Friends and family know I’m going more than a little stir-crazy as I shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is ironic in that, as a freelance writer, I generally spend most of my time in my house anyway.
I have it much better than most people. Though my Saintly Wife Barb must still go to work at the MetroHealth facility in Parma, Ohio, her building doesn't have any coronavirus patients and, because it’s not set up for such patients, is safe. Knock on wood.
Eddie and Kelly, our wonderful children, work from their own homes. Eddie has to visit his projects on occasion, but, as those are all outside projects, his risk is minimal. Roads still need to be built and maintained.
Kelly is an analyst for a major bank and has been doing that work from her home since long before the current crisis. The only real change is that she used to go into the office occsionally.
We get together once or twice a week for a family dinner. Hugs are rare, but at least we’re in the same place for a few precious hours. To date, none of us have shown any symptoms.
What fascinates me most about this situation is how many things we took for granted are off the table for the foreseeable future. It’s the little things that surprise me the most. Like that I can’t get a bacon and egg bagel at McDonald’s. That, while I used to gas up my SUV and go to Denny’s for a make-your-own-grand-slam breakfast, I can’t do that. That, while I used to, on rare occasions, get ahead on my work and treat myself to an afternoon pizza and a movie at our local Regal Cinemas multiplex, that theater is closed and will remain so for quite some time. It doesn’t surprise me that all of the above have happened. It surprises me that they now mean so much to me.
Of course, the comics industry and the entertainment industries in general have taken major hits during the pandemic. No comic books being distributed by Diamond. Comics writers, artists and staffers being laid off. Many TV shows that will not complete their current seasons as planned. Movies being pushed back to whenever theaters open again as filming on other movies has been halted. Newscasters, pundits and talk show hosts are broadcasting their shows from their living rooms. The technology we used to accuse of keeping us apart from the world is now what connects us to the world.
I’m going to be writing these little slices of pandemic life on a regular basis. I’m going to avoid politics in them because we all know what a partisan shit show our criminal president is performing for his rabid base. And with that...
What you’ll see in this recurring feature are notions that come to me as I work on this and that. Maybe I’ll write about something I see in my neighborhood. Maybe I’ll write about some crazy craving that hits me. Maybe I’ll write about some old and new comic books as I go through my Vast Accumulation of Stuff. I won’t know what I will be writing until I write it.
Please stay safe, my dear friends.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
I have it much better than most people. Though my Saintly Wife Barb must still go to work at the MetroHealth facility in Parma, Ohio, her building doesn't have any coronavirus patients and, because it’s not set up for such patients, is safe. Knock on wood.
Eddie and Kelly, our wonderful children, work from their own homes. Eddie has to visit his projects on occasion, but, as those are all outside projects, his risk is minimal. Roads still need to be built and maintained.
Kelly is an analyst for a major bank and has been doing that work from her home since long before the current crisis. The only real change is that she used to go into the office occsionally.
We get together once or twice a week for a family dinner. Hugs are rare, but at least we’re in the same place for a few precious hours. To date, none of us have shown any symptoms.
What fascinates me most about this situation is how many things we took for granted are off the table for the foreseeable future. It’s the little things that surprise me the most. Like that I can’t get a bacon and egg bagel at McDonald’s. That, while I used to gas up my SUV and go to Denny’s for a make-your-own-grand-slam breakfast, I can’t do that. That, while I used to, on rare occasions, get ahead on my work and treat myself to an afternoon pizza and a movie at our local Regal Cinemas multiplex, that theater is closed and will remain so for quite some time. It doesn’t surprise me that all of the above have happened. It surprises me that they now mean so much to me.
Of course, the comics industry and the entertainment industries in general have taken major hits during the pandemic. No comic books being distributed by Diamond. Comics writers, artists and staffers being laid off. Many TV shows that will not complete their current seasons as planned. Movies being pushed back to whenever theaters open again as filming on other movies has been halted. Newscasters, pundits and talk show hosts are broadcasting their shows from their living rooms. The technology we used to accuse of keeping us apart from the world is now what connects us to the world.
I’m going to be writing these little slices of pandemic life on a regular basis. I’m going to avoid politics in them because we all know what a partisan shit show our criminal president is performing for his rabid base. And with that...
What you’ll see in this recurring feature are notions that come to me as I work on this and that. Maybe I’ll write about something I see in my neighborhood. Maybe I’ll write about some crazy craving that hits me. Maybe I’ll write about some old and new comic books as I go through my Vast Accumulation of Stuff. I won’t know what I will be writing until I write it.
Please stay safe, my dear friends.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
