Ramblings

When I was 30, I had 3 medical things happen all at once:

I had minor surgery on my thyroid to remove a cyst. I had Lasik surgery on my eyes, and I broke my right wrist.

(In fact, I often wonder if those 3 events all in the span of a few months is what triggered the beginning of the autoimmune attack - I was diagnosed 3 years later. But I will never know for sure.)

Of those 3 things, the breaking of the wrist was, BY FAR, the worst. It was incredibly painful for weeks, and I had a cast on my dominant arm. I had a 2-year-old at the time, and changing diapers was beyond me. How do you hold a squirming kid and change a poopy with one hand? I couldn't blow my hair dry. I couldn't get dressed easily. But you know what I really couldn't do?

I couldn't WASH MY HANDS.

Not being able to get my cast wet made hand washing this weird exercise in "what is the sound of one hand clapping" type nonsense. I longed for the day when I could indulge in the luxury of having 2 hands go under running warm water, the soap bubbling up nicely, the rubbing of both hands together. I would seriously fantasize about it. (but not in a gross way, come on people)

And then, of course, eventually that day came when I could wash my hands again. It was GLORIOUS.

It's been over a decade, and I still sigh with gratitude when I can put both hands underwater and really wash them both. It's still a luxury. And as you can imagine, I've been washing my hands a lot lately.

When this is over, I wonder what will be a luxury that wasn't before.

Will it always bring a spark of joy to go into a restaurant? To wait in a line and not wonder about the health of the person next to you? To watch a movie in an actual theater? Maybe every time I get my hair cut I will be astonished at the wonder of it all. Who am I kidding, I already do that. Hair people are magicians.

And the quarantine is getting to people. As expected, the backlash is beginning. "This is government overreach" "This is overhyped" "We can't believe the reports" "20k people would have died anyway" "They're lying about the numbers" "Hospitals are empty - I see the parking lots"

These are all completely normal responses to a completely abnormal situation. I just hope it doesn't lead to people breaking quarantine before they should because I don't want to read them tweeting about the death of their loved ones. Seriously my Twitter has way too many people mourning and it is HARD.

I don't really have a point here I guess.

Except that I really love washing my hands.