July 23, 2020

Jason Githens has seen a lot of things since moving to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1990s — and the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping the world ranks among the worst of times for the former Poplar Bluff resident and 1991 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School...

Mike Buhler Contributing Writer

Jason Githens has seen a lot of things since moving to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1990s — and the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping the world ranks among the worst of times for the former Poplar Bluff resident and 1991 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School.

“I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for 22 years, endured 9/11, and the housing market collapse of 2008,” Githens said from Seattle. “For the most part, I’ve been incredibly lucky — I have a great job and employer in Microsoft, I live in a beautiful part of the country.”

But the past few months have been an adjustment, “exacerbated by righteous protests on police violence.”

While Githens has felt his situation was better than many of those in the Seattle area, his concern, especially in the early days of the pandemic, for his friends weighed heavily on him.

He considered himself lucky to have the option of working from home, but also was concerned, “So many friends in health care, city government, education and so on don’t have that option, and my heart hurts for them.”

His children now have limited schooling, take dance classes via Zoom, and have adapted, as he has to working remotely.

“Work is going well for Microsoft people, though the innovation muscle is somewhat constrained by remote work and lack of customer engagements,” he said.

Githens was troubled early on by the lack of understanding that some had of the situation in Seattle, one of the hottest of the hot zones early in the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. It was among the first cities to see high numbers of cases. As of this week, Washington state has seen nearly 50,000 COVID-19 cases, compared to 37,700 in Missouri. Washington state has also seen 1,468 deaths, while Missouri has seen 1,169. More than 600 of the Washington state deaths occurred in the county that includes Seattle.

“I live in a state deeply politically divided from where I grew up, highlighted by the Facebook contempt in Southeast Missouri for the predicament I live in hourly,” Githens said. “The aloneness is absolute, the concern for my friends and kids and under-privileged people is paramount.”

Last but far from least, Githens wants those in his former hometown to realize what is going on in Seattle.

“I love where I’m from — I just want everyone there to understand that this is real, and that it weighs heavy on the soul when normal seems so fleeting and normalcy unattainable,” Githens said. “This isn’t political, it’s not a hoax, it’s not red or blue. It’s life-changing in unimaginable ways.”

Normalcy is far from certain in the future.

“I don’t anticipate returning to normalcy, including back in the office and classroom until end of October at the earliest,” said Githens.

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