The New Normal

Like everyone else, I’ve been adjusting to new rhythms of life since sheltering-in-place started in the Bay Area >3 weeks ago. One of the things I have been enjoying is rediscovering the lost art of phone conversations, since it’s easier than ever to catch up with friends now that nobody has any place to be.

I became friends with Chiawen in junior high, but we haven’t lived in the same city (or state, for that matter) since college — I’ve stayed in the Bay Area while Chiawen has lived in Chicago, Alabama, New York, Paris, and now London. Nevertheless, we’ve always stayed in touch even though the frequency and medium has varied. It’s funny because before SIP started, it’d be normal to not talk to each other for months at a time, and since SIP last month we’ve had three video calls.

I first reached out a few weeks ago because I saw a puppy on his Instagram story, and wasn’t sure if he actually got a dog or if it was a friend’s dog.

“It’s the craziest story,” Chiawen started when I asked him about it. Honestly, nobody tells a story like Chiawen, but in short, he bought a last minute plane ticket to fly to Belfast and get his dog from a breeder right before the lockdown started, and took an overnight ferry back that same day.

He had also started working from home earlier that week, so I asked him how that had been going.

“I’ve been home…I wouldn’t say I’ve been working.” Chiawen was his witty self, as per usual. “On Wednesday everybody tried working from home and the network couldn’t handle it, and IT told us to log back on Friday. That was perfect since I went to go get Mati on Thursday – I figured with the lockdown coming that this was the best time to get a dog. Then on Friday the network failed when we tried to log back on….so yeah.”

He continued, “So if it’s one thing I’ve learned from this crisis, it’s that none of this work stuff really matters. My job is not business critical to my company. My company is not important to the world. The economy’s ground to a halt and people are dying out there…how are you supposed to be focused on spreadsheets and reports and ‘work’ in the midst of it all? It really does put everything into perspective.”

Halfway through his rant he paused and asked, “Wait, are you going to blog about this?”

The thought didn’t even occur to me until he asked, at which point I knew I had to blog about it.

It’s hard to argue against what Chiawen was saying. It is unprecedented what’s happening right now, with thousands of people dying in a matter of weeks, millions who have or will lose their jobs, and billions ordered to stay at home around the world. It’s times like this that make me incredibly grateful to have a job at all, despite the work feeling like it lacks meaning in the face of a global pandemic.

On top of that, it‘s been quite the challenge dealing with social isolation as a direct result of WFH / SIP. Hence, my new routine of randomly calling friends who I haven’t spoken to in a while. It’s also been therapeutic to go on regular walks around the neighborhood whenever I can. Yesterday I managed to catch a respite from the rain and went outside for a walk, and on a whim decided to call a friend I hadn’t seen or talked to yet this year.

Ten minutes into our conversation, he says, a bit abruptly, “Okay, I have to go do my push-ups and…yeah.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence, and I laughed to myself afterwards because well, I knew he didn’t have anywhere else to be…none of us do! It’s okay, though…I’m glad I called even though he seemed more interested in working out than talking to me.

If anything, this just encourages me to continue calling friends so I can have something to write about over the next few weeks while still on lockdown.

So…consider yourselves warned. 😉