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Reopening Dispute in 1350

“The plague ain’t worse than spotted fever.”

“Why are the stonemasons allowed to open, but not the blacksmiths?”

“Witch burnings can also take place without spectators.”

“Taverns are also systemically important.”

“Many of the sick people above age 30 would have died soon anyway.”

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Quote of the Day

What is it about President Obama that really gets under your skin? Is it because he’s smarter than you? Better educated? Made it on his own; didn’t need daddy’s help? Wife is more accomplished? Better looking? I don’t know, what is it? What is it about him? That he’s a black man that’s accomplished, became president? That he punked you on the whole birth certificate thing? What is it about him? Just wondering…” ~ Don Lemon

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Loss

I have been following this cute Spanish photographer on Instagram (@stuckkinabox aka @sergioheads) for several years now, and he posed an interesting question today:

What do you miss most about our previous lifestyle?

It’s something I haven’t considered specifically; it’s more of just a nebulous feeling of loss for me, but I shall try to elaborate.

I think that after the past two months (has it really been only that long?) the reality of our previous existence being gone is now finally hitting home. As I’ve written before, things are never going to go back to the way they were before.

But what do I miss? Even though I am an inveterate introvert, I still do miss the daily human interaction that we all took for granted. I miss being able to just go out and do things without having to worry about face masks and social distancing and the possibility of being infected by yahoos who are only thinking about themselves. (Trips to the grocery store are fraying my last nerve.)

I miss whiling away weekend afternoons with Ben at Starbucks. I miss going to restaurants. I miss having the ability to go on spontaneous road trips, without knowing that once we reach our destination there isn’t actually anywhere to go. I miss visiting friends. I miss going to movies. I miss going to IKEA for no reason at all. All these are admittedly small, first-world problems, but nonetheless they are things I miss being able to do.

And while I certainly enjoy the relative freedom of working from home, I do miss being able to go into the office and connect with people in person. Now one day just runs into another to the point that I really have to think about what day of the week it is. (I feel like Dolores in Season One of Westworld, waking up in the morning, gathering her supplies and heading out in the fields to paint the same thing day after day.

But you know what I miss the most? I miss every other waking thought not being about this pandemic and the damage it’s doing to our global society, about Trump, about his cabal or his brain-dead zombie supporters, about masks or gloves or hand sanitizers, or about whatever the next horrific stream of effluent will be that spews from the White House. That is what I miss the most.

But, if this self-quarantine ensures that I and those I love live through this horrible period in our history, so be it. It’s a small price to pay to see the new world that will spring from this nightmare. And a new world will spring from it.

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At the Risk of Endangering My Own Karma…

…I’m not going to voice what I hope happens to everyone in that crowd. But then, I don’t think I have to, do I?

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Mask for Mask


While getting supplies at Safeway yesterday and noticing that only about half the people there were wearing face masks, I said to Ben, “You know how to get everyone wearing masks? Convince them it’s sexy.”

ESPECIALLY gay men. Make it the new look and they’ll mask up faster than a restroom hookup the basement of the Union Square Nieman-Marcus in 1992. (Oddly specific, I know, but just run with it, okay?)

Our next door neighbor/landlord made a couple of masks for us, and in addition I ordered several additional cute and sexy ones for the two of us last week, as I suspect masking up in public is going to become expected—if not required—especially if there’s a second or third surge in Coronavirus cases (as there undoubtedly will be because of the premature “opening” of the states) as the year progresses.

If I am forced to return to work sooner than what I feel is reasonable and prudent based on facts, not the bloviating gibberish coming out of the White House, I have already notified my supervisors that I will be masking and gloving up the entire time I am back in the workplace. They were all on board with that and said they’d be doing the same. While the gloves will protect you against the virus, the mask really doesn’t, but it does help lessen the chance you’ll infect someone else and it’s a good, constant reminder not to touch your face.

Those same supervisors have already let us know that regardless of what the state decrees as “open,” we are going to ease back in, probably going to a rotating schedule where we’re one or two days in the office and the remainder working from home. While there are some things we do that require a physical presence on site, we’ve proven that we can do the majority of our work from home, so why not integrate that into a new work paradigm?

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Whatever He Says, Do The Opposite

And if you do have to go out (and let’s face it, we all do from time to time whether it’s to pick up supplies or just to relieve cabin fever), maintain social distancing (as difficult as it can be since no one else seems to be), and wear a fucking mask.

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