Opinion

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Is staying at home as a result of the pandemic really such a bad thing?

Pandemic home stay = control of the thermostat

I have a question I've been asking myself a lot lately, and it really requires an answer.

Am I staying at home, locked in my house, not venturing out into the world because I'm afraid of or sort of quarantining from covid, because it's ridiculously cold outside and not even dogs are interested in going out, or because I've gotten used to it and really don't like to leave the house anymore, anyway?

And the answer is, can it be all three?

At this point, in what feels like Year Six of our two-year struggle with the pandemic, I get the feeling the "new normal" we've been promised and/or threatened with has become, well, sort of the normal. And while there's an element of feeling like we're collectively hitting ourselves in the head with a hammer just to see how good it feels when we stop, for the most part, we're sort of coping.

There are, of course, notable exceptions. For instance, the whole "you have to quarantine if exposed" thing is a little rough, mostly because I'm not all that good at math or keeping track of when I saw someone (or what I ate for lunch: some sort of sandwich, I think ...). So it's a little hard to determine exactly when I need to lock myself in the bunker/castle and when I'm good to go out in the general population.

Which leads to the question: Is interacting with this person so important that I'm willing to risk having to stay home for five days just to find out it was allergies?

And, of course, there's the ancillary question: Who do I know that I might have come in contact with who is showing enough symptoms that I can blow off whatever event might require me to wear actual lace-up shoes and change out of my sweatpants in the alleged interest of public health?

So if I miss an upcoming uncomfortable birthday party, charity dinner, dance, bad middle school choir or band concert or any and all youth soccer, well, I'm only thinking of the world in general, public health, that sort of thing. I mean, mostly. As far as you know.

Worth noting, too, that one of the ramifications of our "work from home, lock ourselves down" world is that locking ourselves down and working from home requires us to be, well, home. Or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. Which brings with it the opportunity to control our environment like we haven't before.

So, not only do I not have to be cold on my way to the car, I don't have to be cold at my desk, cold in my meetings, cold in the cafeteria, cold at all. Which is wonderful. And spoiling to the degree that now, I never want to be cold in the winter, hot in the summer or anything in between at any point.

Perfectly reasonable. Or exceptionally childish and entitled. Either.

So, on those not-so-infrequent occasions recently when it has been cold and unpleasant on the outside, well, all the more reason to cocoon myself. After all, can't go anywhere, so why brave the elements? And whatever it is outside, it's always 72 in the living room. Unless that's too hot or cold. And then change is just a tap on the thermostat away.

I also will note that during the conclusion (as if these things are ever really over) of the last covid wave, I and the rest of the family expressed an almost giddy interest in venturing out, returning to the office, shopping, eating out, engaging with people, driving around, all that fun stuff.

And then we did it.

And we (or at least I) discovered, yeah, well, maybe not so much. Of the parking. Or driving. Or crowds. Or people who seem to have forgotten the rules of not being jerks. Or, just all of the noise and movement I'd gotten used to not experiencing.

When our respective companies put any potential return to the office on hold, we all acknowledged that, based on current health protocols, that was "for the best." What we meant to say was, "Yippee, I didn't want to go in the first place."

So, at least for the time and omicron being, my new normal is looking a lot like my old new normal – here, in the house with my takeout and Netflix and climate control. And while I keep asking myself those three questions, the answer continues to be "yes."

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