It's been a long time since I've added a post to this series -- almost as long as it's been since the CDC last reported statistics.
So you can probably guess why I'm posting again after so long a hiatus.
Four years, four months. Four vaccines/boosters. But it finally caught up to me. Yes... recently I got the faint double line on my Covid test.
It started out as a fever/body ache thing, progressed to chest congestion/cough, and then seemed to get better... and then got worse... and then better! And then worse. You see where this is going.
I know I was not as careful as I could have been. I should have worn masks more. Used more hand sanitizer. Avoided indoor spaces when I could. But I didn't. I got lazy.
So that's that. It's going around again. Take care.
* * *
I've been thinking about all the things that have changed, for better or for worse, since the pandemic began.
Things That Have Gotten Better Since 2020 and Have Stayed (Arguably) Better:
*Some of our schools got air filters.
*Options for legit online education have expanded, allowing kids who aren't thriving in a traditional classroom to try another method.
*Food delivery options have expanded.
*Mobile ordering is now widely available.
*So many new options for streaming content.
*Churches now doing streaming services.
*Credit cards/Paypal/Venmo/Cashapp etc. being accepted in more places.
*Doctors now offering virtual visits.
*You can now pump your own gas in Oregon, should you wish to.
Things That Got Better For a While, Then Went Back to Blahsville:
*People keeping their distance in public.
*Stores limiting the number of people that can be in the space at one time.
*Hand sanitizer stations, or bottles, being available in public spaces (at least after the initial shortage).
*Distance learning. Okay, I'm not on the popular side of this argument. Most people didn't like this, but I did! The ability to MUTE THE CHILDREN, my goodness!
*Virtual work meetings. The number of times this past year when we had an in-face meeting where all they did was tell us something that could've been handled by email... I get grumpy just thinking about it.
Things That Got Really Annoying For a While, But Are Better Now:
*Trying to follow one-way arrows taped to the floor of store aisles. I'm all for not crashing into other customers, but the pieces of tape were NOT doing the trick.
*Libraries being closed.
*Doctor's offices having no chairs in the waiting rooms.
*Having to stay away from all your loved ones.
*Not being able to travel.
*Toilet paper, Lysol, and hand sanitizer shortages.
Things I Thought Would Get Better, But Have Gotten Weirdly Worse:
*The kids I work with, despite having spent one-half to one-third of their lives in a pandemic, don't seem to give a flying fudgesicle about keeping their germs to themselves at school. In the past year I've witnessed biting, spitting, kissing, candy sharing, lip gloss/makeup sharing, and food sharing (one incident in particular sent a kid to the hospital.) The safety pendulum really did a wild swing there.
Things I Miss About the Pre-Pandemic World:
. . .
Okay, maybe the naive, careless bliss some of us lived in to certain degrees.
At one point I would have said "buffets," but I've decided I don't miss them that much after all.