With this sort of government-sanctioned approach to quelling the spread of COVID-19, Americans can take advantage of things like - gasp! - leisure and not being super productive at all times, as is our typical default setting.Īs an expert social distancer, I’ve enjoyed going for brief walks around my neighborhood. In New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, for instance, bars, restaurants, gyms, and theaters are closing as a way to mitigate the spread of the virus, a measure taken right after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people to reconsider gatherings larger than 50 people for the next eight weeks. But that said, as a lifelong introvert, I want to stress that, for people who have the means to do so, social distancing isn’t so bad, and here are a few - hopefully compelling - reasons why.įirst of all, how freeing is it to not have to deal with FOMO?! There’s no fear of missing out on anything because, quite literally, nothing is happening right now. Now, to be clear, this isn’t an opportunity for people who have natural inclination toward introversion to be smug (OK, maybe just a little bit), and this definitely isn’t directed toward people who cannot financially afford to self-isolate or practice extreme social distancing. Naturally, lots of jokes were made about people having cabin fever (and understandably so, we are social animals!), but I also noticed some self-proclaimed introverts, myself included, joking about how they’re quite fine with our new reality. I watched several conversations take place on my Twitter feed throughout the last week, with many colleagues and friends doing their best to practice social distancing, which, as the Washington Post pointed out, is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the virus.
Self-isolation is an amazing preemptive and communal strategy to practice now. Asymptomatic carriers can pass the virus to someone who is at risk for developing severe complications from the virus. You feel healthy and energized, so why should you practice “social distancing”? You feel fine! Well, mainly because you could be a carrier of COVID-19 and not experience any symptoms. Plans for brunch, plans for drinks, plans for whatever. So say you’re a young, vibrant, social person who has plans. There are ways to avoid making matters worse. And with American exceptionalism at an all-time high, some might say we’re screwed.īut being screwed, in this particular instance, is a choice. To date, COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has led to the deaths of more than 6,500 people worldwide - and nations overwhelmed by the number of people who’ve fallen ill, including Italy and Spain, should put American citizens on high alert that a similar spread is very likely to happen in the US in the coming weeks.
It’s mind-boggling that even in the middle of a global pandemic, people have expressed reluctance - some embarrassingly so - to curb certain aspects of their all-important social lives, even if it means potentially saving those most at risk, i.e., the elderly and people who are immunocompromised.
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