Ritual
Disinfecting After Work

Ross Johnson
Chicago, Illinois
2020

Informant Data:
Ross Johnson is a Caucasian, middle-aged father of one who lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of a meat packing plant where he works Monday through Friday every week. Even when many businesses closed, his meat packing plant stayed open with social distancing measures in place. Having to go out five out of seven days a week, even in lieu of stay-at-home orders, there were concerns that he could become infected, or have the virus on his clothes and bring it home to his family. To prevent this to the best of his ability, he did his best to make sure that he was disinfected when he got home, before ever actually stepping foot into his house.

Contextual Data:
The global pandemic that has been plaguing our world since the beginning of the year has led to stay-at-home orders in almost every state, and social distancing restrictions across the globe. Many businesses were forced to close their doors for the time being, unless they were deemed essential. Ross Johnson’s meat packing plant was allowed to stay open as long as they took the appropriate measures such as wearing masks the entirety of the time and staying socially distanced.

Item:
Being able to continue working through the pandemic has been a real blessing, but also means that I have an increased risk of exposure to coronavirus. The last thing I want to do is accidentally bring it home with me and infect my wife or daughter, so whenever I get home I follow the same routine to make sure I’m completely clean and disinfected before going into my house. As soon as I get home from work, I stand in the garage while my wife sprays me down with industrial strength disinfectant. Then I leave my work clothes in the garage and go hop in the shower. After all of that I feel much more comfortable being around my family so I make sure that I follow this routine every single time I come home from work.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020

Ritual
Disinfecting Products from Stores

Jenni Jones
Kansas City, Missouri
2020

Informant Data:
Jenni Jones is a Caucasian mother of two. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri and does a significant amount of the grocery shopping for her family. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, she has become increasingly worried about inadvertently bringing the virus into her house via the items from the grocery store. She has concerns that the items could have been infected when shipped to the store, or by an infected person in the store coming into contact with the product. As a result, she has taken increased measures to ensure that the products she buys and brings into her house are clean.

Contextual Data:
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many restrictions have been placed upon the general public, such as social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders. However, people still need food and as a result, still must go grocery shopping. Concerns of infected products being brought into one’s home is quite high, so many people have begun making sure that they clean the products before bringing them into their homes with their families.

Item:
The coronavirus pandemic has been really scary. It’s really worrisome to realistically have no idea whether or not someone or something that you have come into contact with was infected with the virus. In an attempt to have peace of mind, and to help protect my family, we’ve started wiping down all of the things we buy at the store with disinfecting wipes in the garage before we bring them into the house. We also make sure to thoroughly wash any and all produce in the sink before putting it into the refrigerator. While it’s impossible to tell whether or not something is actually fully clean, it’s much more comforting knowing that we wiped everything down before it even got through the door.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020

Ritual
Disinfecting Routine

Moe and Gene Austin
Cockeysville, Maryland
2020

Informant Data:
Moe and Gene Austin are an older, Native American couple who live in Cockeysville, Maryland with their two dogs. As a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, concerns of infection are high, and the worry that one of them might bring the infection into the house without knowing it is one of their greatest concerns. Moe is a nurse at the local hospital and Gene is a retired electrical engineer who still works on houses. Both of these jobs require that they leave the house almost every day which further increases their concerns.

Contextual Data:
Despite the stay-at-home orders in their state and social distancing requirements, the Austins must still leave the house and be in contact with many different people as a result of their professions. Especially with their contact with others, there is a great concern about bringing home the virus. Both Moe and Gene are in the age group that is most susceptible to the virus, so they are making sure they are fully disinfected while at home.

Item:
For people of our age group, the COVID-19 pandemic is not something that we can afford to take lightly. We worry a lot about bringing the virus home and infecting each other or the dogs now that dogs have tested positive for coronavirus. Whenever we go out, whether it’s for work or just something like shopping, we make sure that we, and all of our belongings, are disinfected to the best of our ability before interacting with each other or the dogs. Each time we get home, we go straight to the basement and expose our clothes and all of our other stuff like purses or groceries to UV light to thoroughly disinfect them and to put our minds at ease about bringing the virus into our home.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020

Ritual
Coronavirus Cleansing
Shawn Jiang
San Ramon, California
2020

Informant Data:
Shawn is an Asian-American male born in San Ramon, CA on October 15, 2000. He’s currently a sophomore at the University of Chicago and considers himself well-read on coronavirus and the safety precautions he can take to mitigate risk.

Contextual Data:
As coronavirus has spread to the United States, families are taking a variety of precautions to mitigate the risk of spread. One point of access is through groceries, which pass through any number of potentially contaminated places or people. Some have adopted extra measures to clean groceries or to ensure a greater chance of elimination of the virus on their groceries.

Item: Shawn’s family leaves groceries in the garage for a couple of days after purchase. He hopes that this process kills any remnants of the virus on his groceries. This ritual therefore serves a practical purpose of safety.

Kevin Xiao, 19
5517 London Way
San Ramon, CA 94582
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020

Ritual
Coronavirus Cleansing
Maggie Johnston
St. Paul, Minnesota
2020

Informant Data:
Maggie Johnston is a white American female born on October 22, 1999 in Toronto, Canada. She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Maggie says that although she adheres to all government guidelines, she considers the threat of coronavirus to her or her family relatively minor; nevertheless, she adheres to a common ritual for packages ordered online to mitigate the risk of coronavirus. Maggie is a sophomore studying at Dartmouth College.

Contextual Data:
Partly because Minnesota has been more isolated from coronavirus than many other areas in the country and partly because Maggie’s father works as an eye surgeon who is already in contact with tens of patients a day, the risk of coronavirus is both reduced in the state—creating a culture of more lax protocols—and harder to mitigate in Maggie’s household.

Item: Maggie’s family leaves packages in a designated spot for a few days after receiving them to ensure they are cleansed of coronavirus. Like other variants, including leaving groceries in one’s garage for a period of time after purchase, this ritual serves the practical purpose of ensuring safety and cleanliness.

Kevin Xiao, 19
5517 London Way
San Ramon, CA 94582
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020