Truthfully, I didn’t learn much from being locked down for two years. I suspect that I had the virus early on, before it was even on people’s radar back in January of 2020. After flying through Las Vegas and the Guadalajara airports, we were in Chapala, Mexico, enjoying the warmth and a bit of street food. The symptoms appeared one night in the form of spiking fevers, violent chills and joints aching so terribly that I simply wept with no relief. I was sick for two days and then it was over. What did I learn from that?
Not everything bad that happens occurs for a reason or to teach us a lesson. I know some people think otherwise. But I am of the opinion that random stuff messes with us mercilessly, and the evolving mutations of a coronavirus are a prime example of that. Or were we supposed to learn one lesson from the Delta variant and another from the Omicron?
For two years, we did witness people behaving well and behaving badly. In the beginning, folks were hoarding toilet paper. Conspiracy theories ran rampant. A public health emergency turned into a political fistfight. At the same time, nurses and teachers and grocery workers and first responders coped with the stress of high risk jobs, often gracefully and courageously. Researchers rose to the challenge of producing vaccines in record time, only to find anti-vaxxers refusing to get the jab.
Some took the disruption in routine to re-evaluate life priorities and consider new callings. Others had to say goodbye to loved ones dying in nursing homes or ICU’s while wearing haz-mat suits. It was the best of times, it was the worst.
My wife and I have only recently started going to movies and concerts again. We’re still not ready for any international travel. It’s not how I planned to spend my retirement. I don’t feel resentful at all. But neither do I feel like I’ve grown or been edified or enriched in any way from hitting the pause button on my life. Mostly I feel tired and two years older, not any smarter or wiser.
Covid, you were a lousy teacher.
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