Life in 2020

Last week I messed around with the glass half-full versus half-empty. It’s a decent message. Yes, things are bad but if you look around, things could always get worse. Admittedly, that philosophy can only go so far. When things get bad, you feel pretty crappy.

Today what’s affecting me is the idea of living with change. Life has changed a bunch since January. Most of us are not crazy about change. We like to know that the grocery store will have plenty of our favorite items in stock. How could they possibly be out of raisin bran?

I’m sitting in my apartment in Seattle and looking out the window. Today (I wrote the first draft of this piece on September 16) I can see the sun – at least a little. It is 11 am but the haze from the smoke from all the fires is so thick that the sun is barely visible behind a very grey cloud. Smoke hangs on everything. So what? Apparently gulping down smoke is even worse than gulping down too much Jack. Who ever would have thought of that?

That means that since I am old and frail and my respiratory system looks like a 1920s railroad yard, I am not supposed to go outside. It is okay for young people to suck in soot but us older gentlemen (and ladies) are supposed to stay inside. That makes it kinda hard for me to go on my daily walk with friend Barbara around Green Lake.

Wear a mask. Well maybe. “They” say masks don’t work against smoke. Who the hell are “they”? That’s the other thing. Whether it is smoke or Covid, there are a lot of experts out there who seem to want to shout their opinions everywhere they go. A walk down the street is a national debate.

One can’t smell a rose or down an Old Fashioned without having to listen to someone spout off about any one of dozens of topics. We are in debate mode. And these are not friendly debates. For most people, "its my way or the highway". That’s different and takes some getting used to. 

I go to the gym now. I can’t go on walks, so I am left with indoor activity. I know that sounds risky but my gym seems very safe. Gym used to be partly a social event. I met ladies and gentlemen there. Now we all wear masks and we try to stay 10 feet from each other. We actually have to work out at the gym! It's very tiring to work out for a whole hour without stopping to discuss recipes and restaurants. 

Can you imagine doing exercise with a mask on? Now that’s a change worth wondering about. We all look like we are about to hold up a 7-11. We blow spit into our masks as we try to do a few curls and a push-up or two. Before the smoke storms, we could walk outside without a mask. Now you wear your mask everywhere. Inside. Outside. I wear mine to bed. Just kidding about that one. 

Tell that to someone last January and they would have taken your driving privileges away. And how do you know how pretty a lady is while she does bench presses if she has a mask covering her face?

Working out now involves not only a mask but a cloth and a bottle of some stuff you spray on the machines to kill all those covids. Everyone is watching everyone else. Did Joe wipe down his machine sufficiently?  Did he wipe it down at all? Is he wearing his mask properly? Does it cover his nose and mouth?  Is he a Trump supporter? I am a highly active wiper-downer. I feel a little sorry for the machines. Surely they won’t last very long with all this spraying and wiping. My mask is firmly in place. I check it every seven seconds. 

Changes, yes. But where does all this end? We have smoke and covid and race relations. What’s next? Murder Hornets?