I avoided having to think about the impact Covid will have until I was faced with one of those impacts - being made to work from home, avoid traveling to client site. That was about four weeks ago. Up until then, I thoughtof it as a foreign problem, hidden across oceans. I remember seeing the signs every week when I landed in Toronto airport, and the signs slowly escalating to quarantine of inbound flights from China.
Then all in one day, we were grounded. My life has been on planes - totaling over 200 flights these last two years. From the second we were grounded, it all hit me. Life wouldn't be the same. In the short term, it would be working from home. But that was just the initial veneer that gave way to the whole host of problemss.
I've tried to avoid being boxed in too much in the four walls of my parents house. There are local parks to hike in - socially distancing from others doing so. These little hikes have been avialable to me for all 26-years that I have lived in this area, but weren't discovered until we were forced into seclusion.
I've gone on random drives, not leaving the comfort of my car. This was something I used to do often in 2008/09 after getting my license. Of course, back then gas was $3.80/gal, not the rock-bottom prices it has been.
In these drives, you see a changed world. The lack of people and cars are glaring, but so were the closed restaurants and stores, the calm serenity that would be beautiful if it weren't so haunting. The lack of any interaction on the road, the distance people keep from one another. All of it so new, so depressing, so impactful.
Certainly, this calm, however haunting it may be, is nothing compared to what people, including my friends, are dealing with in more urban areas. The constant sirens in the background when I'm on call with colleagues in the city. The knowledge I have a close friend who is a resident at Columbia Medical Center who had to self-isolate for 10 days because he might have had covid. All of it is real - even if the realness in suburban New Jersey is a more muted experience.
So many times during this period I've been asked the question, or at the very least pondered, on what I would do when this is all over. And while there are some macro things like travel or grab a beer with some friends, there are smaller moments as well.
I can't wait to walk down the street and not really care if people are close by. I can't wait to go to the Barnes & Noble and order my latte and browse the web and get lost in a suburban bookstore. I can't wait to play basketball. I can't wait to eat a restaurant, or walk aisle-by-aisle in a grocery store. There are so many small moments, and they'll all be more meaningful when we can enjoy them again.
Honestly, losing sports has been less painful than I would've thought. I've filled my time in other ways, from increased family time (we're now on puzzle #3), more time delving into movies and shows that I missed - largely missed because of all the time that was spent (if not wasted, being honest) on sports. And of course spent more time in the few nature reserves that litter Central Jersey.
There are some aspects I have to hope remain when we call go back to normal, be it our newfound love and honor of essential workers from doctors to grocery store staff. Be it the ability to enjoy smaller moments, o realize that a lot of life is fleeting if still fun.
Soon enough we'll go back to normal, and lose sight of what we gained during this time. Hopefully we never lose sight of what, and more distinctly who, we lost as well. Other than people who were alive for World War II, no one has experienced anything like this in their lifetimes. I hope to say I've lived through Covid-19, and came out a better, more understanding, more patient, more optimistic person.
Then all in one day, we were grounded. My life has been on planes - totaling over 200 flights these last two years. From the second we were grounded, it all hit me. Life wouldn't be the same. In the short term, it would be working from home. But that was just the initial veneer that gave way to the whole host of problemss.
I've tried to avoid being boxed in too much in the four walls of my parents house. There are local parks to hike in - socially distancing from others doing so. These little hikes have been avialable to me for all 26-years that I have lived in this area, but weren't discovered until we were forced into seclusion.
I've gone on random drives, not leaving the comfort of my car. This was something I used to do often in 2008/09 after getting my license. Of course, back then gas was $3.80/gal, not the rock-bottom prices it has been.
In these drives, you see a changed world. The lack of people and cars are glaring, but so were the closed restaurants and stores, the calm serenity that would be beautiful if it weren't so haunting. The lack of any interaction on the road, the distance people keep from one another. All of it so new, so depressing, so impactful.
Certainly, this calm, however haunting it may be, is nothing compared to what people, including my friends, are dealing with in more urban areas. The constant sirens in the background when I'm on call with colleagues in the city. The knowledge I have a close friend who is a resident at Columbia Medical Center who had to self-isolate for 10 days because he might have had covid. All of it is real - even if the realness in suburban New Jersey is a more muted experience.
So many times during this period I've been asked the question, or at the very least pondered, on what I would do when this is all over. And while there are some macro things like travel or grab a beer with some friends, there are smaller moments as well.
I can't wait to walk down the street and not really care if people are close by. I can't wait to go to the Barnes & Noble and order my latte and browse the web and get lost in a suburban bookstore. I can't wait to play basketball. I can't wait to eat a restaurant, or walk aisle-by-aisle in a grocery store. There are so many small moments, and they'll all be more meaningful when we can enjoy them again.
Honestly, losing sports has been less painful than I would've thought. I've filled my time in other ways, from increased family time (we're now on puzzle #3), more time delving into movies and shows that I missed - largely missed because of all the time that was spent (if not wasted, being honest) on sports. And of course spent more time in the few nature reserves that litter Central Jersey.
There are some aspects I have to hope remain when we call go back to normal, be it our newfound love and honor of essential workers from doctors to grocery store staff. Be it the ability to enjoy smaller moments, o realize that a lot of life is fleeting if still fun.
Soon enough we'll go back to normal, and lose sight of what we gained during this time. Hopefully we never lose sight of what, and more distinctly who, we lost as well. Other than people who were alive for World War II, no one has experienced anything like this in their lifetimes. I hope to say I've lived through Covid-19, and came out a better, more understanding, more patient, more optimistic person.
