Back to Work

Tomorrow I'm going back to work.

But things are NOT normal.

I still have a cough, and I am nowhere near up to speed. However, it's been 72 hours since my fever subsided. I've spent the weekend resting, watching Hulu (my new "thing" is The Resident - I'm completely sucked in), catching up on laundry and housework, and getting really tired from these simple tasks. I haven't been outside since Wednesday, except to stand on my back deck with my coffee. The dog is NOT pleased with me - he is desperate for exercise. Tessa has walked him, but there have been no five mile loops through Lincoln Park, and not a single trip to the dog park.

But the real thing is that there is so much uncertainty in the air in Seattle and environs with the coronavirus craze.

Will school close?
Will large gatherings be shut down? All of them, or just some?
Which businesses will close next?
Which small businesses will make it if they lose business?
Will I get sick? How sick?
Can our public health system save us?
Will we be the next Wuhan, or Lombardy?
How long is this going to last?

I, of course, have no idea. I'm on this ride with everyone else, with no more information than anyone else, except my experiences of the past week where I feel that the public health system utterly let me down. Do I have coronavirus? Am I contagious? I HAVE NO IDEA, and it's not for lack of trying.

Tomorrow I go back to work. I plan to take it easy, to check out books to students that will get them through the end of the year so that if we're working from home they have the supplies they need. I teach at a school where all students are given laptops, and I understand that the district is granting WiFi hotspots to students without internet access at home, so in theory we will be able to do equitable distance education with the use of Microsoft Teams, OneNote, email, and so on. I get training on Wednesday - along with the rest of the staff - about how to do that. (I'm not bad with technology, but I'd be lying if I told you that I've ever taught five classes a day from HOME.) We're getting ready.

I'm tidying up my office so that if my students are getting video of me in that office I won't be embarrassed. (Hey kids - check out those degrees hanging on the wall. I'm PROUD of them! That stack of filing...not so much.)

I'm reading the news obsessively, trying to understand what is happening and how I should best respond. I'm trying to predict the future: will I be teaching remotely for the rest of the year? Will school continue as normal for the rest of the year? Or will it be something in between?

Will I be alone in my house with my teenager, dog, and cat (we do love each other, but oh lordie we are going to get on each others' nerves if that happens) - and if so, for how long?

I stocked up on all that food. Will it seem like I bought way too much, or not enough?

Nobody knows. And now that I'm healthier, I'm going to go back out in to the world, and see for myself what's happening, and await instruction from OSPI, my principal, the governor, and whomever else is in charge of my destiny at the moment.

Whatever happens, I think we're in for a wild week. Hold on to your hats, folks!

***

One more little rant before I leave here. Some of the things people are saying in the media are DRIVING ME CRAZY. This Opinion piece in the NYT today:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/opinion/coronavirus-altruism.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

It is neither altruistic nor panicking to be ready for this stupid outbreak. Everyone - the Red Cross, the NYT (in another article), and so on suggests having at least a 30 day supply of meds on hand, and extra food.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/prepare-for-coronavirus.html#link-62bb1371
https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2020/coronavirus-safety-and-readiness-tips-for-you.html
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200228/preparing-for-coronavirus-dos-and-donts

When I was at the pharmacy a week ago - picking up a 90 day supply - the lineup was filled with people coughing, sneezing, and sniffling, and there were additional people sitting waiting to see the urgent care doctor with misery in their eyes. It isn't a lineup I'd like to frequent: it looked like the best place in Seattle to pick up an illness. I'm pretty pleased that I won't have to get back in that lineup for three months, when hopefully this thing has calmed down.

Here's the other thing: if you get coronavirus, I don't want to run into you when I'm healthy and out and about. So, get extra supplies, go home, and wait this thing out. No, you don't need a pallet of hand sanitizer (in my opinion, you don't need ANY hand sanitizer at home, because you should be washing with soap and water instead - hand sanitizer is best when there is no soap and water available), but you're going to need food. You're going to want to wash your hair, wipe your bum, and feed your pets. And if you're sick, I want you to stay home. If I'm sick, I plan to stay home. That's how we can take care of one another.

So: yes, be altruistic. Check on your neighbors. Offer to go shopping for your elderly neighbors to help them stock up. Stay home when you're sick. Wash your hands a lot. (I'm washing my hands so much that I'm getting dry skin. Maybe add hand lotion to your shopping list?!)

But get ready, and be smart about it.

Also - it's clear that the person who wrote that article didn't live in Seattle, where new cases are popping up all over the place, and where they have only tested a small percentage of sick folks.

It's clear that the person who wrote that wasn't thinking about how it feels to live in Milan these days.

Rant over.