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The other day I grabbed a coffee and muffin while out walking, and found an out-of-the-way outdoor place where I could unmask and eat without being near anyone else.
It was WEIRD! It felt like I was getting away with something. This sort of thing used to be normal, but now it isnātā¦ and thatās weird too!
I havenāt eaten at a restaurant in nearly a year. Not even outside on a patio when health orders have allowed it. (Though I have bought take-out.) This was only the second time since last March that Iāve eaten anything away from home except the occasional travel mug of coffee in the car. Not that I bother with that very often, since I rarely drive farther than the grocery store. Iāve even stopped carrying my Epi-Pen everywhere. I know Iām not going to eat until I get back.
I think the last time I ate at a restaurant was when I went out to lunch with some co-workers the first week of March, and we were talking about whether we wanted to switch to working remotely early, before the order came down. We knew it was coming sooner or later.
As it turned out, all of us who were there ended up spending just one more day onsite. The other two both started working remotely the next week, and I came down with the flu that weekend (at least I think it was the flu) and didnāt recover until the office closed.
Iām still at the same job, but that office? Gone. Theyāre moving to a new location for when onsite office work is a thing again. I havenāt been to the new office either, because itās not ready yet, and everythingās in storage for now, presumably including the clutter I would have taken care of if I hadnāt been sick when the work-from-home order came down.
I hope I rinsed out my coffee mug.
And didnāt leave any food at my desk.
But hey, at least I know I didnāt need all of those hand-written notes!
āKelson Vibber, 2021-02-24
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