Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Sunday, May 25th, 2021

Serious Shopping

I woke up to grey skies this morning which suited me just fine as EM and I had planned a major shopping trip joined by her friend A. and my friend D.

I flippantly mentioned the mums were only asked along for the credit cards, which is of course only partially true. The primary objective was to buy evening gowns for the PhotoPROMenade on the national mall. Mum’s advice in choosing an appropriate dress was welcome. EM tried on five dresses all in all (blue, burgundy, petroleum green, blue-grey as well as a black-and white combination). It was a toss-up between green and blue. She went with the first one she had tried which looks absolutely stunning and best of all: it has pockets!

A picture was sent to the BF’s mother so she can acquire a matching tie for J. While EM sorted out the dresses I quickly tried on a few pairs of sandals and settle on two. I hope they are as comfortable in daily use as they were in the shop, which is not always the case.

Once the main task was accomplished, on we went to find jeans, shorts, a skirt, underwear and few tops. Sadly, half the stores had their fitting rooms closed, so no trying on the underwear or the jeans I bought for myself. EM on the other hand spent what felt like an hour trying on jeans, tops and skirts. Thankfully all my items fit so I can spare myself another trip to the mall to return them.

It was very strange to be in a place frequented by what felt like many people, almost reckless towards the end, at which poitn we quickly left. We had made sure to arrive upon the opening of the mall, hoping to avoid crowds, which was a wise choice. Though by the time we were done it was very busy. As if everyone has come out of their sequestation to spend money.

Also, I have quite forgotten how tiering shopping can be! We have not been to any clothing stores in over a year leave alone a mall. With my second shot ten days ago and everyone fully masks it was okay I think, though I definitely reached the limits of my comfort zone as the day moved on and we were all glad when we were done and headed for a nice outside patio.

Alas, there was a freezing wind and none of us had brought jackets. We ended up taking another risk and enjoyed a fine meal INSIDE a restaurant. Something experts consider to be the riskiest thing to do as one has to take the masks of to eat. I am betting on the efficacy of the vaccine, a bet I shall hopefully not regret.

In our section of the restaurant they had three tables with parties of three each with tables some four meters apart. It felt safe enough and the food was delicious, though initially we gasped at the prices. In the end it came to US$ 50 per person which did not seem unreasonable to me especially since the food was exquisite (and as in all US restaurants too much, so we can make a second meal of it tomorrow). The truffled Mac and Cheese for instance came with real Truffel slices. I ended the day with a visit to the nail spa for a pedicure.

I feel like I am reentering civilization but am utterly exhausted now. The planting of the Geraniums will need to wait until tomorrow, I fear. EM set of to spend the evening with J. so nothing is stopping me from having an early night. It was nice to have the mother and daughter time: watching a movie last night and the entire day today. It also all felt so normal. One could almost forget that Corona is still very much around with 53k new cases reported over the past twenty-four hours to bring the US total to 32.8 million.

At least the USA is no longer the world leader in global new infections. The virus is raging in India and both India and Brazil have developed dangerous virus mutants which spread faster and are potentially more deadly. Now the US (and the EU) are sending aid to India. This is certainly laudable but only a drop in the ocean. Surely by now we have learned that the virus and its mutants do not respect any borders, so are likely to make their way to the EU and the USA in the coming weeks and possibly becoming the next dominant strain. We do not know how effective our vaccines are for these variants. The only way for all to be safe is for all to be vaccinated rapidly to avoid new strains from evolving. However, the EU, UK, and the USA are holding all the patents for vaccine manufacturing as well as some key ingredients.

High time democratize access by allowing as many countries as possible to make these vaccines instead of JNJ, Moderna and Pfizer paying their shareholders US$26billion in dividends!