3/20/2020

One of my authors is assembling a collection of works by various other authors to explore "the human experience" of the COVID-19 pandemic. She's chopping the entries down to a page each, but I wrote more and wanted to delve into some of the sociopolitical/economic issues that come to light under the current situation, at least from my perspective.

A week before SF Bay Area counties issued their "Shelter in Place" order, I moved into an apartment with my husband. We were so busy with the move that we missed the memo on hoarding toilet paper. Thankfully, I like to use a bicycle water bottle as a bidet, so that wasn't an issue for me. My husband, on the other hand, said that wouldn't work for him because his bits were in the way. Thankfully, my parents spotted us a few rolls.

I had spells of stress-related nausea shortly before and after the move. In addition to moving, I had to coordinate volunteers for a big event. However, all that fell flat when the event got canceled. I'm sad for the participants who won't get to present their projects, but honestly it came as a huge relief. The pressure to coordinate the event went away, and so did the nausea.

Two days before the "Shelter in Place" order came out, my husband came down with a cold, and I had to cancel a date with one of my lovers. I was really excited about showing him our new place and maybe seeing if he wanted to move in with us. After all, this lover came to our wedding! However, my husband says he likes my newer lover better because he seems more financially stable.

Lovers aside, the "Shelter in Place" order came as more of a relief than anything else. I'm glad we have time to adjust to our new routines. I work from home anyway, and Husband works at an essential business. We don't have a coffee maker yet, so I've been making "cowboy coffee" on the stove to send with him to work. We managed to pick up a 2-quart saucepan and a ladle before stores shut down, and I've been using that multiple times daily for tea and soup in addition to coffee.

I've shown no cold symptoms. We don't know if my husband's cold is COVID-19 or not, but he's recovering well. If there are any test kits in our county, they are not available to us. My husband got worried, and we took an excursion to a local medical lab. When we got there, nobody was in the office, and a sign told us to go away if we were looking for COVID-19 tests. I'd figured that would be the case based on what I'd gleaned from social media, but my husband talked to his supervisor, who recommended he get tested.

Most of my friends did not read the entire "Shelter in Place" order. I did, and this is the part that matters most to me:

A couple of years ago, I was living a very sedentary lifestyle. I started waking up with excruciating upper back pain that would magically dissipate 10-15 minutes after getting up. Since that experience, I've made sure to incorporate a walk into my daily routine every day, without exceptions. The back pain hasn't bothered me since. Therefore, even with the order, I'm taking a daily walk. It's essential to my health. With so few people on the sidewalks anyway, it's easy to stay six feet away from other humans.

My brother-in-law, without actually reading the order, assumed that I couldn't take walks and told me so over the phone. Ladies and gentlemen, please do your research before panicking. This is not a government conspiracy to control us. I would also like to mention that the executive orders to stay home are not coming from Trump but from governors, mayors, and county supervisors in response to World Health Organization reports. In fact, many people are appalled by how slowly Trump has responded to the pandemic.

As I was typing this, I got a text from my phone company saying that they are upgrading me to free unlimited data until 5/13/2020 as part of their COVID-19 response. The funny thing is that I use a flip phone and a desktop computer, so I have no need of unlimited data through my phone company, but it is a nice gesture for those who need it. It's T-Mobile in case any of you need it.

That reminds me: my internet was spotty the morning after the "Shelter in Place" order took effect. My husband and I took that as our cue to take a walk, and we saw people from our internet company outside tinkering with the lines. When we got back home, the internet was back to normal. I'm happy that telecommunications are considered essential in this time.

Housing Issues

Housing is outrageously expensive here, but Husband and I moved out because my parents are doing some construction. Living in this one-bedroom apartment will drain our savings unless we can get someone to take up residence in the living room. We wanted a studio but couldn't find one with a kitchenette. My newer lover's parents showed us a one-bedroom place with a kitchenette that was less expensive but too small for me to work from home. This place is larger than we need, so we're looking for someone to crash with us.

A formerly homeless friend is living in my parents' garage, and he'll have to move out during the construction too. The original plan was to have him move into the apartment, but he chickened out when it came time for a credit check. He works in food service and will be a hazard to my parents, who are over sixty. This is the fourth time our family has taken in a non-relative in need to help them get back on their feet. One of those times was one of my classmates during our senior year of high school. This present one is someone I barely knew in high school, but I saw that he was homeless on Facebook, and my family made the decision to take him in around the dinner table. My mother has been giving him lots of financial advice, he now has a decent amount of money in savings, and he could in theory move out now if it weren't for those pesky credit checks.

Thankfully, after the construction is done, my husband and I will have an affordable two-bedroom unit in which to raise kids. My parents are also replacing the garage with a legal studio apartment (with a kitchenette) that they can legally rent to our friend. My mother is appalled by housing prices and is taking steps to provide affordable housing not only to me and my husband but also to a person in need, whether that be the friend currently living in our garage or someone else in the future.

On a more optimistic note, I think this COVID-19 situation is a great opportunity for humanity to re-evaluate its priorities. I work from home anyway, and my husband works in a factory that produces essential goods, so both of us are still working. Many people in my profession drive to work every day, wasting countless hours of everyone's time as the roads clog with cars. The internet has eliminated the need for many professionals to commute, yet many employers still demand it. Working from home allows me to cook and make coffee for my husband so we can save money, eat healthier, and spend more time together. My hope is that, after this, employers will let more of their employees work from home. Large office buildings will be converted to apartments, and housing prices will go down. Perhaps someone somewhere is converting an office building to an emergency homeless shelter as we speak!

Closing Note: If you like this idea and want to support spreading it, please share this anywhere you can. I also have this posted in my nonfiction book on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/852368910-shut-up-i-have-a-phone-call-covid-19  If you vote by clicking/tapping the little star, we can help spread the word together! The more votes it has, the higher it will appear in search results.