Are you reading this in your pajamas? The sales of pajamas have tripled in the last five months, and the sales of business wear have decreased. Maybe you are wearing an old T-shirt and sweatpants? Boxer shorts? Or naked?
When was the last time you woke up before 9:00 a.m.? When was the last time you went out on a date? To lunch or dinner with a group of friends?
People are working from home and attending meetings with Zoom. No one sees what you are wearing on the bottom. You could be dressed in business attire and wearing your underwear. Who would know?
I haven’t dressed up since the beginning of March. I only wear makeup if I have a Zoom meeting.
The only place I go is to the supermarket. I follow the arrows leading in one direction down each aisle, wait my turn six feet behind the person in front of me and use the self-checkout lane. I want to get out as soon as possible, so I don’t get any unwanted germs. As soon as I enter the car, I squirt some hand sanitizer and rub as hard as possible. I can’t remember a time when I thought everything was dirty and too dangerous to touch.
I never thought I wouldn’t be able to hug or shake hands with a friend in the supermarket or at the park. I never thought I wouldn’t be able to eat in a restaurant.
I live alone with my Cocker Spaniel. We communicate in short sentences. “Want to go to the park?” ” Have to go potty?” Her brown eyelashes bat up and down as she leans her left ear my way and wags her stub of a tail.
My social hour is in the morning from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. before the sun comes up, and the temperature reaches 100F.
COVID19 confined me to my home for five months, and hibernation continues as a necessity because of the intense heat outside. The temperature reached 115F yesterday in Phoenix, Arizona.
I read two hours a day, search for news four hours a day, clean the house once a week, and write one hour a day. I should spend more time writing, but I am not inspired.
I travel to write. I like to explore other countries and cultures and write about them. I haven’t been out of the country for more than nine months. I had plans to go to Israel in May and my daughter’s graduation from her MBA program in Ohio. COVID19 canceled these plans.
I see people on Facebook posting pictures of traveling in RVs across the USA. I am jealous. Vacationing in mini campers became very popular this summer. You don’t have to worry about clean linen on the bed in your hotel room. Has the hotel room been cleaned? How often is it cleaned? Questions we never asked before unless you were a germaphobe. RVs and mini campers allow you to travel without these worries.
We can’t travel to Europe because Americans are not wanted. Canada has issued warnings for travelers trying to get into Canada on their way to Alaska. Mexico doesn’t want us either. I have never been barred from a country before.
I know that I should not complain. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and I am retired. I don’t need to find a job.
What I do need is a vacation. A date with my friends and museums and other attractions to open.
I am optimistic and have hope that things will get better soon when I can plan a trip to Europe, visit my daughter in Oklahoma, and feel free again.
The future is unclear. Will we be able to travel as much? Will we be able to feel friendly again? Not be afraid of others?
I like to smile. I love it when people smile at me. We can’t see anyone smile when we are wearing masks. I can be angry with someone, but they wouldn’t know. I don’t know if someone is angry with me. I walk in the park, and some people walk out about 12 ft away. I feel like I have some disease. They assume I do.
Americans are known for their friendliness. That has changed. Our reputation around the world has changed from admiration to pity. We are the ones who are being attacked in the streets by unknown troops sent by the President. There are those Americans who don’t want to wear masks and attack others who do by spitting on them or cursing them. The government of the USA does not offer equal health care, equal housing, or equal education to all of its citizens.
I hope that everything will work out and we can have peace.
Thanks for reading, and now you can get a drink and stay in your pajamas.
No one will ever know.
