It was the best of times; it was the worst of times......Tale of two cities

What matters most?

Pandemic reminds me of the quote in the “Tale of Two Cities novel Charles Dickens novel, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belier, it was the epoch of incredulity…..

I can relate to each of these statements as I’m sure you can as well. Where we live in Eastern Pennsylvania all hell broke loose with pandemic. The Governor Tom Wolfe was embroiled in a lawsuit for making the best decisions he could to keep our state safe during rising covid-19 spread. The state could not keep enough ventilators for the critically ill covid infected residents. The supply chain went bananas as product sat out at sea, the workforce transitioned to either work from home, or termination, the wealth of the nation took a tremendous hit and is struggling to recover, and we could go on and on about the impact of the last 2 years.

It impacted me before I even knew what was happening, and most certainly dodged the bullet of being quarantined at sea on my 8-day cruise that started January 15th through the 24th, 2020. My shipmates say that a notice was put under our door to alert us to a public health issue and new protocols were being instituted. I don’t recall seeing that notice, but I did become aware the things changed on the 17th food floor where instead of using the handwashing stations staff were positioned so that you could not pass them without them spraying your hands with sanitizer.

When we disembarked, we didn’t’ have any difficulties either there or at the airport, we flew safely didn’t hear anything about a pandemic until February and then it wasn’t high alert, it was like oh folks are getting sick, then by March 4th, we were in a full-fledged pandemic. Sometimes I wonder if we could have gotten ahead of this thing, but there’s no need in speculating, blaming, or looking back unless it’s for learning purposes.

It changed my outlook, attitude, and perspective, my entire life changed. Getting up in the morning, showering, driving into work when the world was quarantined at home was imperative for me to do, quarantine was not an option for me. Beset with conspiracy theories and anxiety it became vital to my survival that I maintain as much normalcy as humanly possible. That meant coming to work. I needed work and home to be two different addresses, I also needed a routine that resembled as much as possible pre-pandemic. Most mornings I was the ONLY vehicle on the road coming and going, it looked like a futuristic ghost town. As afraid as I was it was my only option at maintaining my sanity. Luckily for me there were essential workers in the building for the little socialization and human interaction available to me and for that I am eternally grateful. I’d like to say the worst is over, but I don’t believe that to be true. For now, though, life seems almost normal. Be safe my friends and we’ll talk next week.

-Kim