When I was in college and editing at the school newspaper, we kept a notebook full of quotes people said during the long hours we worked there that made us laugh really hard. If read through it cold, you probably wouldn't even crack a smile — it had a very "you had to be there" vibe. But one of those funny-at-the-time quotes has stuck in my brain these 15+ years later: "Has the whole world gone topsy-turvy?!"
You really don't need to know the circumstances under which it was uttered — as I said, you had to be there — but the phrase has traveled with me wherever I've gone since then in order to be pulled out when things seem patently absurd. Dogs barking while boiling pot overflows while smoke detector goes off? "Has the whole world gone topsy-turvy?!"
And now, today, in the midst of a pandemic, I can confirm to you that, indeed, the whole world has gone topsy-turvy.
I've listened to a lot of folks talk about journaling through this time, how it's going to be something we want to look back on, remember how we felt, pass down lessons to future generations.
I also saw this tweet:
Well then. **cracks knuckles** Here goes!
For starters, I'm freaked the fuck out, if we're being honest. R and I are being as careful as we can be — we're both teleworking and staying indoors with the one notable exception of walking the dogs. But what if that's not enough? We've only been able to work from home since the beginning of this week, and what if we picked up the coronavirus before then?
But more than myself, I'm scared for my parents and brother. My parents are 69 and 70, and my brother is immune compromised due to a liver transplant. If the virus gets to one of them, the whole house is going to go up like a tinder box. I just want to fast-forward past this, whenever that is, and have everyone in my life be OK.
Other than being in the world kind of feeling like this:
things are actually... good? The terrible part of my new job was the commute, and remote working takes that out of the equation. Spending all day every day with my husband and dogs is a kind of nirvana. I'm also thanking my lucky stars that I'm not actually pregnant or actively going through fertility treatments — what a fucking nightmare that would have been. There is a bit of stress in the back of my brain about how long the pandemic is going to last and when we can get back to trying, but I'm OK keeping things on pause.
And who knows, maybe that book I feel like I have inside myself somewhere will finally make its way out. But first, the Great British Baking Show isn't going to binge itself.