My topical guest topic from Rob S. is…
Social Distancing
Rob offered this topic in early April 2020 when it was still new and we imagined sparkling clean homes and deeper relationships with our same-home-sequestered loved ones. Ah, the good old days.
Here we are now. In day humunumumhum… 48-50-60… of our Wisconsin Safer-At-Home order. The majority of us are safely socially distant unless you’re in the Pick ‘n Save grocery store on Garfield. What is with the masks under your chins?
My pre-social-distancing-dance
Remember those innocent suggestions that I just give you a call? We’ll call them the opening two-step tango. I’d follow with a 60’s shimmy-shimmy co-co bop re-directing you to the much more efficient communication medium of email while ‘accidentally’ macarena-ing your phone number onto my RoboCall Blocker subscription black list.
Next, I’d abandon the dance metaphors and send a chirpy and agenda-laden email respectfully suggesting that we get together for coffee in about 3 – 4 weeks. I needed to work that far ahead on my calendar since I could only handle a few face-to-faces per week and needed to space them out. It was helpful to have enough time to work myself up to it or find an excuse to cancel.
Freedom!
This morning, I initiated 1 text and 6 FB IM chats all at the same time and got 5 bites. It wasn’t because I was desperate for human connection. Quite the opposite. The requirement for me to interact directly with people face-to-face and within rigidly prescribed parameters is 100% lifted.
It was brilliant fun.
Conversations 1 and 2 overlapped a little bit. 3 was a quick hit ‘thank you’ for a thing, 4 went back and forth just long enough to share music links and 5 conveniently chimed in for a nice long chat after I wrapped with 2. Also, post 2, 1 and I momentumed a couple more funny memes and went on to enjoy our days.
Coffee office hours?
Someday, this golden era will end and I have an idea. “You’ve reached Susan Fry’s voicemail. I’ll be at the Colectivo on Humboldt from 3-6 pm every Thursday. Please drop in and we can talk about all those things that we would have painstakingly planned to meet about a month ahead of time.”
You know what, I love seeing everyone I meet at the Colectivo on Humboldt. Truly do love it. It’s that getting out the door thing that messes me up.
I’m a fan.
It will be nice to hug and slobber over a group of friends at dinner but this Social Distancing thing ala Susan Style? It’s a keeper.
I’m Susan Scot Fry, the author of “A Year of Significance”. Honest, occasionally humorous and sometimes I swear.
A Year of Significance 