The pandemic has sparked a barrage of thoughts and opinions from our parents. Whether you live with them or not, you’re bound to hear some sort of outlandish take on how to cure the virus through natural methods or even some deeply insightful advice that will make us think twice about how to handle the current situation. So, we asked around our office (most of us are millennials) for some of the best and worst advice we got from the elders around us during quarantine. We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether they’re helpful or just worthy of a laugh.
On maintaining stress levels
“I was told over the phone to follow four steps to fight anxiety: maintain a sense of humor (not that I have one), watch “mindless” entertainment (“have you heard of ‘Crash Landing on You?’”), call someone in the morning and at night, and make sure to reply to messages (“you HAVE to reply”). I don’t want to be a defeatist and dismiss them as futile advice that I’ve heard so many times before so I’m trying to figure out which parts of it I can use and which ones I can simply forget about. So far all I’ve settled on is that advice like this is less about the specifics and more about the very fact of their existence which insists that something can almost always be done—even if that something is nothing, like staring at a screen for hours.” – Catherine Orda, copy editor
On the origin of millennial knowledge
“One time, I was at the dining table with my family. The topic was about mass testing and how the scientists and students from University of the Philippines developed new systems and equipment for the pandemic. I proudly looked at my parents and said ‘See! We millennials are actually smart and we’re contributing something.’ To that, my dad replied ‘I wonder who taught you that?’” – Nicole Ganglani, junior content creator
On the blessings of COVID-19
“My parents and their siblings would always talk about and share posts on social media about how the pandemic is a ‘blessing in disguise. It is cleansing the world of its sins.’ They also can’t help but show their privilege sometimes. They’d say ‘Your grandparents went through World War II. All we’re asking you is to sit and stay at home!’ As if this was all a war, and not a health crisis.” – Ton Samaniego, digital analyst
On the daily dose of vitamins
“My parents would always talk about taking Vitamin C every day to stay healthy. My mom would go out and buy Royal for the family, then proceed to tell us we need it for Vitamin C.” – Tricia Guevara, junior designer
On family quality time
“My parents would always tell us to wash our hands [and] exercise at least twice a week. They also always wear masks when going out on errands and make sure we have fruits and veggies during meals. They even planned a daily schedule for our family (Monday–watch a film, Tuesday–play a board game, etc.). It may come off as a little privileged, but it’s a great way to set an example.” – Levenspeil Sangalang, junior designer
On being anti-city
“I live in an apartment with five of my titos and titas who all come from Bacolod, and the complaints I hear about being stuck in the city has become entertainment. ‘The city is made for people who don’t know how to grow malunggay for themselves. That’s why they all eat fast food instead.’ The pandemic has really led them to just blame it all on Manila, and it’s hilarious.” – Thea Torres, junior content creator
On the accuracy of chain messages
“You know how they would be so eager to send chain messages? Meanwhile, I’m a writer who was trained to fact check [so] I just get so frustrated about how they just share those random messages that [could] cause panic. Some of them are so obviously fake, it’s funny. But it’s frustrating how they would get so offended when we’d correct them.” – Lia de los Reyes, junior content creator
On household systems
“Ever since quarantine, we have had a weekly Lysol wipedown of every switch, knob and handle in the house. There’s a shoe rack outdoors so that we don’t bring shoes inside the house. Mom also increased all the greens in our diet, and suddenly there’s chia seeds in every damn dish (even if there’s no taste). We even have a system for groceries: the grocer will drop them off at the kitchen counter and George (my sister) will wipe down all the items and take a bath right away. Talk about systems.” – Giselle Barrientos, brand strategy lead
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