The idiot lights on the driver's info panel finally won: this morning I took Scarlett O'Honda in for service and general beautifying. The car ahead of me in the service bay queue had a bunch of stickers all over it, which of course I had to read. "Warning: Crabby Old Lady on Board" and "I'm Retired, Go Around Me" were among the offerings. Scarlett is a young and frisky Honda with few miles on her - unlike her owner - and doesn't have all sorts of war paint marring her surface. Her owner could use the war paint, but not the sort that's found at a car dealership. So I had time to kill and thought about risking life and limb by visiting the department store next door to the car joint. But in the end I parked my butt in the Honda waiting area for the duration and played "Musical Chairs". It was fairly crowded with only one other person wearing a face mask, and I tried to keep at least six feet away from people. Ha! First I sat at a small table, and ten minutes later a youngish and unmasked person sat down. And coughed. And coughed again. So I moved. Years ago I'd have worried about obviously avoiding someone, but the pandemic has put an end to that. There was a nice four-seat couch available, so I claimed the end seat. Soon the Crabby Old Lady also parked herself on the couch, and not on the other end. Nope, right next to me. What is with these people? So off I went again. Took a tour of the showroom, considered buying a new car, decided I didn't need a new car, took a walk outside, OMG it's still in the 20s and windy, went back to the dealership, checked out the vending machines, checked out the restroom, and then I found a nice, small table with two empty chairs. I parked butt again and prepared to defend that empty seat against all comers. Fortunately nobody else came over - I assume I was emitting "Cantankerous Old Bat" vibes. If such vibes could fend off viruses and assorted infectious agents, I could bottle 'em and get rich. I miss the days when I didn't worry about infectious agents. Last week I was talking to a couple of folks who were also waiting in the vaccine clinic observation room. We agreed that our lives have gotten much smaller as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, and we agreed that this is maybe not such a good thing. They're even more cautious than I am: they still have their food delivered while I head out to the grocery store. Granted I shop at 6:00 AM when the store opens and there are few people around, but it's still in person shopping. And I visit various doctors' offices as needed. But it's definitely a smaller life. It beats dying of covid-19, but there are tradeoffs that I may end up regretting. Some things haven't changed, though. The couple waiting with me talked about their granddaughter who's a freshman at a state university and who would be coming home for the holidays soon. They both lit up as they talked about her. Human connections are hard to squelch, and they survive even the most determined pandemics. And thank heaven for that. Comments are closed.
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