Intro. to Social/Physical Distancing 101

We took an early spring vacation this year, between my theatre commitments. We went to our go-to location – Palm Springs. It was a lovely vacation, except for the 24 hours when I thought I had lost my driver’s licence, my debit card and a credit card. Long story short, we found the little wallet on the hotel grounds, after we had cancelled the debit card and suspended the credit card. My driver’s licence couldn’t be reported lost until Monday morning. We had also filed an online police report. We recontacted everyone, and I had no cards to use for the rest of the trip. But I digress…

The COVID crisis was in the news before we left but when we returned we were not required to self isolate. However, several days after we got home, the self isolation request came into being. So we started staying in. Dale went to work, but stayed in his office. I went to two rehearsals but stayed home for the third as I had a dicky tummy. It was at that rehearsal that the plug was pulled on the production. We got home on March 9. Today is April 22. We have been pretty close to home for that whole time. We have been out for bike rides around the neighbourhood, and I have adapted to going grocery shopping only once a week. We now wear gloves when we go out, I also wear a mask.

We bought a house before we left on vacation. We bought new appliances for it online. We organized the moving of our hydro and natural gas accounts online. We tried doing our mail redirection online but it didn’t work so I had to go to Shopper’s to do that. On the afternoon that our rental agent scheduled showings of our current home I took my Kindle and sat in my car in the empty parking lot of a nearby mall, for three and a half hours. Alone, with nothing to eat or drink because nothing was open if I had to use the bathroom. The people coming in to check out the house wore masks and gloves. We could see that because we have one of those video doorbell thingies.

I didn’t think the isolation would bother me. But it has. Because it’s not just about sitting at home alone. There is fear and anxiety tied up with it. If someone I love gets sick, I can’t help, in fact, I won’t even be allowed to see them. The same if I get sick. And some of the people I love aren’t spring chickens any more. If something else happens to them, again, I can’t help and I can’t see them. And no matter how hard some of us work at doing everything asked of us to flatten the curve so that our health care system and health care workers aren’t overwhelmed, you just know that there are people out there who could mess it up because they are too stupid to follow simple directions. Or who are so stupid that they actually believe this crisis is a conspiracy to strip them of their rights. So, the thought that they might extend and exacerbate the situation keeps me up at night. Which isn’t really all that bad, because I literally have nowhere to go and nothing to do, so I can nap during the day if I’m tired.

I have been trying to stay active and positive. Some days are easier than others. Mostly I try to remember that this is a just an inconvenience. I am safe. I have a roof over my head and food in my pantry and freezers. I have 24/7 tv and internet. I have walking and biking routes nearby. I can call, message or video chat friends and family. And I am not alone. What I have are first world problems. My hair is too long. I can’t go to a restaurant. I can’t go to the mall. I have to stop eating my weight in carbs every day.

*This too shall pass.

*Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not okay, it is not the end.

That’s enough for today.

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