Recently I had Covid-19 or coronavirus whatever you want to call it but I won’t start there. Instead I’ll start from the beginning. In a way we all have had coronavirus for well over a year now. We saw news reports from China; then Europe exploded with the pandemic. In America we can’t say we weren’t warned because it was obvious with every day. In fact we had well over a month to get out shit together. America failed. I’m not blaming the president or the congress or the media specifically but as a whole our society failed. By March of 2020 covid-19 was already spreading throughout major cities New York being one. President Trump downplayed as if it was just a flu early on or he would use it to specifically demonize China which was red meat for the racists of his base. I’m not saying all Trump supporters are racist but if you were racist it was likely you were voting for Trump.

Being that there was little to no federal response New York’s Governor Cuomo decided to shut down travel to his state. In shutting down New York, Cuomo would set off a mass exodus throughout the country. If you watch YouTube during this time period you could see a mass quantity of people disperse throughout the country. Meanwhile in Florida we shutdown our bars and beaches and were advised to socially distance ourselves. People ignored warning because they watched news channels that downplayed the disease. It was a half measure People shopped at my job multiple times a day just to get out of the house. Now I love freedom but what I came to realize is sometimes the masses are too dumb to know what’s good for them. People were gathering and simultaneously the license plates on the cars at gas pumps were more frequently from out of state. It was Bike Week (I’m fifty miles north of Daytona) when we had our first confirmed covid case, a tourist from New York. It had begun.

At work we would wear gloves and masks. I had ordered mine early because I had planned on flying to New York in August to visit family. Within three months I would have three coworkers test positive for corona. Luckily for me I worked overnight and was out of range of the masses. I think it was May, New York announced travelers would have to quarantine two weeks when vacationing. I don’t know if the people that made the rule understand how vacations work. First vacations are only one week and I could just spend a week in a room without buying a fucking plane ticket. Needless to say I had to cancel my Airbnb and flight. I had two types of customers. One would ask why people aren’t wearing masks and sometimes would confront them or ask me what I was going to do about it. Luckily for me we were instructed not to enforce it. However I did have to deal with customers “forgetting” that we weren’t doing refills on coffee or fountain drinks. That was a fun unnecessary daily issue with people that ignored signs. The other type of person argued against wearing masks because of their freedom to be Covid Marys.

The media told us the death toll regularly while the president would handle it so bad he turned a politically rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma into a petri dish that would spread the disease to even former presidential candidate Herman Cain who would later die. Trump himself would also contract the disease because obviously they weren’t careful (great job). So Trump would lose mostly because of the poor handling to covid. The Democratic party was fully intent on proving anyone could beat Trump by propping up two time losing candidate Joe Biden.

Biden won and the vaccine was in production between three pharmaceutical corporations because nationalizing it would hurt any profit incentive. The deal was made under the Trump administration but as Biden is president the vaccine is being distributed. The media claimed mission accomplished its an end to covid. That’s funny because these articles came out while I was in quarantine.

On a Friday at work I was getting my ass kicked. Vendors, tourists, and now running fast food to compete with competitors. There was a point where I was lightheaded and lethargic. I’ve felt this before though, Almost fifteen years earlier working eighty hours a week on salary thinking I was paying dues. I said to myself the same thing I said then, ” Suck it up!” . It was rent week so I didn’t know what my health insurance would cover and I was still waiting on my not two thousand dollar stimulus ( fourteen hundred) and my tax return. That night I was coughing up chewy chunks while biking home. I would later see it was orange. Typically I get bronchitis around this time of year so I wasn’t concerned and I was needed at work. The Friday after I paid rent I got tested and Monday afternoon I got a link to an app that showed I was positive. Positively shocked!!!

After notifying my boss I was informed I would be out two weeks and then I’d have to get two consecutive negative tests before I could get back. First thought I was letting my coworkers down. The second thought was woohoo. No work. At this point I just had a cough similar to my bronchitis but that was it. I had time on my hands. I was getting my groceries and dinners delivered. The first couple days I would clean my apartment and do all my laundry. It was fantastic catching up on real life out side of work. I was loving life.

Yet at the same time it was lonely. The solitude is a feeling that your in purgatory. Your not living your best life but instead existing sleep to sleep. Sure I got some reading done, and changed my bike chain but I also took a good hard look at who I am. If my twenty year old self saw who I became he would first be surprised I didn’t die after thirty and then punch me for wasting so much time. Between coughing fits I’d argued with strangers online about the George Floyd case, Kyle Rittenhouse, pro-wrestling, and pop culture. Twitter is a dumpster fire in which the debates devolve to strawman fallacies and name calling. Instead of learning to play keyboard with my time I had to get the last word against someone that may have been paid to troll through K-Hive or MAGA.

I was lucky I didn’t die. Though I was more afraid of hospitalization than death. Could I afford to go to the hospital? I don’t know how much my insurance would cover. Also the effect on the brain the virus has was a fear of mine. A few weeks later I still have a slight cough when I talk extensively. After a month I plan to take the vaccine specifically to be able to fly to NY so I can visit family. Anyway I’m back to work now. We are still short staffed and struggling. Throughout this experience I learned I don’t want to be in purgatory til I die. There is more to life then clocking in for someone else and sleeping to be rested before going back to work again. Live your best life until it’s over.