Random COVID-19 Thoughts
At the beginning of the school year, I set two alarms on my phone. The first tells me the twins are at lunch and I can text them if I have something important to ask/relay. The second tells me they’re on their way home. I didn’t turn them off when the shelter-in-place order started. We now get a daily audio reminder about a lunch and trek home that isn’t happening.
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Disney World is reopening soon. It made me depressed to read about how the park experience would be different. They’re all good changes meant to keep people safe, but at the same time, I didn’t see how it would be enjoyable. Florida is hot in the summer. Being outside in Florida is uncomfortable at the best of times. Doing it while wearing a face mask for a day sounds exhausting. I also feel for the employees who need to be paid. I understand why they’re reopening and hoping people will come.
A person with a very different personality from mine could bring the fun even with the stress—but my personality is such that I need a long time experiencing modified day-to-day life before I can think about leaving my home base and seeking out fun experiences afar.
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I still cannot seem to do anything more than read books and watch familiar television shows. I get antsy with the thought of a movie. Antsy with podcasts, concerts, video games, or streaming events. I wanted to read JK Rowling’s new Ickabog book, but it’s really hard for me to summon the energy for something released in drips and drabs. The one exception is blog posts. But they’re all people I’ve been reading forever.
I’m aware that I’m in the minority with this. That most people are grateful for all the amazing distractions or artistic creations coming out of this period. I want to be in that category, but I’m not.
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As the world attempts to re-open, I love this idea of thinking of things in terms of having a contact budget. In other words, give yourself an amount of risk that takes into account what you must do (go to work, get food, etc) and once that is used up, you stay home. Some people should keep their contact spending to zero. Others can afford to spend minimally.
How much an interaction costs is measured with this: “Limit the number of people you interact with, keep the amount of time to a minimum, and to meet in outdoor settings when you can. That’s where the concept of ‘People, Time, Space and Place’ comes into play.”
So talking to one person for a short amount of time from six feet away while outside uses less of your budget than talking to one person for a short amount of time inside their house. And you go for the lowest “cost” version of the interaction you need, just as you would opt (usually) for the lowest cost version of an item you need. (Unless you are the sort who sees two identical products—one for $3 and one for $5 and says, “I’d like to pay $5, please!”)
I thought this was smart. I understand the analogy isn’t perfect, but it’s an easy explanation of risk assessment. I also thought this explanation of micromorts made things easier to understand, too.
5 comments
I’m with you- I can only watch very comfortable, familiar television right now- although truthfully? That started for me during the orange idiot, and has only been magnified by Covid. And, I can’t fathom going anywhere right now. But, at the same time I’m desperately trying to plan some outdoor time with my bff. We literally moved her so I’d have people, and nearly 3 months without people has me so depressed. I’m someone who actively loathes both phone and video so when I’m done with work that’s it. I don’t find the social connection through those mediums. I’m so very tired of being terrified all the time.
I finally deleted some of my reminders. I had library days and Brownie meetings, karate and soccer. Days when I was volunteering at school, days when I delivered bags of food to certain classrooms. It was comforting at first to know those things could potentially still happen. But now that life is the way it is, it’s sad to me and I had to stop it.
And I’m struggling to watch anything new as well. I start things and can’t finish them. It’s too much mental energy.
I like the explanation of micromorts. Starting a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I have gradually begun venturing out more into the world and allowing our sons to do so, always with the notion of relative risk in mind.
BTW, off topic, but I started reading Eight Perfect Murders yesterday after reading your posts about it. I am about 1/4 of the way in and enjoying it so far.
I still have my weekly yoga classes in my calendar. I keep thinking I’ll resume going some day. By not deleting them, I don’t have to go to the huge trouble of re-calendaring them. That’s my story, anyway.
The micromort article is fascinating. I’ve heard that people are, in general, super bad at assessing risk. I hadn’t thought of a way to compare risk apples to apples. Or micromorts, as the case may be.
I love the “contact budget” idea. I don’t go inside places, other than having to go to school and move my classroom, but I do that when there are very few people in the building and I wear my mask, my very sweaty mask. I did see a friend in her apartment parking lot, all masked up, what it was glorious to see someone in person. Disney World sounds awful in the best of times. It is a tough balance, opening to help economy and people’s financial survival, but staying safe. Bryce and I are in the conservative end of contact, which is okay with me.
I’m with you on the ability to read/watch new movies/concentrate. It’s just hard right now. Still.
Sending you a (distance) hug!