A colleague suggested keeping a diary or journal during this time, to keep the days from blurring together.
In the Bay Area, we are under a “Shelter In Place” health and safety order. While it’s not marshall law, and the official penalty for noncompliance is a misdemeanor, it’s clear there are also penalties to the health and safety of our community. We’re taking it seriously.
If you’re living somewhere the local government hasn’t yet implemented this policy, it’s coming to you soon. No one is exempt from a global pandemic.
If you’re reading this in the future, and can’t quite recall what happened during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 in America, here’s some of the basics of “shelter in place,” or as it’s quickly being abbreviated, SIP. All businesses deemed non-essential have closed. Gatherings nationwide of 10 or more people are considered unsafe nationwide, but here you’re really not supposed to be within 6 feet of someone you don’t share your home with. Those who can work from home are. Daycares, schools, and universities have closed, and the kids are all home (or in the case of many college students, and international students, stunned as they search for affordable housing). Many who started to work remote have already been furloughed or laid off since Monday, only four days ago. The economic ramifications are still beyond what we can fathom.
Under SIP, residents are only to leave their homes to give or receive essential services. This means banks, healthcare facilities, laundromats, pharmacies, and grocery stores continue to be open, albeit with limited hours, long lines, and depleted shelves. All non-urgent health concerns are now postponed, or treated by phone or video as the healthcare system is overwhelmed. Hospitals have implemented no-visitor policies.
We can go outside, but not inside one another’s homes. Whether walking down the sidewalk or standing in line, the recommendation is to keep at least 6 feet of distance between yourself and anyone you do not live with.
Regional parks are open, for now, though facilities like restrooms are closed. Hikers are to maintain “social distance” of 6+ feet from others.
Travel by foot, bike, scooter, car, or public transport is reserved for those “essential” trips, and distance rules apply there too.
All bars are shut, and all restaurants that remain open do so only for delivery or curbside pickup.
Yesterday I went to work briefly (my office gets mail, so we play a role in keeping essential services going, for example, allowing a company to get their payroll). A 22 floor skyscraper was mostly a ghost town. On my way out, the elevator doors opened and I moved to exit. Another person was waiting to get on, and as soon as they saw the elevator wasn’t empty, they looked panicked and quickly leapt backwards.
My brother-in-law reached recently mentioned that when a disaster arrives, life becomes completely unrecognizable from what it was only days ago. This is true, and we are only at the start.
In the face of doom and gloom I never predicted for my lifetime (or at least, not so soon, as I feared the toll of climate change between now and 2050) I should take a moment to mention things I am grateful for.
I am so grateful to have a partner. He’s compassionate, supportive, and fun. If we have to be stuck in quarantine, I’m glad he’ll be there.
I am so grateful to have a job and a paycheck. That security is such a blessing. I have no words that really sum up my feelings there. But I can say that having a job, and having coworkers I can virtually connect with, allows me to have social contacts I very much need, and I feel so much gratitude in being able to hear their voices express calm or optimism.
I am so grateful to have my child. It’s easy to get under one another’s skin when living in limited, close quarters, with no break in sight. I’m glad there are three of us here. And my child has literally no idea what’s going on. She’s upset at the change in her routine, and being denied access to play equipment, her peers, and her amazing daycare teachers. But she is developing day by day, and the pure delight she expresses at being tickled, or dancing, or showing us she can point to her head, eyes, nose, and mouth when we say those words in Spanish, is a source of joy that will keep us all going.
That’s all for today’s log.
I’ll leave you with a picture of my child using crayons.
