Health and Sanity Check-Ins

[sprocketta]

Things are crazy now. I think we are all trying to stay healthy and maintain sanity as well. I thought I would start this thread so folks can check in and discuss how they're doing. I want all my BIC friends to be okay. I will kick this off with a first post. Take care of yourself lovelies.

[CookieGirl1]

@blackkitty2014 I understand your frustration. I guess I'm feeling as though the only way we're ever going to get things back to "normal" is if we start allowing things to open and all just make very conscious, deliberate decisions to be respectful of each other. We can't stay holed up in our houses forever; that isn't going to solve anything. It will definitely be a nationwide concerted effort but I hope that people can be mindful and not take advantage of this situation in a negative way.

[Samtian]

Oh I forgot to mention, all our 4th of July and annual summer stuff are still canceled though. 

[WinglessOne]

@CookieGirl1  I’m actually feeling very anxious about all the states reopening businesses now. I’ve seen enough examples of adults making incompetent decisions to know it’s too soon to open everything up yet. It seems a lot of people still don’t understand how viral spread works or realize this isn’t just about themselves. 

There’s a meme floating around about generation x being the last gen standing after this pandemic dies down, because we’re the latchkey kid generation. Even the most extroverted among us can find ways to entertain ourselves at home and ride this “lockdown” out all year, if necessary. (I use the word “lockdown” loosely, because some folks who use it to describe stay-at-home orders have probably never experienced actual imprisonment—be it jail, prison, or internment camp—and, therefore, have no idea what a true lockdown is like.) I’m starting to think it’s true. Finally, our time has come! 😄 

[ShortErica]

@WinglessOne your post makes me think of the shopping cart theory. Basically people aren't forced to do it - there is no reward or punishment attached and well, I'm sure we've all seen them scattered around parking lots. Unfortunately we can't rely on people to make good decisions. I'm waiting to see data in a few weeks after reopenings.

[ather]

@ShortErica  I’m with you. I’m anxiously waiting to see the stats in 2 weeks. I remember saying I bet there will be a spike after Easter weekend and I was right. I bet we will see another spike!

[ShortErica]

@ather I hope there won't be one but if there is, yeah, not too surprising.

[pocketvenus]

@WinglessOne Same here. Even in a full state of emergency, there are people not properly distancing and taking egregious risks. The lack of careful behaviour is a slap in the face for frontline workers who are taking enormous risks for the rest of society.

[MissPuff]

@pocketvenus , @WinglessOne  Did you all see the cafe in Castle Rock, CO that was completely PACKED on Mother's Day and not a single person, employee or customer, was wearing a face mask. Just absolutely blows my mind. 

I'll be honest, if people aren't willing to do the BARE MINIMUM of wearing a mask in public, there is no WAY I'm trusting them to act responsibility regarding COVID-19. Though I'm chuckling at the latchkey generation comment, I totally feel this 🙂 Amuse yourself for several hours every day without burning down the house? It's like my entire childhood 🙂 I got this!

[WinglessOne]

 @MissPuff  @pocketvenus  Incidents like that are why I have such little faith in the general public’s ability to take precautions without any enforcement. 🤦‍♀️ I don’t want to see more people die or become chronically and seriously ill for the rest of their lives after contamination by others who insist their personal freedoms are more important than the general public’s wellbeing. Or, by folks who think “whatever dude, everyone dies eventually so why not take the risk and not do even the bare minimum to avoid viral spread, yolo!” 

I can’t imagine how frustrating and defeating this is for healthcare workers. I mean, I’m super bleepin’ frustrated, but I don’t have to see and try to save infected patients every day, while watching scores of other people pretend everything’s normal and go about their lives without masks or appropriate distancing. 

Illinois, like several other states, now has a phased plan to reopen. Chicago’s plan is slightly stricter than the overall state guidance, and it’s data driven, not based on “but muh freedoms r bein violated & folks need to die for the dow!” As data shows viral spread is slowing, things will start to reopen—with reasonable precautions in place. I don’t understand why some people think stay-at-home is a permanent thing, or why they don’t see the correlation between their irresponsibility and the length of stay-at-home orders. 

[pocketvenus]

@WinglessOne @MissPuff 

The reality is that while most people in Toronto have been isolating, there is still enough community spread requiring ongoing restrictions. I mean, there are those being ignorant or selfish, but even if those people were to miraculously change or fined into stopping, I suspect there are too many who do not have the capacity to follow expectations. Like, I don't think it's realistic to expect kids and teens to follow stringent standards. Or there are people who don't have access to things like safe and legal housing to isolate in or the ability to spend their income on masks and so on. One of my family members treats people with mental health issues and dementia who can't grasp what's going on.

Ultimately, it seems to me that it's only through increasing accessibility to PPE, robust testing and contact tracing that we can responsibly speed up the path to opening up.

I also think these historically high unemployment rates are going to seriously impact public health and people's wellbeing if there is no long-term relief coming like rent and loan forgiveness, universal basic income, and so on. There's no doubt in my mind that the financial stress of the lockdown is going to shorten lifespans and increase chronic disease for some people. The lasting damage this shutdown will cause our educational and cultural institutions also needs to be considered. Opening up isn't just about saving the economy or having the freedom to do as one pleases in my mind. "In between a rock and a hard place."

I feel for our leaders who are responsible for making wise decisions when there are no precedents and so many unknowns. I don't know how they sleep at night, the pressure, the lives in the balance. We can only hope that decisions are based on research and evidence and are not politically or ideologically motivated! The responsible path forward is simply not related to any individual's feelings or personal desires.

[WinglessOne]

@pocketvenus  Oh, there are definitely people who honestly can’t easily isolate, and there will be economic fallout across the board (well, except for the very wealthy). As someone who has an anxiety disorder, I can relate to some of the folks who’ll come out of this with a newly diagnosed mental illness. My anxiety brain has come up with 1000s of potential bad consequences regarding people’s longterm physical and mental health, future access to healthcare (as sucky as the American healthcare system’s been for decades, I’m sure it can get even worse), housing situations, educational disruptions, small businesses lost forever and the impact on communities, even worse societal divisions than already exist here in the US, environmental impact—or rather, the reversal of certain environmental gains made during human self-isolation (gee, who’d have ever guessed)—this is what it’s like in my head pretty much every night at bedtime, and at various points throughout most days, whether or not a pandemic is happening. 😄 😞 

I agree that more testing, contact tracing, and PPE access is a must. Of course, there’d perhaps be less contact tracing required if more people self-isolated and/or took the basic minimum safety precautions while out and about. But with so much disregard by so many people already... There are a couple of US schools creating contact tracer courses, hoping to build a potential workforce of folks who aren’t already in the healthcare industry. I expect to see more of those kinds of job/career pivots this year. A lot of us will have to find ways to adapt to post-pandemic life. I just hope we can reach “post-pandemic” before too many more lives are lost. 

[pocketvenus]

@WinglessOne Yes, that we have so many who cannot reasonably follow protocols is why lifting bans makes me worry for our healthcare system and frontline workers. And of course there will be those who have the ability to do so but won't anyway. Some people just will not countenance the reality that a small risk to them will result in a massive risk for others. Reading about countries like Germany that have had a spike in cases after loosening restrictions is troubling.

I am definitely already seeing businesses in Toronto shift as you say. Some will need to change dramatically and new kinds of jobs will be created. To be honest, I am hoping that we do not go back to normal because what was normal before was not working for a great many people and we can see how this has really damaged our ability to fight this pandemic and save lives. We have the opportunity to improve things and make ourselves more resilient to future shocks.

[MissPuff]

@WinglessOne  Amen to this entire post 🙂 Seriously, times a million 🙂 

[Anastasiya13]

Its been about more then a month since I updated.....or at least I think it has, since  I am getting a bit lost with time during all this. Everything has been mostly good, in the sense that no one from my family is sick. Yesterday however I found out that my bfs sister is positive for COVID, even though she is showing no symptoms. She only tested because someone at her job was positive with symptoms, so they decided to test everyone else at the store. Hopefully, she wont show any symptoms either, and it will just go away. Other then that I been having my up and down days, sometimes the days have been feeling really long and I just been feeling lonely, other days have been more positive, and time goes by quickly.

   I try to make a few trips out here and there, just go to to the store and get some groceries, or try to find some items such as hand sanitizer, gloves, and clorex wipes. Other then that I just been at home, and trying to keep occupied with whatever I find or figure out. Just this week I decided to do a deep cleaning of my house, some online shopping, and also play around with makeup. I also joined fabfitfun, since I got to try out a starter box, and enjoyed it. I am a bit worried about where my job stands, because if they dont do schooling on campus, I will most likely loose my job for good. The company however has nothing to tell us at the moment, since the school districts are unsure of what or how they will be doing this upcoming school year.

  All I can say is this is a bit of a scary time, especially since no one knows what the results of all of this will be. I wish everyone stays safe, and healthy.

[blackkitty2014]

@Anastasiya13 I hope your bf sister recovers quickly and safely. I’m so sorry about your job. Hanging in there. Sending you lots of positive vibes. I’m tired of the whole thing. Hopefully things will get back to normal to all of us soon ❤️

[Anastasiya13]

@blackkitty2014  Thank you, I appreciate it. Oh yes, I am tired of this too, but sadly it does not look like things will be getting back to normal anytime soon, at least from what I read and heard on the news. Stay safe hon ❤️

[ather]

@Anastasiya13  I hope your Bfs sister gets well fast. I’m with you. I’ve been doing a deep clean of my house while I’ve been home too. I’m still working but I’m just in my house more then I use to be!! I hope you get some good news on your job. Hopefully things will start to open soon. 

[Anastasiya13]

@atherThank you, I appreciate it. Oh yes a deep clean is almost a bit necessary, especially when being stuck at home, and having to look at it every day. Oh yes, hopefully things open up soon, but not too soon, especially if they are expecting things to get worse in the winter. Stay safe hon

[GG84]

@Anastasiya13 

I am sorry about your bf’s sister. Hopefully she makes a full recovery. It’s a blessing that it was caught before she spread it to other members of her family. 
I hear you on the job front. I had a hard talk with my now former employer and it was decided my lay off was permanent. With distancing restrictions in place there would just not be a way for me to continue and online education has taken over (product/technical education for salons). Nothing like starting over. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@GG84 I'm sorry to hear about your lay-off being permanent.  Thinking of you!

[Anastasiya13]

@GG84  Thank you, I just know the only person she had contact with before the results was her mom, so hopefully nothing spread though, and hopefully they were smart when they saw each other.  Oh wow I am sorry to hear that, I know exactly how you feel. My job is similar in the sense that there is no other way to do it other than in person, and considering we don't know the status of how the elementary schools will be opening up, everything is up in the air. It frustrates me a bit though, since this was the first job in my field, and I would have had two years experience in August, but due to this, that might not even happen. Sometimes starting over can be for the best, but honestly right now its really hard to say. All I can say is that we are not alone, and due to everything going on and the new restrictions, a lot more people will sadly loose their jobs.