Scurvy and A Grim Mindset

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Total Confirmed: 859,556

Total Deaths: 42,331

Total Recovered: 169,599

I wonder if everyone has vitamin C. I wonder if people are going to die in their homes from scurvy, their gums swollen and their skin bleeding. Eating nothing but all those noodles and oatmeal and rice they thought they needed after they ran out of oranges a while back.

I called my insurance company first thing this morning.

It just dawned on me that I could die. Or my husband could die. We are in our 40’s after all. We don’t have “underlying medical conditions” – another go-to, grossly overused catch phrase. But it could still happen.

Constance reviewed our policies and said she’d email us to let us know if we have enough coverage. She said she thought everything was in order at a glance.

What about life insurance? I asked. Is there going to be an amendment to our life insurance policies? Telling us they won’t pay out if we die from covid? This is going to bankrupt the insurance industry…

She said she hadn’t heard anything yet but a mass email will be sent out if it happened.

So it’s a possibility? I ask. I don’t really think so, she says, but things are changing every day.

I hung up, determined to just not die and I won’t have anything to worry about. Aidan can’t die either. And neither can our Moms. Or our siblings. I’ve decided. I set about trying to get out of My Grim Mindset.

I talked to my father-in-law for some time on the phone. He’s being as safe as he can. Some neighbors brought him some food and left it in bags outside. He went out later and left the money in a ziplock under their tire.

Grocery stores are letting older folks and folks with those “underlying medical conditions” shop during certain hours to avoid contact with people. They’ll do shopping for anyone and bring it out to your car, too, but it all needs to be scheduled and good luck finding someone in any store who can do that for you this week. Or next. You gotta be quick on the trigger to get your place in Cyber-Line.

We all will know someone who will die, my father-in-law said. All of us. Nah, it’ll be a six-degrees of separation situation, my mother says later while we sip our coffee, wearing non-latex gloves. I don’t know who I believe. But now they’re saying if the U.S. can keep the death rate to around 200,000, it will be considered a success.

2.Hundred.Thousand. A-Success…

People are being asked to get off trail if they’re thru-hiking the PCT. People are ignoring the order. Get Off Trail. Civic duty and all that. It’s not just about you. And good luck finding food. Or a ride. Or a place to stay when you’re in town.

Or Vitamin C.