Day Thirteen: Almost there!

Day 13 of a 14-day self -imposed quarantine. What has been learned during these 13 days in purgatory...err, sorry,...solitary confinement. Oops! Isolation!

Sorry for the mixed references, but you get the idea of how the isolation has gone so far. One day left and you just never know how its gonna' turn out!

So what have I learned?

1. I am not actively infected with Corona Virus.

• I am not coughing.

• I have not lost my sense of taste or smell.

• I have no fever.

• I do not feel exhausted.

• My joints don’t ache.

1. I have forgotten why 14 days was a milestone! I think it had something to do with #1. If you can survive 14 days and show no symptoms, you passed a test of some sort. It is sort of like taking a test for Corona Virus and having it come back negative. If after 14 days, you are in the ICU or are dead, your test came back positive.

2. Some one has moved the goal posts! Two weeks ago, you were subject to a 14-day quarantine. Now it is just an indefinable “stay at home” caveat. The light at the end of the isolation tunnel has burnt out. Looking down that tunnel now requires faith and imagination, and the ability to squint really, really hard! With all those things in place, you convince yourself that you see a light, and it looks like the familiar light bulb that you recognized from some preceding time.

3. Teenagers have a really hard time with quarantine. It is just no fun for them (or anyone!) to be solo, especially teenagers as they thrive on social interaction. No peer group, no point in living! That pretty much sums up their world view. After all, teenagers are invincible, right? So why isolate? And as for adults, Ha! They will believe anything, including the ridiculous idea that one can risk your life by interacting less than 6 feet apart with other people. And groups of more than 10…oooh,ooo! That is when the fun begins! Unfortunately, the lack of understanding of the nature of a virus and its transmission makes interacting with a family during lock down impossible. My observation is that this lock down will bring compliant teenagers closer to their families and will drive a peer-shaped-wedge between rebellious teens and their family members. Isolation may take on a whole new meaning!

4. People with ADD and ADHD will be even more jittery when under a lock down lifestyle.

5. People will realize they need more than one set of sweatpants! Two sets are do-able, but require constant washing, just to get by. This applies especially to the isolated population that sees no point in dressing in anything other than pajamas or sweat clothes. Not going anywhere anyway!

6. I can successfully convince myself that an anti-virus face mask is a fashion statement.

7. My eyes look really bloodshot when peeking out over a virus mask.

8. Hairdressers and barbers are essential workers!

9. The USA is not the most efficient and prepared country in the world.

10. People avoid getting sick not only because they fear illness and death, but also because they fear medical debt.

11. Not hugging, kissing, or shaking hands upon encountering a friend or family member is beginning to seem normal.

12. Friends that seemed a little ‘cray-cray’ before the isolation, now seem to have really gone ‘over the edge.’

13. I am beginning to feel close to the newscasters on TV. I am worried about them and their families in this crisis!

14. There are houses along the route I walk every day that I have never seen before. Where did they come from?

15. People that I correspond with over social media create anxious stories about me if they don’t hear from me every day.

16. I have a closet full of clothes, yet I wear the same things over and over. Well, that really is reasonable. I am doing the same things over and over.

17. Reorganizing closets and drawers only works when the trash service or Goodwill is working. Giant bags of clothes to be donated can only be stored in the trunk of my car for so long!

18. Thank God for the trash service. They are essential workers!

19. If you are really paranoid or bored, you should change your sheets and pillowcases every 2 to 3 days. What the heck does ‘viral load’ mean, anyway?

20. They used to call people who never left the house recluses. Now they call them responsible citizens!

21. I’ve almost forgotten all about the things I used to do that required me to leave the house. So quickly they are gone or morphed. Two weeks is an eternity. Or the blink of an eye. Einstein was right, time is relative!

22. My priorities have changed!

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Add your own personal “lessons learned” to this list. Email to karenmac1999@hotmail.com or post in comments. Insights are welcome! Day 14 will be published tomorrow!