J'ai vecu.

On March 27th, Alex gave me a buzz cut.

My dad made it back to the US.  Alex went to pick him up at O’Hare early this morning and it was a complete ghost town.  Idk if any of you have been to O’Hare, but it’s a MASSIVELY busy airport that won’t let you park at arrivals for more than 10 seconds before you’re shooed away.  Alex sat at arrivals for 15 minutes.  He saw only two or three other cars.

Illinois is now under a shelter-in-place policy.  No leaving the house except for anything deemed essential.  All businesses and operations must close except for those that are--once again--essential.  All gatherings of more than 10 people are banned.  Yup.  Banned.

And yes, I think this is a good thing.

I know at least four people here in the US who most likely have the dreaded beer virus.  The US is shit at testing, but yeah.  Four people.  At least.

Alex and I are very lucky for a number of reasons:

1)  We both work in IT, which has exploded in sales because of companies scrambling to buy work-from-home software (WebEx, Citrix, etc.).  Neither of us are worried in the slightest about losing our jobs.

2)  We’ve been working from home full-time for a while.  Alex has been WFH since early 2017, I’ve been WFH since October.  No adjustment period for us; WFH without IRL coworker interaction is the accepted and happy norm.

3)  Since IT is a lucrative vocation we’re doing very well financially.  We aren’t rich, but we’re extremely comfortable and have quite a bit in our savings account.

4)  We live in a house.  We don’t have to worry about germs on laundry machines, keys, or outside doors.

5)  We live in a quiet, semi-rural neighbourhood.  And beyond that: we live in a cul de sac.  Even before this shit I’ve seen maybe...two vehicles on average drive down our street. 6)  I have hygiene-fixated OCD.*  So we were well-stocked on hand sanitizers, toilet paper, and soap before this shitstorm.

7)  We are both introverts and homebodies by nature.  We love to host parties!...but only if our friends visit our house.  We love to have friends over!...but only if they visit our house.

8)  And even as introverts, we’re able to stay focused and attentive without outside interaction for long periods of time.  I read, I watch playthroughs, I watch trashy TV, I listen to music.  Alex reads and has a solid online friend group with which he games.

9)  We are very, very well-armed.  I know this sounds super ‘Merica!, but I fear panic-driven people more than I fear coronavirus.  And I may be a ~bad liberal~ but guns make me feel safe.  Alex is a sharp shooter and I’m not too bad myself.

10)  Not to be a braggart, but we’re both smarter than the average bear.  We complement each other intellectually.  We always act as a team; logic as opposed to emotion, calm as opposed to panic; listening to scientists as opposed to politicians.

We will be okay.

I’m just worried about everyone else who isn’t as privileged.