Sign of the Times

I hate this meme, with the missing apostrophe (wont) and the extras (in Alien’s and UFO’s), but it is, indeed, a sign of our times. I’m trying not to let the world stress me out, partially because I need a crown, but I ignored it and put it off and now I am afraid to go to the dentist, so I worry that if I grind my teeth too much, I will crack my tooth and make it worse. Me me me.

We’re all working from home now. Maya and I are more introverted, and of course we are set up right next to each other in my bedroom. Ted is the extrovert who really enjoys spending time with his coworkers, and he is downstairs alone at the kitchen table with his microphone and so on, since he works in radio and our noise if we are in a meeting might be disruptive. We have turned the ringers off on the phones, which is fine because mostly people call our cells anyway. 99% of calls to our home phone are scams or sales calls.

I’ll admit that I didn’t truly get Social Distancing until last weekend. I kind of got it, but the messaging has been so ‘fluffy’ as my friend Cherry puts it, that I thought, if I’m not sick it’s OK. So last Saturday I went and got my hair done and went out to dinner. The salon was small and I didn’t come into contact with anyone but my hairdresser. We went to dinner at 5 and the restaurant was mostly empty. But still, it was not the right thing to do. I hope I didn’t get/give anything. Now, every interaction has that feeling. And we have to have them. We need food and supplies and so on. Sigh.

We are personally well. My friend Neva, whose son is developmentally severely disabled due to Epilepsy (he’s mentally about 1) may have COVID-19. He’s about 30. He may not have it, but his lungs are a mess and he has a fever, and got tested today. It’s so stressful and they don’t know what to do. Her other son works at Tesla, which is a shitty company and you should never buy one. If you want a car, electric or not, find one from a union shop. They try to force their employees to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. 6 days a week is not enough. They threatened to fire him when he called in sick (likely with what his brother has), but didn’t follow through. They refuse to close down even though their factory is a Petri dish of disease, ignoring the governor and the sherif. It’s a mess, and very stressful.

And of course the daily issues. It’s not too bad, working from home is my norm, and Ted and Maya are adjusting. We have food in the freezer, and enough PT and TP to get us through at least a week, and if you go to the grocery store first thing in the morning, you can sometimes get more.

We would like to support our local businesses. We try to tip heavily. I went to a local restaurant tonight to get take out, and all of the rules stress me out. Last weekend, before the shelter in place order, I went to another restaurant for take out, and it also stressed me out. Last time, it was too crowded, people shoved up next to each other ignoring any danger and basically being idiots. Tonight, wondering if you need to wipe off your credit card if they touch it, trying to stay 6 feet away and not touch anything anyone else has touched.

It’s the right thing to do. This is the first time in history, maybe, that we have had the opportunity to avoid the worst of a pandemic. We need to do it. But it’s causing anxiety. I’m worried about jobs and money and health and family and our social fabric.

Looking at the stupid meme above, I realize that the next time I brave the grocery store, I need foil.

Hang in there. We’re all in this together. I hope you are well and have found ways to amuse yourselves.