Wanna know what the 19 stands for???
It’s the number of pounds I’ve gained since starting my voluntary, but strongly suggested quarantine, 14 days ago today. And President Trump is now saying we must extend exercise in isolation to April 30th, just to be safe. I don’t know if my scale can take another month of this.
Prior to the president’s extension, I would have been officially off the incubatory hook at 11:50 tonight, but even so, let’s not kid ourselves. The world is far from ready to return to normal. And what will be considered “normal” after this? No more handshakes, hugs, crowding into the subway, armpits to asses, at 7:00 am and smelling a sickening masala/stew/una mixta of BO, bad breath and peoples’ dietary choices that seep through pores???
Wear a mask but make sure one of these hangs from it.
It won’t kill germs, but it might keep you from throwing up and these days, doing that might be considered attempted murder.
So, no vomiting.
Not without a lawyer,
This two week quarantine hasn’t been a big deal for me. I’m very happy with my own company. I lived alone most of my life and these days, I rarely go out. And in the past two weeks, I’ve only ventured outside Casa Kendrick to get the mail and deal with garbage and recycling bins. I isolate as a rule. I might be considered a misanthrope by some, but I don’t got no virus!!!!!!! Nor do I intend to get it. Even if it means enduring four more weeks of this. Piece of cake considering the alternative.
My groceries (and by the way, at least here in Central Texas, that situation is finally rectifying itself, supply-wise) are delivered and dropped off at my front door. The doorbell is rung, I wait a few minutes, then bring in the bags. After everything is put away, I wash my hands. I wash my hands after washing my hands. I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to wash your hands the length of a favorite tune. I tried that one morning last week humming In-A-Gaddis-Da-Vida. By the time I finished the song it was dark. I flipped on the light and my bones WERE CLEAN, Daddyo.
I can only handle minimal doses of news, such as it is these days. The constant real time tally of certified cases and the body count is morbid and not only that, it keeps un in fear. We’re scattered and unfocused when we panic. Fear is why Charmin is continues to be sold on the black market for big bucks. People are trying to secure TP in crazy ways.
But I do believe that fear is starting to dissipate or that process will soon start .
I think self-awareness will be the reason why. We need to learn all about this virus. By and large, but not always, if you’ve been exposed, symptoms can show up as soon as two days and as many as 11 days later. I last encountered another human being late Sunday night, March 15th….14 days ago. I feel safe because I know that in order to get sick on the most severe level, it requires an internal-immuno perfect storm. People of all ages can be infected, but the chances are higher for senior citizens and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease). So, when someone says their perfectly healthy 40-year-old uncle caught it, and then died from it, I’m suspect. Sorry for their loss, but healthy people, generally speaking, don’t die from this. Not as a rule, they don’t and if healthy folks die, perhaps it’s because they contracted a more aggressive strain. We hear this damn thing can mutate. Frightening. Still, the mortality rate is higher than its morbidity rate. But that shouldn’t give us cause to rest on our laurels. Distancing, hand washing and frequent use of 90 proof hand sanitizer are keys to ending this scourge.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: this time is a gift. It really is. If it allows you to get closer to family, great. If it creates a paradigm shift and alters your values, beliefs and makes you want to try harder, be better, then let’s give it up for the pros of isolation. We have the chance to hit this button:
But I know this might not offer much comfort to some people. If you’ve been laid off through no fault of your own or your employer, I know, trust me, I really do know how scary and insecure you feel. Especially if you’ve got kids and no other external source for financial help. Before I retired, I’d been unemployed for almost as long as I worked. The last time I was woefully unemployed was just over ten years ago. I was beyond broke. Couldn’t even afford to pay attention. Like you, I wondered how I’d pay rent, bills, gas for my car, groceries????? I got very depressed and sank to horrible lows.
I once had a meltdown in front of a prospective employer, mainly because two minutes into the interview, I knew I wasn’t right for the job. And I made the mistake of checking my mail before leaving home. That day’s postal offering included four letters of rejection and a tell-tale pink notice from my bank: two returned checks. It felled me me. Like a tree…a sequoia. I should have cancelled the interview, but I didn’t. The interviewer was sweet and understanding, even though I didn’t get the job…..
bitch
But damned if I didn’t feel better for letting go. Walking out of that office looking like a puffy, red-eyed cross between Tammy Faye and a zebra, had been like opening a release valve. It’s good to let go. Healthy even. They say exercise helps and so does forcing yourself to choose to be okay. You can, you know. Just choose to be okay. This will end. And probably as quickly and stealthily as it arrived. Until then, just breathe. Pray, hope, wish, plead….whatever suits your comfort zone. Walk, work out, play games with your kids, make sure family members and neighbors hobbled by bad health, age or a lack of mental acuity are ok. Volunteer at a food bank, deliver Meals On Wheels. If you can afford it, write a check to a charitable entity working on helping those whose lives have been forever changed by this pandemic. Just get out of your own head space. Live the experience that you’re not alone. Handing a poor, hungry family a food box in a drive through/drive by scenario is a sobering way to understanding this situation.
I have no answers, just the same questions you have. I can only suggest resetting if you can, otherwise, be kind, be helpful, change your perspective if so willing, but most of all, don’t panic, don’t fear. Your time here on this big blue marble is short enough as it is.
“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Stephen Grellet
1773-1855
And now, I will force you to listen to a song I think is befitting the above quote. It’s my graduation song. The KCHS Senior Class, 1977. Yeah…we kinda sucked.
Stay healthy, my friends.
