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Covid-19: What can I do to keep from going Stir Crazy?
I live in a house with an 85-year-old who had cancer surgery in March and a 64-year-old mother, a brother in his 30's and a small child. I have been very careful to wear a mask and gloves and obey for the past 5 months every health stipulation to do with Covid-19.
Not to get political because the disease is not a political thing but in the U.S. they've rushed things in some states and the president hasn't helped by denying the existance of it at first and not trusting the experts like Fauci.
One of the things that has led to surge of cases is reopening bars, night clubs and virtually every other business you can think of in some areas. Doing so has resulted in spike of cases and some deaths.
Meanwhile, I live in Canada where they've closed the border and until recently you couldn't even gather with more than 5 people at a time. What has happened here is that there's 4 stages of reopening. We just entered Stage 3 which allows nearly all attractions, movie theaters and bars to reopen.
I have ZERO interest in bars, nightclubs, performance venues, indoor restaurant dining or any establishment that could be a breading ground for the disease.
I would just like to go downtown to the aquarium or even to the park, a museum or anything having been holed up here for 5 months with the same people.
My mother refuses to let me go anywhere but Wal-Mart or the corner store and always asks me where I'm going or if I want to kill my father and everyone else in the house by dragging Covid-19 in. It's an enormous guilt trip and I would like to have my freedom back. I get that she's paranoid and the reason for it and that she thinks things will end up like America. We've taken months to reach where we are and health experts have got us here.
I'm not trying to be selfish but I think if health experts have required businesses and attractions to submit a proposal for opening and are adhering to strict rules that it's not an issue to visit these places if you have a mask, gloves and are being bloody careful.
The only indoor venue I would want to go to that is iffy is a movie theater but not until I knew nobody who went to one here became ill. They have limited occupancy to 50 people per screen and blocked off seats and entire sections in the theaters and it's all reserved. You have to wear mask and gloves the entire time you are there.
I'm hoping you will have ideas on what I can do to get her to see that while nothing is 100% safe that this is as good as it gets and public health can shut businesses down for non-compliance with rules.
She also doesn't want me to go to parks for exercise or large ones downtown with a zoo or take public transit anywhere. I can understand the transit part but being outdoors is important.
I'm more concerned for my own mental health than anything else because these are the only 5 people I have interacted with other than my aunt for months and have been holed up in my room otherwise. I need to get out of this place.
Before Covid-19 I was going to theater, comedy clubs, major attractions and movies. It was incredibly difficult for me when that ceased and I had to find other outlets and things to do from home. You can't stay sheltered in one place for too long.
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I am in the US and in the state I live in, stores and other businesses are taking this seriously, with marking outdoors and indoors 6 ft differences with tape on floor, signs of masks required, gloves seem to not be required yet, plexi shields between customer and cashiers, restaurant and other places with seating marking off certain chairs and tables and only taking a limited amount of people. I have seen some places where the amount of people allowed to enter even a grocery are counted and when it reaches a certain number, others have to wait unti people exit the store before they are allowed to go in. People are turned away for not wearing a mask.
I have no idea even if the mask is simply a false confidence or if it helps as I have heard both but would rather err on the side of caution. I don't wear it in the car or st home. I have heard that the older folks are the ones passing it on more than young people, and that could be true or false, I don't know. I personally dont know anyone yet who has even contracted the disease. I guess we all hang out or travel in different circles from those getting it. I went to the beach with a daughter who lives on her own. Everyone at the beach was wearing a mask, young, kids, and the older set. THe breeze made it so we didn't get hot. But afterward, on an in city hike in a natural area, only a few people wore masks as it was hot and humid and with breathing harder, it was very uncomfortable and I noticed other hikers doing the same we did, stepping aside and keeping the recommended distance until they passed and continuing. I never caught anything from that outing. Being in the outdoors is the least dangerous and in the beginning being told we had to both keep social distance and wear masks, now its wear a mask when its impossible to social distance. So Now I see older folks out for a walk wearing the mask around their neck and I see them only pull it up to wear if someone is approaching them on the same sidewalk. I feel that is all that is needed to stay safe but there is no easy words to convince your family otherwise. They are living as they do out of fear. And fear is a hard thing to get around. All you can do is let them know you will only be outdoors in the fresh air and if there is some way to track the location of your phone, that you can set them up with, they can feel better, watching where your cell phone is showing up on a map, realizing you are in a park not indoors with lots of others. Thats all I can think of. I know from a girlfriend who husband would track where she went for jogging to be sure she didn't stop somewhere to socialize. He was very controlling. So there must be a way and if you don't know, and I don't, perhaps a friend knows how and can tell you how to set it up. Even my cell has an app where my daughter can see my location at any time she wants. And we have that for safety purposes in case something happened to us. So I am sure you can set their cells to show where your cell is at all times.
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I'm probably not the one to answer this. I have diabetes and asthma and am a "high risk" person.
I did just get over the flu though and am doing just fine. Wear a mask. I guess that's what they want everyone to do. Here in the states it is what they are now mandating almost everywhere. I refuse to wear one myself, then again I don't go out.
You might point out to mom that there is probably little difference in weather you go to a comedy show or go to Walmart. To be safe you can wear a mask. Other than that the only choice is to stay home. I'm sorry about that. I think its being blown out of proportion myself, but I'm nobody. :)
Lets hope it goes away soon.
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