Just A Little Off

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On the road again.

I’m trying to think of the last time I was away from the house for work - I’m thinking it was the New England trip the second week of March. I came home on the day all hell broke loose because there were less than 20 of us on a huge plane.

(They still wouldn’t let me sit in the exit row unless I have coughed up $40).

So, 60 days around the house.

I felt off...

...like I shouldn’t be going. Like I should be around the house, still protecting my family.

Which is, of course, not rational, but I couldn’t scratch the nagging itch in the back of my head. Should we be back to normal? Is there any risk in staying at a hotel, or seeing people I don’t know as I drive around?

No clue.

Shouldn’t make a difference, right? I’m still in a mask with hand sanitizer and cleaning agents playing a role.

“Take the mask off!” One of my client’s employees yelled as he saw me.

“I’m a safety guy,” I said. “You should be wearing one.”

“I’m outside. A long ways away from anyone.

He was okay.

And I probably saw less people on the road than I do at home.

But I felt weird!

I got lost in the work a little.

I suppose that will be the way back into old ways.

But things seem different and it’s going to be that way for a long, long time.

“Never thought I’d live through something like this,” an older gent said. “I knew I should’ve retired, but here I am.”

“Did you enjoy quarantine?” I asked.

He laughed.

“We worked right through it,” he said. “We’re road construction guys. We’re essential.”

I texted my beautiful wife halfway through the evening:

“Miss me?”

“No,” she answered.

A little while later, another text:

“Melky tried to go out to pee. Didn’t quite make it. Now I miss you.”

Ah, a little normalcy.

Can’t wait for it all to stop being weird.

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