HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THE OUTBREAK? Things are crazy, right now. Are you okay? Afraid? Cautious? Mildly bothered? What are you doing in this situation? Are you staying at home? Still going out? And how do you feel about what is going on? Let me know in the comments below. Maybe we can help each other stay sane through this whole ordeal.
CORONAVIRUS IS A SERIOUS THREAT. COVID-19: Coronavirus Disease 2019. It’s a worldwide pandemic, and as of the writing of this post, there is no cure. No vaccine. You get it, and you survive or you don’t. Thankfully, a lot of us are healthy enough that it isn’t life-threatening. It’ll be like battling a bout of the flu, and then it’ll pass. But there are others, friends and loved ones, with compromised immune systems that cannot handle the virus.
THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS. Just things going through my head as I watch the events unfold across the world. I’ll start with my fears, but I’ll also end on a positive note so this post isn’t just a complete downer. But, first things first…
I’m an Introvert
I LIKE STAYING INSIDE. And during this time, we’re encouraged to stay indoors. I’m totally fine with that. I avoid people on a normal basis, shop from home when I can, and only leave the house if it’s necessary. Crowds and groups are not my things. So the idea of staying indoors is appealing to someone like me.
I’M A STAY AT HOME DAD. I have 3 children, and they’re all very young. I homeschool my daughter and my son. My youngest is a few years away from that. My wife works full time. We have one car, and I drive her to and from work, on top of maintaining everything at the house and caring for the kids. She takes care of the bills, works, and I take care of the kids and the house.
I HAVE SOCIAL ANXIETY. I hate being in crowded places, and being around a lot of people. It makes me uncomfortable. I always feel like they’re staring, judging, following me, laughing at me, looking down on me, or someone is going to flip out and do something dangerous. You can never be certain because people are crazy. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. Who knows. I guess, the right answer is, who cares? But my mind is always wondering, always turning, always making things up. This is why I love to write and create, but it’s also the source of serious social anxiety that just will not shut up.
I’M A HYPOCHONDRIAC. I have been my whole life. I always think I’m coming down with something. I research medical issues and start freaking out. Or if someone is sick, I start to feel sick, or if someone mentions I don’t look well, I don’t feel well. Long before this virus, I walked into stores and wiped down the handle of my shopping cart, and carried hand sanitizer or wipes, just in case.
I guess I should also mention that, when I was younger, I was sick all the time. I had fevers, was bedridden, with chills, more than several times every year. I use to get severe bloody noses whenever I would overheat. I also have allergies. Spring would always bring sneezing, coughing, runny noses, headaches, malaise, and lethargy. I was also really allergic to cats, grass, flowers, and dust. That may be why I turned into a hypochondriac?
SO THAT’S WHERE I’M AT. Yup, that’s a bit about me.
Fears
THIS IS SCARY. I’ll be honest, this is freaking me out. The coronavirus is the first pandemic in our lifetime. At least, for me. I can’t think of a single thing since I’ve been alive, that has threatened the entire world as this has. I’ve lived through the Iraq War, Y2K, 9/11, H1N1, Bird Flu, Mad Cow, and the Carr Fires, just to name a few. All concerning in their own right. But this? This is different.
THERE’S NO ESCAPE. This is affecting the entire world. It’s like an apocalypse. Or the start of a zombie film, but this is real. People are losing their lives and there’s nothing that can stop it. Except of course being vigilant, and maintaining safe, and proper hygiene. Or being healthy enough to fight it off. Other than that? All we can do is wait and hope that it passes.
IT’S FLU AND ALLERGY SEASON. And the coronavirus looks and feels like the flu or allergies. It’s deceptive! So any little tickle, any little cough, anything sends me into a panic. Or if I hear someone so much a wipe their nose, sneeze, or cough in public? It fills me with dread. How can you tell the difference? I watch every person that comes near me now, and I make sure they don’t show any signs of sickness. But the coronavirus can spread, even if the person has no symptoms or outward signs of having the virus. Damn. And whenever springtime rears its ugly head, I start coughing. I start sneezing. I start feeling sick. So I am sucking down allergy medicine, multivitamins, drinking water, and bundling up. Cause it’s also been really cold. Prime weather to get sick, in, in general. Damn, damn.
TOUCHING ANYTHING NOW IS SCARY. I went out late last night, to grab some groceries and other supplies, with my family. I usually go out with my daughter. She’s my shopping buddy. But last night? As I said, I have social anxiety on a normal basis and I’m a hypochondriac. I tried not to touch anyone or anything. Which is impossible! I was mindful of the shopping cart. Then I had to touch the food, and place it into my cart. Pay for it. Then place them in bags. All requiring me to touch various objects and surfaces! I made sure my daughter kept her hands to herself the whole time.
Afterward, I was mindful of touching the handle to the trunk. The handle to my driver’s side door. Touching the grocery bags. Touching the steering wheel. The shifter. My seat. And after every touch, sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. But sanitizer has been wiped out, so I don’t have any! I went out to buy some, and every place was sold out.
And when I got home, I touched the doorknob. I had to put the groceries away, but not before I washed my hands. But then I touched the grocery bags, that could have have been infected? I also touched my keys, and had to touch the faucet to turn on the water! Do you see where I’m going with this? Unless you spray disinfectant on everything, do not touch anything, sanitize after every move, it is impossible to stay sanitary. It’s maddening.
WHAT IF JOBS SHUT DOWN? My wife works, as I said. And we’re worried that if this gets any worse, we’ll be screwed. We have bills to pay. Our apartment, our car, utilities, phone, not to mention food for our whole family, 3 of which are very small children. Cities are on lockdown everywhere, and it’s just a matter of time before our city follows through, too. I agree we should! But then financially, what do we do? Right now, we can’t afford that.
WONDERING WHAT FAMILY MEMBERS ARE COMPROMISED. Me, my wife, and my kids might be all right. We’re in relatively good health. At least I think so. No underlying issues or health problems that we’re aware of. So for now at least, we should be all right. But I have friends and family that I know do have serious health issues. That I know may not be able to fight off the virus as well as we can. And that scares the crap out of me. My grandpa passed away at the beginning of the year and it devastated my family. I can’t imagine losing any one, again, so soon.
A FOOD SHORTAGE IS A REAL THING. A run on supplies has already happened, and we’re only in the beginning stages of the virus. While we can stay indoors, and our health should keep us relatively safe, there are people hoarding goods and supplies. And it pisses me off. Aside from the fact that the virus, at least in my area, isn’t as destructive/disruptive as it could/will potentially be in the next few weeks/months, people are already gathering supplies like it’s the end of the world!
Shelves are empty. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer are sold out. I thought I could go online and purchase some if I ever needed to, but even there, they’re sold out! And some members of society will need these things! Then, when everything truly hits the fans, and things go to absolute sh**, where will we be then? The selfishness of some people is infuriating!
I get it, if you have the virus and you need to be quarantined, then I can see hoarding some supplies while you stay indoors, away from society, riding the coronavirus out. Okay, sure. But if you’re in relatively good health, aren’t concerned because you’re not one of the types of people in jeopardy of the virus being fatal, but you’re still buying out all the supplies because you might need them? You are a right a-hole. Have some freaking decency and leave some supplies for the people that are most at risk. And let’s not even get into the selfish jerks that are trying to sell things at a higher price.
I went out the other night to grab some groceries. It was like 2 am. I wanted to avoid the crowds, and avoid the rush, you know? The store that’s usually 24 hours closed earlier, which I understand. They wanted to limit the time people can shop, and also give their employees a break. Awesome! But what was annoying is that, at the same time, two trucks, with giant, open, wooden trailers had parked in the parking lot, ready to go inside. Like holy crap, were they going to just ransack the store, and fill their trailers with a doomsday amount of good and groceries? Do you need an entire truck plus a trailer full of things?! Freaking people, man. I mean, I hope it was for a shelter, or a nursing home, or something like that, and not just for one person or family.
THE QUARANTINE IS FRIGHTENING. I read that the governor of our city might use hotels if the coronavirus gets out of hand. They plan to taker over some of the hotels in town, so that they can quarantine coronavirus patients inside them. That idea is scary as fug. Aside from the fact that you probably will not have a say, but who will pay your bills? Take care of your rent? Or watch your kids? People need to work. In this event, do you just lose money, lose pay, and lose your apartment/house/car? It’s a terrifying thought.
WILL THE VIRUS MUTATE? I read a tweet that said that the virus, like all viruses, has the potential to change. To adapt. And as of right now, it only really targets older people and those with a compromised immune system. But in time, if left unchecked, it can grow and evolve into something that targets everyone, if we don’t band together and do something to slow it down. That possibility is real.
So when I see something, like when that one city was supposed to be quarantined, but instead went out and decided to take a holiday at the beach? And now the number of infected spiked because of it? Like dude, are you serious? People not being careful, or considerate, or smart, with such a deadly pandemic pisses me right off! We have to be smarter than that. Come on!
I went to pick my wife up from work yesterday. The bars and a lot of the restaurants in town have closed or closed early. There’s a mandate that no gatherings over 50 people can take place, and we’re encouraged to stay indoors. Yes, I agree.
Well, I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for my wife, and an influx of people showed up? Then, a group parked their cars next to mine. I at first thought it was a group of teenagers and high schoolers. Until I looked and it was all college-age adults! There were 3 cars, and they all just gathered outside in a huddle, laughing, shouting, hugging, high fiving, and just gathering outside. Hanging out. I guess since the bars and most places were closed, they decided to find the parking of one of the only open businesses, to chill. Outside. In the open. Together.
I was like what in the actual fug? We’re trying to slow the virus down! Go home. Stay inside. It’s just for now. If we can slow this down, and be smart about it, this won’t last long. But it’s people like this that will draw out and spread the epidemic because they were too stubborn to listen.
What to Learn
PEOPLE SUCK. I just wanted to get this out of the way. This virus will bring out the best and the worst in people. Before this happened, a lot of people were selfish a-holes. And odds are a lot of those same people will continue to be selfish a-holes, and will just escalate their bullsh** without thought or reason. It’s unfortunate. And I hope that I’m wrong.
LIFE IS SHORT. We all know that life eventually ends, but sometimes it happens sooner and faster than we thought it would. The threat of tomorrow being the final day is real. We may survive the coronavirus. Then again, we might not. We have a time frame. Life is finite. And the timer never resets or stops. No matter how safe we think we are, or how far technology has come, something always happens to remind us that nothing is forever.
STOP PUTTING THINGS OFF. If there’s a project, a goal, a dream that you hope to achieve? Do it now. Don’t wait. If there’s anything we can learn from this situation, it’s that we need to stop letting our fears stop us from doing what we love or what makes us happy.
SAY I LOVE YOU. Some of us will survive. We have no idea who won’t, or when we’ll be taken. With the coronavirus, this may be the last time we see a loved one. Talk to them. Enjoy their company. So with the time that’s left, we should appreciate and cherish the ones we have. Because losing them, or them losing us, could happen.
THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS. I feel like a lot of time, online, offline, or in religion, in politics, or even in fandoms, is wasted on things that are of little importance. So much infighting. Toxicity. Hate. Bigotry. Prejudice. And for what? To prove that we’re right, or to force someone to change their mind? Change their perspective? To make THEM believe the way WE do? And for what? Right now, a virus is killing people. I don’t know, at least for me, it makes a lot of these fights trivial and petty. And I hope that this situation opens a lot of our eyes. Cause they need to be opened.
I know that for me, as you may have noticed in this post, I worry about a lot of things. Too much. I can admit that. I’m a worrywart, and it affects my everyday life. I’m trying to put everything into perspective, and I am trying to remember that are more important things to worry about. More important things to concentrate on. Because life is too short to waste on fear and hate. Too short to waste on anything that doesn’t bring you joy and happiness.
What To Do
WASH YOUR HANDS. It’s the simplest thing that you can do.
STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE. Seriously, we need to practice social distancing.
STAY INDOORS. The less contact we have with other people, the better. The virus already has the advantage, let’s take away, at least, a small amount of its power to spread so quickly.
STOP HOARDING. I get it. We’re scared. We don’t know how long this will last. But if you can help it, get what you need, and remember that some people will need it more. And when things get rough, we might be the ones searching the aisles, desperately looking for something we need to survive, and it’ll be gone. Let’s not do that to someone else.
DON’T PANIC. I know that’s easier said than done. And I’m on the verge of panic mode, honestly. I’m the last person to be telling anyone not to panic, but I say it to remind myself, too. We have things to take care of, decisions to make, and probably others looking to us for guidance and comfort. So let’s be there to prop up those around us.
LISTEN TO THE CDC OR THE WHO: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. There are a lot of publications reporting on false narratives, and using scare tactics in an attempt to get your views or clicks. It’s disgusting. Don’t listen to them or read their material. Stay up to date with sources that will give you proper information on how, and what to do, in this situation.
PRAY. Maybe you believe or maybe you don’t. I’m not here to convert you, preach to you, or tell you what to do. All I’ll say is that I believe that prayer works. I believe that there is a God that listens and that Jesus died for our sins. He’ll deliver you from this if you ask Him to. I believe that. If you don’t? That’s cool, too. You do you, my dude. I agree with your right to believe whatever you want to. But whatever it is that you believe, hold on to that. Allow it to lead you, to fill you with hope, and to help you keep moving forward. If you’re reading this, I’ll pray for you. Please take care of yourself.
Where to find information
HERE ARE SOME LINKS so that you can stay knowledgeable. Stay up to date. And make wise decisions during this pandemic.
WHO COVID-19 Updates: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
CDC COVID-19 Information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
MAP of ACTIVE Cases: https://data.vcstar.com/coronavirus/
Closing Thoughts
The only way we can beat this is if we make a conscious effort, together, to take the proper precautions to combat the coronavirus. We can do this. We can make it through. At the very least I’m hopeful.
I’m scared. I’ll admit that. I’m honestly afraid for my family, for my wife, my kids, my parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, my aunts, uncles, and loved ones. Whom will the coronavirus take first? Will it take anyone I know? And how many of us will be here when it finally blows over?
I’m hoping and praying. Trying to stay positive. But in the meantime, I’m going to be creative to help keep my mind focused. To try and stay sane. I have a series of books that I’ve been trying to write. This may be my final year. My time may almost be up. But in the time that I do have, I’ve decided that I’m going to write, and I’m going to try and finish. I’m going to love my wife, and love my kids. This won’t be the end. Not yet. And not like this.
But if it is? Then I’ll try to leave behind the best legacy that I can. That’s all I can do. And if you’re reading this? Please be safe. Take care of yourself. Don’t put yourself at risk. And may God bless you and your family in these troubled times.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading! I’ll be back with another entry next time. Stay creative and go make something! Tell the world your story, in the way that only you can. Please take care and God bless. Cheers!
**Header image is from Pixabay.com
