Surviving Quarantine

So, 2020 was perhaps the worst year on record--in my lifetime anyway. Enduring a global pandemic and suffering through quarantine after quarantine seems like the end of the world. Will it ever end??

I am an introverted homebody by nature. However, not wanting to go somewhere as opposed to not being able to go anywhere is completely different. Being stuck at home because you have to be is complete torture! I feel bad for those out-going people like the poor twenty-something singles that now can't be meeting their significant others at nightclubs and bars anymore and now have to endure the whole social media dating game.

On the internet, you can be anything you want to be. Even I could portray myself out there like a hoochie-mama with my boobs hanging out and taking photos of my butt with my back arched just to make it look bigger. I could even lie and say that I am a rich doctor or lawyer. Or I could even be a catfish and post a picture of a steamy hot Brazilian model as my profile picture.

That is not my reality, though. I am happily married (most days) and a mom of three amazing children (also most days). My reality is rolling out of bed and getting the kids up in time so they can make it on their zoom call in time. It is a good day when all of them are showered with their hair combed and they have been able to have finished their breakfast before the day’s remote learning begins. I stay in my pajamas all day until I finally drag myself into the shower sometime in the afternoon. My face stays makeup-free and my hair in a mom bun. I try to curb the temptation to binge eat just because I’m bored. The on-going joke from my husband of me sitting on the sofa watching soaps and eating bon-bons is not far off from the truth these days.

If I allowed myself to, I could adapt to the “quarantine style” very easily. Although this style can be suitable for inside the house, I would not be caught dead out in public with it. What is this so-called “quarantine style” you ask? Let me explain.

The current highlight of my week is getting to go to the grocery store. I don’t think I have ever been so excited to go grocery shopping before the pandemic. I get showered and dressed up like I am going to the prom. I put on my full-blown face with lashes and everything. All this just because I get to go somewhere other than my own living room. Bottom line, when I can finally get out and about, I want to feel pretty, all fixed up, and ready to be in the presence of other human beings.

Now, the “quarantine style” I mentioned above is a specific look that lazy people have adopted as normal. Those people think it is quite ok to go out in public the way they have been in the house all day. Obviously, everyone must wear masks. We can’t help that one. But I cannot tell you how many people I have seen with slippers on their feet and rags or bonnets on their heads out in public. I get that maybe you need to run to the store to get a couple of items, but that does not mean we all have to see what your pajamas look like. And, not to mention the smell! If I can smell you through my own mask, I know you have not showered in at least two days. Ugh! If you step out like this in public, how much worse could you be at home?

I am so done with this whole quarantining thing and once everything blows over and things start getting back to a real sense of normal, I am going to make a point to get out and do so much more than I ever did before. You never really know what you are missing until you don’t have it anymore. I hope this pandemic has taught us all a lot. And I hope that “quarantine style” dies with the quarantine itself.