I Lived A Privileged Pandemic
And I’ve felt guilty about it ever since.
I would wake up most mornings at 8:00 am, lying there for a moment, taking in the warm sunlight that was stretching across the room, before getting up to make breakfast. The food schedule would tell me it was fruit salad, yogurt, vitamin drink, and a cup of tea — I honestly can’t remember the last time I ate that good or was that organized. Shortly after, I would sit down to leisurely work at the computer, doing a mix of writing and editing. I would fit in a couple of coffee breaks in the sun, have another healthy meal at lunchtime, go for a run, listen to a podcast or two, and spend the day with my wife, who was working from home alongside me. As the day drew to an end, we would sit down and have dinner together before watching TV, calling family, or doing a jigsaw puzzle.
That was a snapshot of my day-to-day quarantine life.
In restrospect, I lived a very privileged pandemic.
And I’ve felt guilty about it ever since.
Most privileged of all, I had a home to isolate in, and a nice one at that — unlike the estimated 100 million people worldwide who are homeless, or the 1.6 billion believed to live in inadequate housing. The place is bright, airy, well decorated, and has the luxury of having both a front and back garden. I…
