Remember that scary movie from the 90s that everyone thought was real? A group of teenagers making video diaries. Each clip gets scarier and the teenagers become more desperate as the movie goes on. I find myself comparing my experience to quarantine like a survival video diary. Each day the hope and optimism chips away, and soon you’re just trying to grip onto your sanity as much as possible.
So here is the COVID project:
It was on Monday that we began to quarantine. Patient zero had received confirmation that COVID had breached our house which meant we had to stay put for 14 days. Thankfully on Sunday, we had a big grocery run so we had food to last us through the week and optimistically I believed that the two weeks would go by quickly...what a fool.
Day three was when I started to doubt the strength of my spirit. I had nothing to watch on Netflix and I began to feel symptoms of COVID. I made an appointment, but they only had slots for Saturday. So, the entire week would be me battling my anxiety of whether I was going crazy or if I actually was sick. Also our grocery run did not last as long as we hoped. My dad started to hoard the bread by hiding it in the garage freezer. I rationed my favorite snacks and hid them behind some old dishes. Good to know that when it comes down to survival, I can’t trust my family.
Day four was when I began to lose it completely. I missed walking through the aisles of Target. I was so desperate for human interaction outside my immediate family that I thought of calling a friend instead of texting (As a Gen Z, thats pretty desperate). I hate using zoom for all my classes. I began to feel anxious that I was missing important information and that I'm falling behind. I hate being the only giant face on the screen it makes me feel like an alien from Star Trek. Our dog has never been happier to have us all home, but the cat has taken refuge in our guest bedroom.
It was day five when my snacks had gone missing. When I confronted my dad had the audacity to tell me I was overacting and to have a banana. I was really tired and my symptoms worsened. After finishing my only class for the day I slept. This was a mistake because then I spent most of the night trying to pin down who ate my snacks. I think it was patient zero, but I had to be sure otherwise I would be called heartless. The dog is tired of two walks a day and we can't find the cat.
We end the blog on day six. I’ve had my COVID test and I’m impatiently waiting for the results. I feel like I should place an assault charge on the test side for violating my brain. As for activities to fill the time, I've started to read from the pile of books I promised I would get to when I had time. It took six days to start, but let's give myself some credit. Symptoms are a bit better, but my muscles ache like I’ve been involved in a fight. Patient zero is out of their room and as I suspected they were the culprit of the missing snacks. The dog wants some time alone and we suspect that cat has moved away.