um, where'd it go?

March 4, 2020 1:14am CST
I woke up this morning and reached for my phone. This is normal, routine. Mostly so that I can snooze the alarm it's shrieking in my ear, but also so that I can check my popularity on Instagram {it's woeful} and then hop onto the BBC News app to find out what's been occurring as I was deep in slumber. So I open the app, as my habit dictates, and instantly assume I'm still dreaming; for the first time in {for ever?} weeks Corona - that insatiable nymph who sets herself no boundaries - doesn't dominate the news. In fact, one had to scroll to the sixth story to find out anything about her. Is this good? Or have we just become consumed by apathy and viral overload? I sit on the fence with Corona. We swing our bare schoolgirl legs, complete with grazed knees and scuffed Mary Jane shoes, in time to a beat only we can hear. The field behind us is full of folk who know that this is okay, it isn't the End of Times, it's nothing to worry about. A long way away, the lush green grass blends into sand, into which some people bury their heads, and yet more people jump up and down with their fingers in their ears. La la la la! they ignorantly sing. The field before us is awash with those who know this won't end well. It may not be End Times {those guys are far in the distance, living in their fully-stocked bunkers on the horizon,} but, just to be sure, let's keep the cupboards well-stocked with food, medicines and toilet paper. I don't want to appear silly and be the only one amongst my friendship and family groups to worry, but I also don't want to be ill-prepared or surprised if the sh!t really does hit the fan. So, I have plenty of toilet paper, sanitary products, cat food, toothpaste and baked beans. On our shopping expedition tomorrow evening I will quietly add hand sanitizer and bleach to the trolley. When folk around me proclaim, But it's only the flu! I simply keep my thoughts to myself, safe in the knowledge that I understand what may yet come to pass ... because I read it on reddit, didn't I? Husband spent most of the nighttime coughing. My bus driver was spitting out of his window earlier. I had a sore-throat when I woke up. And the BBC just don't care anymore. Good or bad, time will tell, and as Christmas comes along we can all have a giggle about the rocky start of the roaring {hot, feverish} 2020s.
6 people like this
6 responses
@LadyDuck (471968)
• Switzerland
4 Mar 20
You are lucky, because we get updates every hours, as we live only 5 Km from Italy and less than 100 Km from Milan and in Italy there are 2,500 people contaminated. Well, this means that I am shopping in Switzerland and not in Italy right now.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (471968)
• Switzerland
5 Mar 20
@Poppylicious We are not worried or scared, but we prefer to be careful. I know my compatriots even too well, they will not follow the rules, they will not listen to the government, as usual, they will do what they pass in their mind. In fact yesterday someone "escaped" from the "red zone" to go skiing and I am not surprised, not at all.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (471968)
• Switzerland
5 Mar 20
@Poppylicious I have no idea why, because in the North the touchy-feely is not as bad as in the south, but it is the north that is more contaminated.
2 people like this
5 Mar 20
@LadyDuck Do you think part of the reason it has spread quicker there is that Italian's are as passionate and touchy-feely as the British are reserved?!
2 people like this
• Agra, India
4 Mar 20
Take care of yourself and stay inside.
1 person likes this
5 Mar 20
A little bit difficult as I have to go to work. On a bus. To a big building with roughly 2000 people in it at any one time, of which the majority are teenagers. *crazy lady laugh*
1 person likes this
• Agra, India
9 Mar 20
@Poppylicious i can understand then it is really very tough
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
13 Mar 20
it is nerve wracking having it rolling round us - take care
@xFiacre (13120)
• Ireland
4 Mar 20
@poppylicious It’s been a good run for the BBC has this virus, but I think they’ve milked it dry so they’re going to hoke about in the world’s big pile of misery for something sexier now.
5 Mar 20
But ... but, but ... there is nothing sexier than doctors in full PPE! That hazmat gear really gets me going!
1 person likes this
@YrNemo (20255)
2 Apr 20
Hope you and your husband are all well soon (from whatever). Like you, I was a bit surprised when I didn't see covid-19 on top of the news list today. Had to dig a bit. I am still thinking of the best way to go shopping, & what to do when I first get inside the house when returning (what to strip first etc ). What a pain with this covid-19.
@Sojourn (13837)
• India
15 May 20
We should 'coronate' this virus as the king of viruses.