A Worse Sequel

A government employee reported for work last Monday. The office doctor apparently noticed something with the employee. The employee must have shown some signs of cold. The doctor tells the employee to go home and isolate herself because she might have the virus. (Good thing that there really are doctors and health care personnel who practice this sort of thing. I thought this was something they just put on paper for policies.) Now, the employee goes home and starts to worry. Two days prior, which was a Saturday, she together with her family went to go swimming at one of the popular resorts within the province. The family included parents who were senior citizens and a friend of one sibling. As a matter of fact, the employee went out of his/her way to invite neighbors for the trip. Reportedly, the resort was packed. How remarkable.

The night before said trip, the employee was looking for paracetamol. It would turn out that at that time, he/she was experiencing something that needed paracetamol. Did he/she push through with the excursion even if he/she was slightly sick?. Maybe he/she got better over the night. But had it been so, would you not put the trip off? Well, maybe the trip had been planned long before; and of course, the family and friends had been expecting and were all dying to take a dip on the water.

Within the week prior to this trip, this employee attended a seminar along with other employees. Yes, it was your traditional seminar in which a considerable number of people are gathered together inside a hall, in some close distance between each other. Yes, despite the policies, there are still organizations that manage to pull this sort of thing off, and hold face to face seminars. Well, ostensibly, there are heads of offices who do not have faith on this innovation that is the “webinar”. For them, such online modifications do not accomplish anything. There simply ain’t nothing better than the real thing.

I have to tell you something about the employee. He/she’s not fond of wearing face masks. I don’t know if it may cause some great discomfort. I don’t know, maybe she wears them because it’s the rules; but the mask would be taken off in every chance possible. This employee has fondness for parties. He/she attends to more than a few. He/she even throws a few. He/she has some affection for going out until late at night for a couple of bottles of booze. No virus, no quarantine or no lockdown would stop this tradition.

Now, it’s a Tuesday and the employee has given a list of contacts to be traced. Neighbors have seen her outside her house, now wearing a mask. Now, that’s something new. What could have prompted him/her to wear one now? He/she was out on the street, doing some stretching. Why would you wear a mask during physical exercises? Would not that be inconvenient when you start breathing hard? Furthermore, when you’re the only one doing the exercises and with no one else, you might not need a mask after all. Wait a minute, wasn’t he/she told by the doctor to isolate himself/herself? Why is he/she out of the bedroom? Why is he/she doing those calisthenics? Even if he/she really did catch the virus, stretching limbs won’t do any good in stopping him/her from getting sick.

She/she’s scheduled for a swab test. He/she calmly have informed friends with whom he/she have had close contact with. He/she has even invited them to join him/her in getting the test. If I were one among the list, that would be a really messed up hassle. That would mean, I too have to declare a personal lockdown inside my room, and pray that my wifi connection doesn’t lag. If only he/she had just stay his/her butt put. Oh wait, are there children and senior citizens around her residence? Are there young and old ones in her contacts? They better keep their safe distance. Oh, I almost forgot, what about his/her parents, the ones he/she was with on the outing?

Now, some towns are on MECQ. I don’t even understand anymore what that means. Is that the one in which no one physically reports for work? Is that the one in which public transport is suspended? I have appointments lined up, and documents to sort out. How do I do that with another lockdown? They say we’re experiencing a replay of last year. I beg to disagree. We’re experiencing a worse sequel.

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control,”

1 Corinthians 9:27