Restlessness in the face of COVID-19
By Katherine Olsen
Photos by Emma Clark, modeled by Kelli Smith
I have left my house thrice in the past week and a half. The first was for an allotted dinner with my father- accomplished through an In-N-Out drive-through and a “car picnic”, and the second was two blocks to the post office mail drop box for his birthday card and gift. Snail mail has this funny way of slowing down time. It feels like day to day tasks are quickly accomplished and there’s suddenly a lot of free time spent waiting around. The third excursion was a check-up: my generic allergy medication still left me with mild symptoms, so naturally, I stopped taking it, which promptly caused my immune system to riot, leaving me with a sudden onset of COVID-19 symptoms. We waited in the car for the doctor to come out and test me for the flu, to prescribe me something, and I was informed after standing outside the vehicle and breathing deeply that firstly, my lungs were clear; secondly, to take my meds, and lastly, to steam in the shower. There would be no test.
Despite already suspecting I was healthy after an in-depth search of WebMD, the trip was very anticlimactic. Three boys not practicing social distancing and skateboarding through the area was the most interesting and unpredicted part of the whole endeavor. Not to sound ungrateful at my lack of illness, just pointing out the dullness these days seem to take on.
The complex I live in is full of the elderly, and even sitting on my patio feels like an attack if I’m not wearing a mask. My healthy, albeit sniffly, body is nothing more than a conduit to what could be their death sentence, so a walk that involves touching the same door handles as they do feels utterly selfish and just rude.
Like Emma Watson, the Fanning sisters, and so many other celebrities on social media, I stay inside for my grandmother, my mother, my dad and step-mom, and even my asthmatic boyfriend (though he hasn’t had a flare-up in years). I stay inside for all the other inhabitants of this complex, but not for myself. With a typical teenage slant for self-endangerment, if my presence wasn’t a risk to others, I would be enjoying the self-isolation of other people outside and with my peers. My friends and I had plans to go camping (the road trip was vetoed by our parents), and even though a mostly isolated piece of nature is probably one of the safest places to be, returning home after contact with my healthy friends who are undoubtedly little more than cultures for malevolent entities to grow upon, would be a smack in the face to my mother, working hard to keep my sister and me safe and uncontaminated. And honestly, I should be doing my homework anyways. AP testing starts next week.