“Social distancing” is the thing right now. Governments all over the world are telling everyone to stay away from each other – at least 6 feet. We’re going outside once a day for walks around the neighborhood and are keeping a wide berth from other people walking around too. It’s becoming increasingly stressful to spend time outside, especially as we approach other people. Many are also attempting to keep their distance by crossing the street or moving far away from us, but others job past with open mouths as if nothing were different.
Reed’s school parking lot and soccer field are still open, but I don’t expect this to last long. The soccer field has been full of people playing soccer in recent days, in direct defiance of the Mayor’s orders banning gatherings of 10 people or more and discouraging people from playing contact sports. We are playing with Reed on a patch of grass next to the parking lot and a bit away from the soccer field, but we enter through a gate door that takes us right past people sitting and watching the game. I worry that we are too close to these people. We recently had to wait for a number of minutes for some kids to leave the immediate gate area before we entered, as we would have had to brush past them to get in.
It’s nice having this little place to go every day. It’s hard being stuck inside all day. Reed can’t run around nearly as much as he used to, and he doesn’t see his friends anymore. I think he’s too young to really notice that his friends aren’t around – he’s still in the mode of being excited that mom, dad, and grandma are home all day and get to spend more time with him. He doesn’t understand “working from home” for sure, but it’s working for now. This will be different very shortly once my mom returns to work and it’s just the four of us without her. Reed’s attention from his parents will suffer, and I’m sure this will affect him in some way. Our mental health will likely also suffer and I worry about how this will all impact the family.
Unfortunately lots of people are still not practicing social distancing. Not only just across the country, but in our neighborhood. I still see parents taking kids to the little playground behind our house, and the little grassy areas in the traffic circle next to our house are full of families and kids spending time outside. I get it. It’s tough staying inside all day every day. It’s got to be tougher to have someone hospitalized because of COVID-19, though, and even tougher to lose someone from it. Us otherwise healthy thirty-somethings are getting sick and dying, too. New York City isn’t looking so good and besides the density D.C. isn’t too different. NYC could be us. It could be any place in the world. Reports are saying that the US is just 2 weeks behind Italy right now, which is seeing an absolutely crazy outbreak that’s spreading faster than can be imagined and killing people many times more than the flu generally does. People 65 and older are definitely at more risk, but health people under 50 are getting critically ill and dying, too. Italy is running out of hospital beds, ventilators, and hospital staff to treat people. This could be us very soon.
Michael Singletary 