Prior to the pandemic, think of all the things you used to go inside without a second thought.
Please get your head out of the gutter, I promise this isn’t an innuendo, although, I know no one would be surprised at this point.
I’m serious.
I used to go inside the grocery store without a second thought. Now I put my mask on, make sure I have a pair of gloves, mentally curse out the woman who is way too close to me, smile at the cashier and realize they can’t tell, make my way out as soon as I can, and then wonder if i got Miss Rona for hours upon hours.
Every year my family and I take a little vacation somewhere. Even if it’s just going down the shore for the week, we always try to find time to escape our normal routines. This year, I didn’t want that to change, but at this point, I think we all know how that’s going.
I’ll admit, I did do a little bit of Airbnb searching in my favorite beach towns, but came up short. Primarily because I’m paranoid, but also because Airbnbs right now are bizarrely expensive, like, read the fucking room??? I’m poor during a normal summer, but especially this one my dude.
So after that failed, I started to think of other places that I’ve always wanted to visit that don’t require flying, and then it came to me.
Salem, Massachusetts.
I thought of visiting all of the Hocus Pocus locations. I thought of going to a psychic. I thought of all the niche little stores. I thought of the architecture. I thought of the haunted houses. I thought of living my best witchy life.
And then I remembered we’re in a middle of a pandemic.
There is absolutely no way this trip would work out the way that I would dream for it to, during this time.
Here’s the thing, I don’t care if you want to go to a secluded Hampton’s house and safely take a little vacay. But if you’re going out of your way to travel somewhere, where you’re not keeping distance from other people, and you’re being reckless, I don’t like you.
It is so selfish and privileged to act like you are above all of this. To act like going to a party, going to the mall multiple times a week, NOT WEARING A MASK, isn’t a big deal.
There is nothing I want more than to spend the week in my favorite beach town. I want to go inside the local stores and touch things without my heart starting to beat faster. I want to walk down a crowded boardwalk and people watch. I want to eat at my favorite restaurants and not think about how well the fork was disinfected. I want to take a trapeze yoga class without thinking that my immune system is going to attack itself right after I leave.
But what actually matters more is that I make sure I’m healthy, and I’m keeping my family and others healthy. I want to do my part whenever I can and as much as I can. There are so many more years that I can make up this summer with, and as much as I want to be carefree, I understand now is not the time, and that’s cool.
Honestly, if I can get through my Harry Styles concert getting rescheduled, I can get through anything.