MIT blogger Sabrina M. '21

Signs of Life by Sabrina M. '21

communication in a covid world

In the past few months, communication with each other has been sparse and limited to being mostly textual: an email to an advisor, letting them know how we’re doing now that the semester is over, a text message sent to a relative wishing them a happy birthday! or a congrats on graduating!, a funny tweet sent to a friend, or a tag on MIT Confessions. On occasion, I’ve used Zoom or FaceTime to get a sense of realness in my interactions, but those are exhausting and more rare now that classes are over. Here in Cambridge, where masks are now required outside, casual interactions with strangers are at an all time low of impersonal. Gone are the days of awkward small talk over the counter at Target, or small smiles given to the stranger who brushes by you on the sidewalk. 

In these times, the residents and business owners of Camberville⁠01 a colloquial name for the Cambridge-Somerville area have taken to signage, posting on their windows and doors to let the outside world know that hey, we’re still here, even if we’re trapped inside. This ranges from things like thank you messages:

a sign thanking essential workers
a sign that says thank you with a rainbow
a sign thanking delivery workers, and a sign that says joy is coming
a sign thanking essential workers
a printed sign thanking essential workers
a sign that reads thank you helpers
a sign thanking essential workers
a sign thanking essential workers
a sign saying thank you, and a rainbow
a sign thanking essential workers
a sign thanking essential workers
a sign thanking front-line workers
a sign thanking hospital workers
a sign thanking teachers
a sign that says thank you

Little friends greeting pedestrians:

two dolls posed to look like they are mid fight in a window
a stuffed animal hanging in a window
two dolls that are posed to be sitting at a table together in a window
a single stuffed animal in a second story window
a teddy bear by a black lives matter sign in a window
a teddy bear hanging out in a window
stuffed animals and a rainbow in a bay window
a few stuffed animals hanging in a bay window

Messages of hope: 

painted signs that say
a painted rainbow that says
two painted hearts on a door
a sign that says
a sign that says
a sign that says
a sign that says
a sign that says
some hopeful messages on a window
a hopeful church sign

Announcements for the world to see:

a sign from a restaurant that says
coming from my favorite restaurant basically ever, this one hurts me deeply
a photo of baristas saying
a note in a window that says
a drawing of a cat telling people to wash their hands
a sticker that reads
a drawing of a person, with the words
a whiteboard with
a rainbow, and a picture of hands that says
a handwritten note in a window that says
a red sign that says

And people exercising their right to be creative and silly:

a fake alpaca wearing a mask
a mario sprite made from post-its
a statue of two children sitting on a bench reading a book, with masks placed on them
a little norwegian flag in a doorway
a lawn ostrich with a small mask on
some painted cacti in a window

I’m in the middle of packing my life up, ready to ship myself back to New York, but I still feel pretty connected to Cambridge. This has been my home for the past five years now, and it’s finally settling in that I don’t even know when I’ll come back. It all feels so up in the air. I’ll miss the broken, uneven sidewalks that switch from brick to concrete in one block and the plethora of joggers at 5:30 PM. I’ll miss my porch even though it’s falling apart. I’ll miss these little signs I see on my walks or runs, knowing that someone’s out there, trying to give us all a little bit of joy or laughter. I don’t know if I’ll find the same thing in my old neighborhood, but I hope I do.

  1. a colloquial name for the Cambridge-Somerville area⁠ ↑