Day Fourteen: Free at Last!

This is history! Fourteen days in self-imposed quarantine!

Day Fourteen: Free at last!

Life in the light of the Corona Virus

A moment in history!

Oooh, hoo! I did it! I lived through a fourteen day quarantine during the Corona Virus!

That's the good news!

Also good news, I am still somewhat sane!

And not dead or coughing my guts out or walking daily with a tight chest and shortness of breath.

I have not murdered any close family members...or total strangers!

I have not risked my life or that of my loved ones by entering the grocery store without a face mask!

I have not compromised the health care system or its workers by contracting Covid-19 and then presenting myself for care.

Nor have I torn cabinets off the walls, or obsessively cleaned closets or storage sheds or refrigerators.

All that being said, I feel very validated with my behavior during the last 14 days!

I will admit to having washed my hands about three thousand, four hundred and fifty-six million times! But how could I help it, every time I hear a PSA or read an online article, the first admonition is about hand washing! It is no longer OCD, now it is normal. This is especially good news for those who actually are OCD and have a hand washing obsession! It is also a good time for those with an obsession about light switch cleaning and door knob wiping and avoiding physical touch! My how things have changed. That which was once considered abnormal is now not only normal, but appreciated behavior.

People used to look at you strangely if you boarded a plane wearing a mask to filter out contaminants in the processed air. Now, people think to themselves:

“Wow! That person is really smart!” And

“Wish I had come prepared like that!” And

“What are the chances of me getting sick from this flight?”

My how things have changed!

It used to be that only in Hawaii and Japan did people leave their shoes at the door. Now you are looked at sideways if you come into the house with your shoes on! Those shoes could have walked on Corona Virus somewhere?! People came home from work and actually came into the house and hugged their loved ones. Now people come home from work if they are lucky enough to not have to sleep in the car in the driveway or parking lot, strip off their clothes and stuff them into the laundry, then shower immediately before even speaking to their family. If they are feeling lucky and cleansed of contaminants, they hug their family like they haven’t seen them for months. Actually, they are fearful it is the last time they can hug their family at all! My how things have changed.

Those who are not lucky enough to work, struggle to balance their emotions between severe affection for their family and sever annoyance for their family. If they are closed up inside their apartment or home with a spouse and multiple children for the full waking day, the pressure is amazing. There is never a peaceful moment and shutting the bedroom door only muffles the sound. Of course, there are many new opportunities to play poorly remembered card games, and “Just one more time!” the inevitable game of Chutes and Ladders! TV has become an endless loop of statistical figures, dire predictions, admonitions, and hopeful insights. After 14 days it all runs together and can be hard to distinguish!

Speaking of the 14 days…. what day is it anyway? I wrote this blog mostly to help keep track of the days. In the old days, you know before the virus, we kept track of the days because we worked and the days we didn’t work had names. Now it does not matter what day it is, what its name is, even if it is a weekend day. Monday never comes! Is that a good thing? And we kept track of the days because certain days were pay day. That day seems like it never comes. At least not regularly. And then there were certain days when meetings happened and you had to prepare yourself, or a hot dish, in order to attend the meeting. Now the meeting is on-line, and the only preparation is keeping the Zoom log-in in an accessible place.

If you are working online, there is a never-ending list of job-to-do’s that keeps queuing up, regardless of how tired you are and how stiff your neck is. Trying to get ahead at work does not work, the list of assignments just keeps replenishing itself. Is that an algorithm or a bot? If the list is really long, it must be Monday!

This is Ground Hog Day. Bill Murray has nothing on me. I can do it for longer than he did it. Hopefully I will have an epiphany and there will be a happy ending. I have this niggling fear that the epiphany needs to be on the part of city, state and national leaders. Sometimes it does not seem like they are trying very hard to have an epiphany. They are just struggling to survive moment to moment. And I keep looking for that drop dead handsome or beautiful co-star to make the days a little more interesting! Where is he/she?

I guess I will just keep on keep‘in on. I just wish they would stop moving the goal posts. First it was set up that this was only going to last 14 days and then you would be released from solitary confinement. Somehow that changed to a month…. although the start date did not seem to matter when that month termination was announced. So, to some of us, that meant seven weeks, others it only meant 4 or at most 5 weeks. When they kept changing the time definition of Social Distancing from two weeks to one month to some indefinable time frame, the playing field began to resemble a Chinese Checkers board. There were lots of end points and progress was still happening…. but in several directions at the same time! When will it end? How do you determine the winner? Is there a winner? Are we all winners in some way or another?

So, I will end this 14-day experience as I started. I will celebrate this milestone. Two weeks down and unlimited number ahead. The goal now is, don’t get sick. Don’t let anyone in your family get sick. This too shall end, I am assuming, and we will then face the challenge of putting all the pieces back together to form a picture of a normal life. I just wish someone had told me this was a 5,000-piece picture puzzle when I started.

Adios and God bless! Day 15 is on the horizon.

______________________________________________________________________Hope you enjoyed this little journey through two weeks of "different." I would love to hear from you, get your reactions, hear your stories, acknowledge your epiphanies. Send them via email to karenmac1999@hotmail.com. My wish is that this finds you happy and healthy!

Karen