Chapter Sixteen: Socializing Safely?
July 1, 2020
Dear Diary,
Years ago, before realizing that they were evil data mining scams designed to collect personal information and manipulate political elections [1], I LOVED to take Facebook quizzes. Why settle for a boring Myers Briggs personality test, when I could take a quiz like “Build a Salad and We'll Guess Your Secret Talent and Dream Job” and have so much more fun while learning about myself!One day, I must have been pretty bored because I took a quiz despite its very mundane title, “Introvert or Extrovert?” I fully expected to be diagnosed as an introvert because: (1) I am generally shy in large groups; (2) I enjoy being by myself and crave alone time if I don’t get enough of it; (3) I hate small talk; and (4) I prefer having a few great friends, as opposed to a lot of good friends. After clicking on several images to respond to various crucial questions like, which tree was my spirit tree and which marine animal I most admired, the quiz results were tallied, and, to my great surprise, I was identified as …An extroverted introvert. What a joke, I thought. How could I be both? After reading up on it, though, I had to admit that I fit the description to a T. [2]Perhaps because of my personality type, Diary, the first 100+ days of our new normal have been somewhat of a welcome relief. Prior to the Great Shutdown, I had been running around and socializing non-stop, so the ability to stay home for once - reading, writing and nurturing my introverted side - felt good. However, as I started to detail over a month ago in Bursting Our Bubbles, the desire to see our friends in person began to overtake our fears of the virus, and only grew stronger and stronger as more and more parts of our economy re-opened. Images of friends dining in restaurants or socializing outdoors, quickly accelerated our FOMO. Friends called and told me about all the ways that they were interacting in pods, while detailing the protective measures they were undertaking to make such get-togethers safe.After mulling it over for a few weeks, Hubby and I decided to bite the bullet and invite a few friends over for a socially distanced hangout in our backyard. The first order of business was to ensure we could provide proper seating, which would guide everyone to maintain appropriate distance. We arranged our garden furniture so that everything was spaced six feet apart; and for dining purposes, we decided that 72” round tables with no more than 4 people seated at each, would be our best bet.We also decided that there would be no communal appetizers in order to minimize the spread of germs. As someone who loves to craft a colorful snack board, I decided to create individualized cheese, snack and charcuterie plates for each of our guests. (I promise to learn better portion-control in the future, Diary.)
I prepared the appetizer plates ahead of time while wearing a mask and gloves and am very happy to report that my oxygen levels never varied despite my prolonged mask wearing, nor was I recruited at any point by the local Communist Party.We opened up our backgate so guests could go directly into our backyard without having to walk through our house. Thankfully, everyone wore a mask and was super considerate about wiping down any surfaces touched whenever entering our house to use the restroom. We handed out mini hand-sanitizers to each guest when it was time for dinner, which was assorted BBQ from our favorite restaurant Bludso’s. I again donned a mask and gloves while only I served the food. As I was the only person allowed to touch the serving tongs and spoons, this hopefully minimized any transmission risks. Hubby adorably packaged up ziplock bags containing disposable utensils, napkins and wet wipes for each guest’s use at their table. Hubby also assumed the role of sole sommelier in order to similarly minimize transmission risks.Despite the never-ending ambient noise of fireworks in the distance, so regular that my friend Bert remarked he felt transported to Hanoi, I think that everyone enjoyed the ability to get together in person and appreciated our COVID-19 set up. Mistress Olivia was so taken by the concept that she has started hosting socially distanced tea parties with her American Girl dolls regularly in the backyard.Sadly, infections are on the rise again, so I think it’s best that I stay home and embrace my introverted side again for a week or so to test out our socially distanced set up’s effectiveness before attempting it again. The thought of unknowingly spreading this virus to another person is scary enough for me to proceed with utmost caution.Very truly yours,MayaReferences:
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/opinion/cambridge-analytica-facebook-quiz.html
[2] https://introvertdear.com/news/extroverted-introvert-signs/