Triptych

With everyone hunkered within their homes, distance has become fluid. Someone a few miles away can feel as remote as a person hundreds of miles up the road. Suddenly, friends who had fallen away due to distance have resurfaced. An element of not wanting to lose touch completely has summoned them back from the recesses, especially given the dire feeling of what we’re traversing, yet there’s also some element that this situation has leveled the playing field. Proximity is an Internet connection away. Time zones somehow matter less, only momentarily confusing the mind should background window views appear different. Daylight and darkness conflict across video feeds, but it’s all virtual anyway, and some people provide virtual backdrops anyway.

Some friends refuse to leave their homes. It’s unnerving how sheltered a person can become. One person, who does go for runs and walks, mentioned that he needs outdoors space. Apartment living has gotten rough. Without a balcony, that the building shuttered the outside common areas leaves him sans opportunity to relax outside. His excursions take him past yards where people read, play games, drink, and generally bask in the fresh air. Their joy as reminders that for most hours he exists entombed within concrete, with only a window from which to gaze at outdoors splendors. I wonder whether some sharing app could allow you borrow lawns. “I live at 235 2nd Street; no plans to dawdle hours in my lawn, open to someone from 1pm through 3pm.” I foresee opportunity here.

Call me naïve, but, now that the roads are largely empty, I would have hoped that people would drive less like maniacs. Apparently without being fettered by traffic, people drive more recklessly than ever. Traffic buffered motorists; forced them to slow. Now, without a natural regulator, they speed and then try to navigate setbacks and uncertainty at high speeds. It’s terrifying. Maybe one day we as a species will recognize the terrifying nature of automobiles – these are heavy machines with power that can devastate bodies, crush lives. Respect them. Respect each other. Again, label me as naïve.

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