I MISS COVID

Early last week on a Tuesday afternoon, Louise and I went downtown to see a play. It was “As You Like It” set to the Beatles music and promised to be very enjoyable. Parking downtown is always a challenge at the best of times and Tuesday afternoons is nowhere near the best of times. Also, parking midweek is very expensive. Luckily, Louise has a membership at the Kerby centre where she takes art classes and there is free parking included in her membership. From there we took the LRT (also free downtown) to the other side of downtown where the theatre is. Free is my favourite way to pay.

 

When we got to the theatre the nice young man told us that our tickets were for the following Sunday but we should take the time to enjoy the art. Well, at least the price had been right for our trip downtown. We went to the platform to catch the return train and someone took the opportunity to sneeze in Louise’s face and shortly after put on his mask. Nice!

 

The next day found Louise quite sick and getting sicker by the minute. I looked after her the best I could being quite sympathetic to her illness while I kept my smugness about superior genes bottled up. The smugness lasted four days until she was on the road to recovery and I had Satan living in my body. But…but…but…I haven’t been sick since before COVID.

 

The past few days while I have been living in misery I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the good old days of COVID. No one went anywhere, spent time with any other humans, we picked up groceries that were ordered online and delivered to the trunk of our car. I kept in touch with friends and family with ZOOM or the phone and in many ways had a more robust social life, without the need to be social. It was heavenly.

 

The odd time when forced to be social, I could wear a mask, keep two metres away from people, use sanitizer without anyone thinking I was strange or paranoid even though I was being strange and paranoid. I got my vaccines when they came out and a booster when I was able. My world had shrunken down to the area around my house and it was a pretty good world. Over the months and years, society has developed a nonchalance towards COVID and the masks have disappeared, social distancing has been for the most part forgotten and I have to go into the stores to shop. I still wear a mask, but I am one of the few. Louise should have been wearing a mask on the C-Train platform and so should I have. I certainly should have worn a mask, used disinfectant when Louise got sick and turned on the air purifier.

 

Should have…would have…could have…

 

I miss COVID, not the part where people die and get horribly ill, but the part where people respect your space and have the decency not to sneeze in your face.