OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
September 7, 2020
Volume 30 Number 10
September 7, 2020
ISSN: 1094-9453
The Asian Reporter is published
on the first Monday each month.
Please send all correspondence to: The Asian Reporter
922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217
Phone: (503) 283-4440, Fax: (503) 283-4445
News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com
Advertising Department e-mail: ads@asianreporter.com
Website: www.asianreporter.com
Please send reader feedback, Asian-related press releases, and
community interest ideas/stories to the addresses listed above.
Please include a contact phone number.
Advertising information available upon request.
Publisher Jaime Lim
Contributing Editors
Ronault L.S. Catalani (Polo), Jeff Wenger
Correspondents
Ian Blazina, Josephine Bridges, Pamela Ellgen,
Maileen Hamto, Edward J. Han, A.P. Kryza,
Marie Lo, Simeon Mamaril, Julie Stegeman,
Toni Tabora-Roberts, Allison Voigts
Illustrator Jonathan Hill
News Service Associated Press/Newsfinder
Copyright 2020. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are
those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.
Member
Associated Press/Newsfinder
Asian American Journalists Association
Better Business Bureau
Pacific Northwest Minority Publishers (PNMP)
Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon
MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
In the time of Zoom
Correspondence:
The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation.
Please send all correspondence to:
Mail: 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D
Portland, OR 97217-2220
Phone: (503) 283-4440 ** Fax: (503) 283-4445
News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES (U.S. rates only)
Individual subscription (sent bulk rate):
q One year: $16
q Two years: $26
Individual subscription (sent first class mail):
q One year: $24
q Two years: $44
Office subscription (5 copies to one address):
q One year: $65
q Two years: $110
Institutional subscription (25 copies to one address):
q One year: $125 q Two years: $225
NEW SUBSCRIBER / ADDRESS CORRECTION
INFORMATION FORM:
Subscriber’s name:
Company name:
Address:
City, State, ZIP:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Mail with payment or Fax with credit card information to:
The Asian Reporter, Attn: Subscription Dept.,
922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217-2220
Phone: (503) 283-4440 * Fax: (503) 283-4445
q q q
For VISA, Mastercard, or American Express payment only:
Name (as it appears on the card):
Type of card (circle):
VISA
Mastercard
Card number:
Security code:
Expiration date:
Address of card:
The last four issues of The Asian Reporter are available
for pick up free at our office 24 hours a day at
922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, Oregon.
Back issues of The Asian Reporter
may be ordered by mail at the following rates: First copy: $1.50
Additional copies ordered at the same time: $1.00 each
Send orders to: Asian Reporter Back Issues,
922 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR 97217-2220
The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and
participation. If you have a comment on a story
we have printed, or have an Asian-related personal
or community focus idea, please contact us.
Please include a contact name, address, and
phone number on all correspondence. Thank you.
efore the pandemic caused shutdowns,
sheltering in place, and social distancing, I
had never heard of Zoom, a video-
conferencing application that apparently many
professionals in the world were already using.
Now I spend several hours a week and sometimes
meet daily with people on Zoom. At first, it was
novel and fun as I learned how it differed from
Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts. Events I
once attended or produced in person, such as
moderating panels for organizations or theater
shows, suddenly were possible to conduct with
between 10 and 100 people virtually.
It’s different talking to people primarily through
my computer screen. I prepare for these meetings
and events in my home office by putting on makeup,
making sure there’s decent lighting, and wearing a
top I hadn’t previously worn on a chat. Then I hit
“start” much like one would for a live television
show. It took some time to stop looking at myself to
check my posture or framing on-screen. After a
while, I couldn’t stand looking at the boxes in the
groupings that feel much like “The Brady Bunch” or
“Hollywood Squares” — now I simply ignore it.
The first Zoom event I moderated was held in
May. It was an affinity group conversation with
about 25 Asian American and Pacific Islanders
(AAPI). It was for Oregon Humanities and the topic
was anti-AAPI COVID-19 racism. We commented
about how emotional it was for us to be able to
gather this way to talk. I still have similar feelings
when I meet with friends and colleagues whom I
haven’t seen in person for a long time. I learned to
interview guests on my radio program via Skype or
FaceTime long ago. It’s not the same as meeting in
person. It never can be. But it is possible to connect
meaningfully when I meet with people using Zoom.
Occasionally when I’m “Zoomed out,” I ask if a
good old-fashioned phone call is possible, which is
sometimes more intimate and personal to me than
Zoom. This type of communication allows me to
walk around without being stuck in front of a
monitor with people watching. It also allows me to
fiddle around with un-done busywork around the
house.
Since having to stay at home, I realized my
anxiety and work stress were reduced. For 30 years,
B
I’ve performed most of my work within my home
office, but I have also done a lot of public speaking
and recorded field interviews in public for radio
documentaries and my local arts show, Stage &
Studio, on KBOO. I used to look forward to a lunch
meeting — or a theatre rehearsal or stage play —
that would get me out of the house. But until life
changed so dramatically for all of us, I didn’t grasp
how much time and energy it took to be able to
participate in these public engagements.
I’ve learned through the years that I’m both an
introvert and an extrovert — an omnivert, if you
will. Yes, I attend parties or get on a stage to
perform, but it’s not natural for me. I have to gear up
for public events. And at times I experience mild
panic attacks and anxiety about putting myself in
the spotlight. “Busy weeks” used to be typical for
me. Looking back, I think I got used to feeling tired.
I wonder now if I can ever go back to that old
schedule of constant multi-tasking and travel from
place to place for my multiple jobs.
Nowadays, on the infrequent occasion when I
actually go to a store or accompany my husband on
an errand, I look at everyone as a potential virus
carrier. It saddens me to not be able to chit-chat
with people, but at the same time, I’m relieved I
don’t have to expend energy gearing up for
in-person interactions or battling my unease with
public speaking.
I’ve always been an anxious person and prone to
worry. I think it’s something I inherited from my
mother and from an insecure childhood. Not having
to deal with anxiety on a near-daily basis has been
better for my health. I sleep better, have time to
exercise every day, and my life is more simple. This
is a profound realization for me — and an indicator
that I may not return fully to what I’d been doing.
Maybe this is the way I should have always lived.
When a vaccine is finally tested, approved, and
distributed to the public, and we one day receive the
“all clear” (that is the hope), we’ll emerge profoundly
changed. I cannot go back to the way I worked or the
feelings of angst and exhaustion I used to tolerate. I
suspect this may be true for others.
But for now, virtual conferencing and staying
mostly at home seem to be the way things are in this
time of Zoom.
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.
Go paperless!
Read The Asian Reporter – exactly as it’s printed here – online!
Visit <www.asianreporter.com> and click the
“Online Paper (PDF)” link to view our last two issues.