It’s been a while

I haven’t blogged in over a year. A lot has happened in that year, but any time I thought about blogging I felt afraid for some reason.

Now, of course, so many of us are quarantining ourselves at home, and I have a lot on my mind, so why not write something here and tell you what’s on my mind.

I’m as okay as a person can be during the time of COVID19. It’s a shame that it took a pandemic for me to finally get the chance to work from home. I’ve wanted a wfh job for years, and applied for several before I landed my current office job in July 2017. Since then myself and a few others have mentioned to our management that we want to see it implemented in our office. We’re in telecom, and our job duties don’t require us to be physically present there. Now a pandemic is going on, and suddenly all of us were authorized to take our entire work PCs home. I’ve only been working from home a day and a half, but it’s been nice.

Things are changing so fast. The way our government and health professionals and educators are handling this is a strange mix of impressed and disappointed. My friends in education are doing their best for their students and school districts, and I’m so proud of them. I look at our healthcare system and wonder why there are people who still don’t support universal healthcare. I look at our government who can funnel over a trillion dollars into the wealthy elite’s pockets but can’t find the funds to support public college or healthcare, or support those who have been let go and laid off from work due to their place of employment closing.

I see no reason we can’t always make these accommodations for people, to take care of each other the way we are now. People in other countries are performing concerts on the balconies and singing to each other. Rounding up supplies for those who can’t leave their homes to get those things themselves. Washing our damn hands. Free educational materials that used to be locked behind a paywall. Allowing people to work remotely (something people with disabilities and immune issues especially benefit from).

So far I’m doing okay. Being alone isn’t that hard for me; as an introvert, I have prepared my whole life for this moment. However I have slacked off in my prepper habits, so in that way I’m not quite as prepared in that way. I have food, and toilet paper, and a tiny washing machine so I should be good for a while before I need to order anything for pick-up.

Mostly I’m worried about my friends who can’t avoid working near other people, and can’t work from home. I worry that the people around them won’t be careful. I worry about this getting worse before it gets better. I remind myself that worrying doesn’t change anything, and in a way, worrying is like praying for something that you don’t want to happen. Sometimes if you expect the worst then the worst will happen, so I’ve been trying to focus on the good things. I look forward to it getting better instead of worrying about it getting worse, which takes effort, and it is something I have to intentionally do, but it’s helping me.

We can be good to each other, and we can do better. We’re getting there. Take care of yourselves, and take care of one another. If you can, donate money to your local food bank. Look out for our most vulnerable folks. Drink lots of water and wash your hands.

I love you all. Be safe.