Text Only

How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

Everything is scary when you have COVID risk factors and are vulnerable. This week I decided not to go in-person to my annual physical, but to rather do that by video chat. It actually worked out well. But then the gas company knocked on my door unannounced and an unmasked technician wanted access to my house – my sanctuary – my safe place. I did not let him in. Then – my service light came on in my car – another sanctuary and safe place. I needed service and there was no alternative to that. So… I braced myself, used sheets to cover my front seats, and packed up my cleaning supplies. I stayed outside in the hot sun as my car was serviced, but even though I was in the far corner of a parking lot, it was hard to avoid unmasked people who had no regard for my safety. It was almost like they came near me for no reason and on purpose. It was enraging – but there was nothing I could do but to try to move farther away from them. When my car was done, I pulled out the cleaning supplies and cleaned off all the interior surfaces, aired out the car, and removed the sheets before driving home with the windows open. I feel like I did everything I could possibly have done – but it was unnerving and very stressful. It was a greater level of risk than I am used to so that was hard. I was exhausted when I got home – but changed my clothes and showered before I did anything else. Now that our disease numbers are good for the time being, I feel that I should take care of things to avoid problems when things get bad again. But in order to do that I have to leave my comfort zone… and that is really hard to do.