The coronavirus is raging in my part of the world. Local hospitals have warned they’re close to becoming overwhelmed. Four of my father’s 22 students have been sick. Two of my husband’s (it still seems strange to call him that) students as well. He was not told he’d been exposed till six days after the fact. Fortunately he got tested and was negative, but if he had caught it, he could have been spreading the disease around everywhere he went for nearly a week. The lady at the management office who collects our rent has been sick. (I haven’t laid eyes on her for months; I’ve been exercising social distancing by putting the rent in the box on the office door instead.)
I am appalled that so many people are not even bothering to exercise the most basic precautions. And that, when well over a million people are dead and nearly a quarter-million of them are Americans, when the president himself has had it and his chief of staff has it now, when multiple members of Congress have had it, so many people are still convinced it’s a hoax. I can only think these people must be very misinformed.
Please, wear a mask in public. Wear it so it covers both your mouth AND your nose. Your nose is directly connected to your lungs, and if it the mask isn’t covering it you might as well not be wearing it at all. I know masks are a pain in the butt, I know they’re inconvenient and annoying and make people get acne and their glasses fog up. Wear a mask anyway.
I really don’t want more people to die. Especially you. I don’t want to add your obituary to the online coronavirus memorial I’ve been adding to since April.
I hope everyone is well and their families and friends are well. Michael and I are enjoying these first weeks of married life. We used some of the wedding gift money to buy our first marital furniture, a lovely mid-century modern dresser we snagged for a song on Facebook Marketplace after our el-cheapo pasteboard dresser literally fell apart. We’re trying to decide what we can do to celebrate the dog’s upcoming sixteenth birthday. Probably something involving chicken nuggets.
Please stay safe.
The Charley Project Blog 
I have said this before and I’ll say it again. Some of the people listed on this site that chose to leave home (and are possibly homeless and/or suffering from mental illness) might very well never be found due to death caused by the virus.
It would not surprise me.
Dammit people it’s an airborne virus so please explain to me how putting on a mask is infringing on your freedom. I am very anti big government but this is just common sense.
Thanks so much! I am also an avid masker and just do not understand why we can’t all do this short term to save lives! Plus, it helps save the economy.
Thank you for posting this. People need to hear it. My Aunt & Uncle got tested positive last week. We think my Uncle got it from the bakery he works at and my Aunt got it from him. They are both in their late 50s and my Aunt suffers from diabetes and thyroid problems. So far my Uncle doesn’t have any symptoms and my aunt is slightly short of breath, but it truly is like staring down the barrel of a gun. We’re on the edge of our seats until that test shows ‘negative’. We’re praying for you and with you all. Please stay home and stay safe!