Yes, I am officially turning COVID into a verb. But you spell it in lower case.
As in, when someone asks, “How are you doing?” from 10 feet away —
You respond, “Oh, I’m covidding pretty well today. I mean, I haven’t seen anyone other than my daughter in weeks, except a few zappy-hour get togethers. How about you?”
“Covidding is making me crazy, but everyone at home is healthy.”
“Good.”
“Great.”
“Guess we have to remind ourselves to be thankful.”
“Yes. Wonderful to see you.”
“Oh — the liquor place on the corner of Westheimer and Kirby — they’re selling hand sanitizer now!!”
“Wow!!! Thanks for letting me know. Forget the walk! I’ll make a beeline over there right now.”
This interaction has been the most exciting part of my day 🙂 . By the way, a “zappy hour” is a zoom happy hour, but I’m guessing you probably know this already. So, I define the verb “to covid” as how we are coping with life in our new, stark reality in the days of coronavirus.
A Hill of Beans
I retired early a few years ago, and since then my life has revolved around travel, growing my blog, and fighting Stage 4 colon cancer. 2019 was devoted to getting through a heavy chemo regimen. 2020 was supposed to be a year devoted to bucket list trips. So yes, this f@$%ing virus has upended my life — just as it has for everyone else on the planet.
However, as the death toll runs up like an odometer on steroids, it’s easy to see that my broken plans don’t add up to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
So — How do You Covid?
Getting through the day, shut away from people is not the way humans are meant to live. Last year under a heavy chemo regimen, my life looked a lot like our current COVID reality. Strange that being a cancer patient has given me skills to face this year as we’ve gone down the drain of social distancing.
My recommendation for keeping your sanity: vary what you are doing throughout the day. I think of it in the vein of Hemingway’s self-advice about writing — stop when you still have something to say . . . so in this instance: don’t do any one thing so long that you are sick of it.
This looks different for each of us.
I divide my day into different sets of things: morning coffee hour, shower, cleaning the condo, visiting with friends on the phone or on zoom, writing, working on pictures, caring for my balcony herb garden, walking in the neighborhood or park, reading, exploring the online world of Second Life, taking walks, playing games, cooking, and binge-watching something. Anything.
Oh, and I’ve developed mad craft-cocktail skills.
I also think varying where you are doing things helps. At least I believe assists in my mental well-being. It can be as simple as doing something in a different room. Or even as simple as sitting in a different chair. Something that small can shift my perspective.
While I have my coffee, I peruse the New York Times and Washington Post. I allow myself a couple of COVID articles per paper, and otherwise focus on anything that isn’t virus related. Afterwards I assiduously avoid all news until 5:30 in the evening, when I now watch Lester Holt on the NBC nightly news with a cocktail of the day. Then I turn OFF the news, unless there is some really important bit in the local broadcast.
We’re all different about the news thing. Whenever I talk to my sister during the day, I can often hear CNN running in the background. I think it’s a comfort for some people to feel like they are absolutely up-to-the-minute informed. A small bit of control in a world where we feel more out of control than ever. So do what adds to your sanity.
Being Silly
I’m rewriting the sit-com Friends. It will be called Don’t Stand So Close to Me. Rachel and Monica and Chandler and Ross all live in separate apartments. Phoebe died of COVID-19 three weeks after volunteering at a local ER. The coffee place — the Central Perk? The owners closed it, and re-opened it as a drive-by service selling black-market toilet paper, paper towels, ground beef, and fake Lysol spray. Joey works for them as a bicycle delivery guy — and for that service, he gets a real N-95 mask, which has become the greatest fashion accessory on the planet. Ross is jealous.
I think humor and foolishness are absolute necessities during this dark time. One of my favorite memes this last month:
What My Family Won’t Be Doing
As Texas is opening back up, I have such mixed feelings. We understand that if some of our businesses don’t get some cash flow coming back in very soon, then they will close permanently. Without paychecks in weeks, many people in Houston are in danger of losing everything they have. But I fear that our city will pay for the businesses we save, pay in suffering and blood. Within a month COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths will almost certainly rise, a rise that will match the increased interaction.
My family won’t return to dining out or doing retail shopping, not for a very long time. We support several local restaurants by doing regular curbside pick-up runs. Almost all of our grocery shopping is also done via online ordering and curbside pick-up as well.
While I’m in the in-danger segment of the population, the reality is that COVID is proving deadly to many people who thought they weren’t at risk.
What My Family Will Be Doing
We plan to form several bubbles with close friends who continue to practice staying at home, working remotely, and staying away from restaurants and businesses. As we’ve discussed it, the parameters look like this: interacting with one person or couple and having drinks and dinner together at one of our homes. And then not interacting with another friend bubble for at least two weeks.
My sister and I hope to take a road trip to Big Bend National Park sometime in the summer. As one of the most remote parks in the country, it’s easy to go on a walk and not run into many people at all. It seems like a good candidate for this period in time. Of course, the current virus conditions will dictate everything, but even just planning a car trip feels hopeful. If we do go, how would that work? Camping out in Big Bend during the summer is too hot for my taste. So we plan to stay in rooms at the lodge in the park, sanitize all surfaces when we arrive, and cancel any maid service. For food? Renting a camping site and cooking over the grill and my camp stove.
Anger and Low Behavior
Could we all just say NO??!!
I physically went into a grocery store last Friday for the first time in over a month. Almost every customer sported some kind of face covering and our Central Market staff is managing things well. They’ve re-arranged vegetable shelves to help distance people. One employee organizes a distanced line for the meat and seafood counters, hands out numbers, and sends you to floor markers stretched out down those very long counters.
As I took my assigned floor marker and waited for my number to be called, this well-dressed 30-something woman without a mask came and stood beside me. I looked at her and wrinkled my brow. And she gave me a broad smile, seeming to enjoy my discomfort.
“Could you please move further down the counter?”
“No. I don’t think so — I want to look at the meat.”
“I’m a cancer patient. Please move.”
She gave an even larger smile and stepped closer.
Thankfully, at this point the Central Market employee walked up and told the woman that she’d have to go stand in the line and wait her turn. And obey the six foot distancing rule.
Her face flamed as red as her lipstick, and she yelled at the worker and at me, “No, I’m not standing in a line! And I’m sick of all of this social distancing bullshit!” She pivoted neatly and huffed off. Note to self — perhaps I should add an electric cattle prod to my covidding attire.
When I see the ongoing protests on the lockdowns, and see these angry, stupid people, I now see that woman’s contorted face.
And then I think of my nurses at Texas Oncology and all of the cancer patients I see every two weeks when I go for chemotherapy. I think of the little kids fighting the strange Kawasaki disease type symptoms that are a new side effect of COVID-19 in children. And I think of all the front line workers who have died of this horrendous disease.
Everyone is stressed and anxious, but lashing out at people around us won’t fix anything. Couldn’t we all try being a little kinder to one another?
