BY ROHIN BUCH
HEALTH HEAD
Finding the Bright Side
In the last few days, I would say my overall mood has improved given that I have been able to leave the house, albeit only for essential trips like food and whatnot. Also, I have been able to relax and enjoy spending time at home as I came to the realization that this is quality time to spend with my family and it is the time to notice how fast-paced our regular lives are, and subsequently trying to slow them down. That is to say that with all the hustle and bustle of going to school, having something after school, coming home late and etc, I haven’t really been able to spend as much time with my family as I should have this year (it is my senior year).
Senoritis, What's That?
In addition, the fact that it is my senior year has also gotten to me, and I had a hard time coping with the fact that we might not graduate or have our senior prom and other things considered the hallmarks of one’s senior year of high school. As such, it has been hard to keep happy in these last few weeks but it is a work in progress as we all are adjusting to this new normal. However, something that has made staying at home happier and more productive has been weighing all the choices and deciding on where I will be spending my next four years (i.e. college) and after coming to a final decision… I’m proud to announce I will be spending my next four in Scotland, at St Andrews.
The "New Normal"
Finally, one thing I might add that has been a life-saver in day-to-day quarantine life has been ordering food on Postmates/UberEats. This eliminates the monotony of only having whatever it is you can rustle up at home. Some of my favorite meals from these services have been banh mi, boba, pizza, and Chinese food, etc. These services also allow us to choose between different types of cuisine, which in turn spices quarantine life up just that extra bit. A funny/eye-opening experience with a Postmates driver happened to me today: we ordered lunch and when ordering it had clicked the “leave at the front door” option. When the delivery man arrived, however, he stood at the door assuming I would get it from his hands… As I opened the door my mom whispered to me “Just tell him to put it down” to which I half-whispered, half-hissed back, so as to not let him hear: “I won’t touch his hand!” This really opened my eyes to what our “new normal” is. Handing someone something is now unacceptable and widely discouraged. We are instead told to grab it from our doorstep without any human contact. After this exchange, and once I shut the front door and the delivery man had left, I hurriedly dropped the food on the dining table and rushed to the sink to wash my hands like crazy—as one can never be too safe in these times. After cleaning my hands, I thought to myself , “that soap might not have cleaned off my hands!” I maniacally washed my hands yet again with more soap and scrubbed and rubbed like I had been advised to by the many internet infographics. This interaction made me realize how much our lives have changed a result of this global pandemic, and how it has caused us to be more hygienic than ever… something I believe we will remember and keep forever.
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