businesses were able to sustain themselves with dine-in meals. In Santa Clarita, residents rely on restaurant outings to celebrate their events with family and loved ones.  Without dine-in accommodations available, residents have found a new way to celebrate, relax, and share a moment with others. 

These events and celebrations are put on hold as Los Angeles County continues to monitor the increasing coronavirus cases. Although there is some leeway for outdoor dining, several residents prefer a moment with friends and family together in a quiet and relaxed park enjoying the moment together.

“With most restaurants providing take out services, it is easy to grab a bite and head to the parking lot or a park with friends,” said SCV resident Juan Sosa. “It takes time away from our personal activities and dedicates time with friends outside it also gives a break from talking from our phones and PC screens.” 

With everything going digitally on Zoom, society has entered a new stage of socializing. Socializing today consists of taking safety precautions to enforce social distancing. Precautions such as wearing a mask when going out, maintaining 6 feet apart, and being sanitary.

Constantly hearing and taking precautions about the pandemic-related news gets discouraging and makes others feel as if they are alone and stressed about worrying too much. There is an ongoing phenomenon known as “COVID fatigue,” where people are tired of constantly worrying about their health and hearing about COVID-19 related news. COVID fatigue is not identified as a medical term by the CDC, but it originated from the internet and is used in several university health sites such as the UC Davis health newsroom.  This fatigue can be irritating for some and a great way to help cope with it can be spending some time outside with friends and family.

“Food makes everyone happy! Good food with friends calls for a good time and reminds us of a time before the pandemic but of course, we have to still take safety precautions to slow the spread of the virus,” Sosa said. 

Of course, we cannot make the whole pandemic disappear, but we can cope with other strategies such as having a picnic at the park to alleviate a tendency to go out. The next time you need a break from the screen try an outing with friends in the park. It is a great way to have that pre-COVID-19 feeling and helps set a reminder that we are all in this together and can enjoy a moment with others safely. 

From Canyons News: Roberto Marcial, Teresa Mendez, Anthony Nubile, Daniela Perez

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