This pandemic made me fall in love with Vancouver

This column is an opinion by Spandan Chowdhury, who immigrated from India to Vancouver in 2018.  For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

I came to Vancouver two years ago for work. The city attracted me because of its mesmerizing landscape, but I was not sure how friendly the people were going to be. 

I felt that meeting new people here was difficult. Usually, the ones who were looking for friends were immigrants, just like me. They were exactly the kind of people I became friends with when I arrived in Vancouver.

After a while, the walks on the seawall felt incomplete without someone sharing their stories with me of how many times they tried to take that perfect picture of the setting sun lighting up the Lions Gate Bridge, or how the geese chased them along English Bay.

It was difficult to get to know those who are from the city, or rather who have been here for a long time, as they have their own social circles. You could meet them for a pint at the 33 Acres Brewery, but it would still be a one-off meeting. It made me feel disconnected from the city.

Fast forward to April 2020 and I am stuck in my room, alone, thousands of kilometres away from family trying to survive the pandemic that has befallen us.

This pandemic has made me realize that this city has a heart that beats in unison with all of its people, and I feel like I am a part of that, too. Even though I'm physically alone for most of the day, I've never felt closer to my fellow Vancouverites.

While going out for groceries once a week, I have noticed how the city has united against COVID-19. In the beginning of March, I saw people wandering the streets without a care in the world. Now when I look down from my high-rise windows, it doesn't seem to be happening anymore.

I have seen people following physical distancing, I have seen workers in supermarkets working tirelessly to serve their customers and to keep the stores clean for our safety.  I know there are numerous others working in the background to make sure we can stay at home without difficulty.

Last weekend I was at a local Save-On-Foods getting my groceries, and I had a problem with one of the self-checkout machines. I noticed the store clerk standing at his terminal with a bottle of sanitizer and a handful of tissues hanging from his trousers.

He came up to me and wiped the touchscreen and the scanner with the sanitizer. I could understand why he did that—  for his own safety. He fixed the issue that I was having, and then wiped the machine with the sanitizer again. This is what I found interesting. He did not need to wipe it the second time. Obviously he didn't have to use the machine again, but he still wiped it down because he was concerned about my safety, too.

Not only that, he kept asking me if I was having more trouble while he helped other customers. I saw someone who cared for his people, for the people of the city.

This Wednesday when I received a delivery for an order, I thanked the delivery guy for doing his job during this time of crisis. Surprisingly, the gift that I got from him in return was far more valuable than the parcel he delivered. It was just a small gesture from me, but I could see how happy he felt to be appreciated for the work he is doing. The smile on his face was worth more than a thousand words, and it was enough to get me through another day of grim news pouring in from around the world.

This pandemic has united us for a cause and made us appreciate the work of those people who go unnoticed in regular times, and I am writing this to thank all of you for coming together. More importantly, I thank all our health-care workers for being at the front line and making sure others recover from their illnesses while putting your own lives at risk, especially those in the busy hospitals of our largest cities.

I thank all essential workers including policemen, truck drivers, transportation and sanitation workers for making life flow through our city. If you read this, give yourself a pat on your back because you are important to us.

You are the reason why we have fewer infected people in our city, why our health-care system is not overwhelmed, and why our city has not driven itself into madness.

We might be separated by distance, but we are all connected by the fabric of solicitude which is the soul of our city. We are in this together, and we will win it together.

Now go wash your hands.

Author bio: Spandan Chowdhury was born and raised in India. He moved to Vancouver in 2018 for an internship and now works as a software engineer.