Mike. The microbiology laboratory technician.

Work might be the safest place for Mike right now. He is a microbiology laboratory technician who tests the sterility of medical devices, and thus, his lab must be a completely clean environment. Mike spends some of his days in a full head-to-toe protective suit in a “clean room” that is completely free of any and all germs. 

“If we are doing our job right, there should be zero bacteria in that room,” he said. 

Mike tests both new and used equipment, such as surgical tools, syringes and catheters to ensure they are sterile and safe to use on patients. He has tested keyboards and computers that are used in operating rooms, even surgical gowns and gloves. 

Lately, though, his company has seen an increase in nose swabs and masks that need to be tested. He says they were even consulted to determine if protective masks worn by medical professionals could safely be cleaned, resterilized and reused. It is a new and unusual request, and Mike’s immediate normal human and non-scientific reaction was, “Ew.” But he also recognizes that this is a new world we are living in — one where manufacturers are struggling to meet the rapidly rising need for supplies used by medical workers treating Coronavirus patients. 

THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD 
Medical device manufacturers are mandated by the federal government to ensure sterility of their products. A global pandemic certainly puts Mike’s job in high demand, and he knows his work is important. People in his field saw just how important their work was in 2014 with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and it’s proven true again as Coronavirus has spread around the globe. 

“Thankfully, it is kind of a business that needs to be around for something like this more than any other time I feel,” he said. 

Mike’s fascinated by the work and the science behind it. He studied microbiology and immunology in college and has been working as a microbiology laboratory technician for four-and-a-half years. There are so many microscopic “little alien invaders” all around us, he said. Yet despite how small these pathogens may be, such as bacteria and viruses, they still have the power to completely change the world as we are seeing today.

“There's these billions of little tiny things we can’t see, and our bodies have so many defenses against them,” he said. “But they replicate so fast and change so quickly, that we always have to stay on top of it.” 

WORKING THE EVENING SHIFT 
A major change the Coronavirus has caused in Mike’s life isn’t the work he is doing, it is when he does it. To adhere to social distancing guidelines, Mike’s workplace has limited the number of employees in the lab at one time. Mike and his fellow microbiology laboratory technicians used to all work on the same day shift. Now, they are split into day and night shifts, and Mike is on the latter. Mike starts his workday at 3 p.m. and ends at 11:30 p.m. By the time he gets home, it is after midnight. He was previously used to going to bed at 9:30 at night at the latest. Now, after he comes home and unwinds from work, he isn’t hitting the pillow until 2 a.m. It’s been a difficult adjustment. 

“I got to the point I was drinking a liter of coffee after 7 p.m.,” he said. 

His company made the shift changes even before Illinois instituted its shelter-in-place orders. And while it may be inconvenient for the time being, Mike understands why they did it. Instead of being around about 30 people in the lab each day, he is now around about six.

“The idea is you are only seeing the same people everyday, and it is a small amount of people, so you are lowering your risk of spreading or contracting this virus,” he said. 

SERIOUS FOMO
The new work schedule has been hard for Mike, too, because he is not able to spend as much time with his wife, who is a teacher and therefore works during the day. She is well into leading her e-learning classes by the time Mike wakes up in the later morning hours. She is still teaching when he leaves for work and she is asleep by the time he comes home. 

Specifically, he is sad he cannot join his wife and their dog on their daily long walks that have become routine during quarantine. They explore forests preserves and nature trails in their beloved Chicago suburban city in the late afternoon when Mike is at work. 

“I get serious FOMO in life in general,” Mike said. “So I am so very jealous about that.” 

He looks forward to the weekends when he can spend time with his wife and dog. And despite how out of the ordinary and inconvenient life may seem at the moment, he is grateful he has a job that is deemed important. Not only does it mean a steady paycheck, but it breaks up the monotony of the new normal we are all living in. 

“Yeah there is the added stress of the extra shift,” Mike said, “But I also at least get to leave the house every day and see the world.” 

LEARN MORE ABOUT MIKE…

What is your inspiration to keep going?
“To get back to normal. I live somewhere where we have a lot of opportunities to see a lot of cool stuff and go to a lot of cool places. It sucks we can't do it right now. I have concert tickets, I have games I want to go see. I know it is going to be a while — 2020 is probably a wash. But you want it to get better.”  

What are you grateful for at this moment?
“One that I have a job that I can go to and am lucky enough to still be getting paid and get out of the house. Two, that I have someone I enjoy spending time with and like to play games with and watch ‘Tiger King’ with.” 

What are you most looking forward to when things “get back to normal?”
“It’s selfish, but it’s going back to my climbing gym. Also travel. My wife and I also want to see as many national parks as we can, and we are not able to go on a trip this summer to knock two or three off our list.”