Dear Self-isolating Friends and Family,
What a time to be alive! It is unprecedented weirdness. I don’t know about you, but some aspects of life are totally normal (my boys fighting) and some are totally bizarre (no toilet paper or cleaning products in stores).
I received the email below. Ordinarily, that would send me into a tailspin. You know how I love my Biddy Boot Camp.
But you also know that I am an optimistic person. So here I am looking on the bright side:
1. Atlanta traffic has been reduced to early-1990s levels.
This is lunchtime on I-85 where it joins I-75. It’s usually a jam.
2. No line at The Varsity (no eating inside either, for better or worse).
3. No one is sneezing, coughing or sniffling in public. (I’m thrilled. I hate this. Pandemic and non-pandemic advice: If you are sick, STAY HOME.)
4. Family time (again, for better or worse). I’m not ready to kill the children. Yet.
5. Home cooking. Last night, I made Pommes Anna from a recipe by Chef Anne Burrell. (I watched “Worst Cooks in America” during my isolation this weekend.) It’s basically scalloped potatoes with a twist.
Yum!
6. The potential to watch shows on my (long) list of suggestions. Although I find myself rewatching “Schitt’s Creek” in preparation for Season 6.
7. No cancellation fees on the annual cruise we had to reschedule before Coronavirus came calling.
8. Faculty at my university are forced to try online learning. I’ve been singing this delivery method’s praises for years, but some of my colleagues have been reluctant. It’s not perfect, but it works. And it compels people to learn new things and be creative to improve the experience for themselves and for students.
9. The chance to do things that have been put off for way too long. We moved to a different place in the same neighborhood the weekend before everything started changing substantially. With the forced down time, we have unpacked everything, put up shelves, cleaned the place, etc. I also rewired our speaker system — something I needed to do since we moved back to Atlanta.
10. The constant reminder to WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS. I’m continually appalled by the number of people who do not wash their hands after going to the restroom. Gross!
Join me in optimism: Tell me about your silver lining.
Love and air kisses from at least six feet away,
Beth
Observe and report 
I loved teaching classes online — and one of the sweetest in my experience was a hybrid writing class (college level composition). One of the students had suffered from meningitis and it left him mentally slow and unique. He wasn’t stupid by a long shot, but different. He was also 6’5″ so. By introducing himself online, explaining that he knew he was different and why, and telling what had happened to him before our first face-to-face class meeting he ended up with the sympathy of his classmates. I started teaching online in the early 2000s. Best career move I made — it assured me of classes in my 30 year adjunct teaching career.
This virus has not affected my life much and I’ve been interested to see how nature is responding to it all over the world. Yesterday walking with Bear I thought this might be Mother Nature’s revenge. Like, “OK, idiots. You’re just going to have to STAY the fuck home!!!”
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Haha! YES. Exactly.
I know online environments can breed trolls, but not in online classes, I’ve found. In my experience, people treat each other more kindly.
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I noticed that, too. 🙂
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