Is this the real life?
Is this a quarantine?
So, how’s your 2020 going?
You didn’t seriously think Letters from Quarantine was going to end just like that. There are simply too many phantasmagorical things happening in the world right now to let them go unremarked. The second wave. The US election. Fake Melania, with her very own Wikipedia article. Selling Sunset (and, more recently, selling passports).
I’m sure those of you who don’t know me might be disappointed to hear that the reason for my disappearance was not anything trendy like having Covid but, simply, the fact that I joined the rest of the Northern Hemisphere in trying to enjoy some newfound freedom, and to expose myself to the sun long enough so I would stop looking like a corpse (thanks, lockdown!) I’m sure some people who do know me will also be disappointed to read that I didn’t die. I don’t know why either, but I’m still here. My summer was mostly, and unspectacularly, spent at home, with me trying not to catch Covid, and then trying not to give it to my parents. Coming back to Milan was, largely, a relief.
Of course, it was good while it lasted, and in perfect timing, I came back just in time for when the cases started to rise again. It’s all feeling strangely familiar. We have to wear masks everywhere. There’s no one on the streets. People are working from home.
There’s definitely one thing we’ve established so far. Covid likes fun. It will go to all the places where people go to have fun. Clubs. Bars. Restaurants. Maybe that’s why schools and offices can still remain open? Unfortunately, Covid itself is not fun. It’s like the party pooper at every party, such as the person that talks at you non-stop on the dancefloor while the DJ is playing all your favourite tunes (kind of an imaginary tale, but not really). Or, like the person sitting next to you at a dinner gathering that offloads all their relationship issues onto you while you’re drinking yourself to oblivion to make it all more bearable (or, even better, forgotten). Covid is the lame person you definitely don’t want at your party, but they show up anyway, because some friend decided to bring them along, hoping someone else will eventually take care of them.
Unfortunately, since all of our social skills are now dead, the lame person at the next party is probably going to be us.
Song of choice: Celine Dion - It’s All Coming Back to Me Now