Covidiots and Quarantinis and Keeping Your Eyes on Your Own Quarantine

The dog ate the homework!

Here's a helpful PSA we probably all learned by the end of first grade: Keep your eyes on your own work.You may not quarantine precisely as your neighbor chooses to quarantine, and that's (mostly) okay.

"Comparison is the thief of joy," my wise friend Rachel says, quoting, I think, her wise mother.

In our current circumstances, the thief works in two ways.

You could while away the quarantine looking at social media and coming away with a long, long list of Everything That Is Wrong With You.

Her husband is more helpful. Her children are more cooperative. She doesn't have to worry about money! Her kids are writing computer programs; mine are terrorizing the dog and their little sister. They have a lake. A lake!

Keep your eyes on your own quarantine.You are teaching Your kids in Your house under Your unique circumstances.

A second, darker temptation is to look with contempt at those who respond differently than we do. Before I launch into that, let me point out that the quarantine has spawned some useful new words. I will highlight just two of them:

Covidiot: 

1. Someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety. 

2. A person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbors.

Quarantini: A soothing alcoholic drink that makes dealing with Covidiots so much easier!


Yes, there are covidiots out there. They hoard toilet paper, and record themselves kissing toilet seats and throw huge parties in blatant disregard of the common good. 

But don't slap that label on everyone who does things differently than you do.

We are not carbon copies. We don't have the same underlying risk factors. We don't interact with the same at risk people. We don't have the same fears. We don't have the same level of fortitude.

That doesn't make us covidiots; it makes us human.

Let's not devour one another.