My Therapist: “You really need to try. Your hypervigilance makes it difficult and nerve-wracking, I know, but it won’t get any better unless you, you know, leave the house.”
Me: “But—”
Coronavirus: “Shh, I gotchu, Boo.”
Well, we already knew that the world was a garbage fire, but now it’s a garbage fire with germs! Yes, okay the germs were already there, but now we’ve got Attack Germs. Joy of joys.
My The Emperor’s New Groove “No touchy!” hoodie is going to be getting a workout for the foreseeable future, that’s for sure.
Really, though. Three weeks of enforced ‘social distancing’? It’s an introvert’s wet dream! And guess which introvert doesn’t get to take part? That’s right, this one. I have never felt more left out of being left out in my life. Think of all the coloring I could be doing! All the terrible short fiction I could be writing! ALL THE UNCLUTTERING I COULD BE FUSSING OVER! But, alas, I work in an ‘essential’ field, and while I appreciate the fact that my function makes it possible for others to access their hard-earned cash, the selfish part of my soul just wants to stay home and make art.
Oh well. Needs must, and all that. My already-negligible commute has been cut in half. It’s amazing how much more time it feels like you have in your life when a fifteen minute task gets cut down to eight. It’s also amazing how people can manage to drive even more assholishly when there are far fewer people on the road and it’s not like anyone is really in their way WTF, KAREN, YOU’LL GET THERE WHEN YOU GET THERE, RE-FUCKING-LAX.
It’s really very strange leaving the house when most everyone else is staying behind. I didn’t really realize just how much noise from the freeway (approximately three tenths of a mile away) I was actually experiencing until I was standing next to my car this morning and noticed the quiet. Obviously there was still some road noise, but there was significantly less of it than there usually is.
Something I find baffling is the number of businesses that are considered ‘essential’. Banking and financial establishments, yes, okay, and payroll companies (like mine) along with them, because nobody is shutting down the economy, it’s just...on a diet for a while? Grocery stores, and at least in California, restaurants for delivery and take-out only, because people need access to food. Laundromats, because cleanliness is part of staying healthy. Medical facilities because DUH. But the place where you go to to get a smog test done? That one seems weird to me. Automotive businesses seem to be on the ‘essential’ list, though. I’m not sure if it’s limited to places that do repairs and service, though I passed a Carmax on the way home and the building was dark, so perhaps that is the case. Service centers only at the dealerships that have them or something. Autobody shops, Jiffy Lube, tire stores...and smog test centers.
Funny story about smog test centers, actually. I was putting the last of my scavenged groceries in the car on Monday evening in preparation for all of this nonsense when it occurred to me that my car registration was due the day after the shelter-in-place order lifts--and it’s a smog test year. In a flurry of efficient adulting I whipped out my phone, found a smog test place that was still open (not an easy task at 5 PM), and got a 6 PM appointment.
::mic drop::
All before their 7 PM closing time and the 12:01 start time of the shelter-in-place order. I’m still impressed with myself.
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