Social Distancing is an Introvert’s Dream!!
The notion of solitary confinement doesn’t scare me. On any given day, I beg for it!
I’m not minimizing the devastation and panic by any means. My heart goes out to the people who are in unhappy marriages or victims of domestic abuse and most likely feeling trapped right now, and the thousands of people who are getting treated for the virus are in a very scary situation.
Us writers like to look at the other side of things, and that’s what this is about!
Anyone who knows me knows that if it were up to me, I’d never leave the house. The only reason I go anywhere is out of necessity, and it’s either to attend a family event, funeral, visit friends for happy hour, take my cats to the vet, replenish my beer supply, get a massage, or vote. I have grocery delivery, Chewy.com for my cats’ needs, and as I don’t cook, I have several personal chefs preparing fabulous meals that DoorDash is more than happy to bring to me!
As a freelancer and writer working from home, I don’t go anywhere anyway, and it cracks me up that virtually everyone I know is checking up on me to make sure I’m not affected. Have you met me?? Three feet of snow on the way? Bring it on! 100%+ or -30% temps? No problem! High wind advisory? I’m covered! Coronavirus? Hey, my liquor store guy is fully stocked with Corona beer! I kid, I kid, this is certainly a less than ideal scenario and a tragedy for our globe, but any reason to stay hunkered down is fine by me.
There are downsides, of course. Introverts hate small talk, and to me, the coronavirus is warranting the same conversation over and over. I consider small talk to be anything that everyone already knows about, and since it’s plastered on all the networks, I’m pretty sure we all get it.
Come to think of it, I suppose I have been quiet about my introvert personality. There are a few of my family and friends who don’t pay attention to that type of thing, mostly because I have responded right away in the past. They don’t hear the “WHAT IS IT NOW?” tantrum when my phone tells me I have a text. Extroverts love the constant social interaction and fast paced society. I hate it. I hate that when I’m just trying to focus on an article, my phone beeps at me. I hate that when I just sit down to eat dinner, another text comes in. I hate that when I’ve finally gotten lost in my favorite television show, that darn phone lights up again. Literally — I can’t so much as go to the bathroom without someone needing something from me. The idea of a restful nap is a distant memory.
“Why don’t you just mute your phone or turn it off?” You ask…
I would love nothing more. But emergencies happen and I need to be available in case my family needs me.
The truth is, I hate being “checked on”. I’m not isolated, depressed, bored, or lonely. To me, no news is good news, and I don’t like talking about myself much. With so many people infected by this virus, I don’t know anyone who has it, thank God. And if I had it, everyone who loves me would know, so what’s to talk about?
I understand that for a great deal of the population, this type of direction to stay home has thrown most into a panic and people are losing their minds going stir crazy.
What am I doing? Loving every minute of it! The only thing that has changed is that I don’t need to keep track of my calendar until April 7th! I have plenty of toilet paper, soap, cleaning products, and dish gloves to last me until 2021, but hey, that’s pretty standard in my household, too, and I was stocked up before the virus hit.
My cats do look quite funny in their face masks, but I can’t get them to listen to reason. Such is the life of a cat mommy!
Thanks for reading! And remember — Smart people read. Smarter people write!
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