Reader Submission:
I understand that this virus is tragic and that it is taking lives. I am not one of it’s biggest fans. I can’t help but think that it has also saved countless lives as well though. Before you go dragging me across hot coals for being insensitive, let me explain.
Many of us spend our days going to the same bars, sitting in the same chairs and downing the same poison day in and day out. COVID-19 has provided me with the longest detox period that I have had in years. Aches and pains that I had from binge drinking and waking up with a hangover are things of the past for the moment.
Only the good Lord knows what I was doing to my insides before all of this “social distancing” and all of the business closures. Now, I feel like a new man. I’m not saying I won’t go back to the way I was before sitting at the bar and drinking my beer, that would be a ridiculous statement to make. I do think that I will consider what I am doing to my body in the future, however.
The downside to being stuck at home and having to use delivery service is that there aren’t tons of healthy options to choose from. I have to be conscious about what it is that I am throwing down my gullet food-wise so that I can maintain my professional tennis player appearance, even though I’ve never held a racket in my life.
Another way that this virus has potentially helped in Thailand, is that it has greatly reduced the number of road deaths that we typically see this time of year. This is the Songkran/Thai New Year period, which is one of the deadliest times of the year for road deaths. This year, however, there is nobody on the road, so nobody is dying.
Being forced to be at home is boring, sure. I do believe it has made me appreciate all the shit that I had before a lot more, however. You don’t really think about the freedoms you have until they are stripped away from you. Hell, most of us don’t even appreciate our jobs until they are no longer there for us to complain about.
I won’t tell you how to spend your time, I’ve heard Tiger King is awesome! That being said, I do think that everyone should use a little bit of this free time to reflect on life and to plan for when things go back to normal. I’ll tell you right now, when the machine starts back up and you are back in the swing of things, you are going to miss this time of doing absolutely nothing.
Workers hunger all year for vacation time and now they want to go back to work. Stay at home moms constantly wish for more time with their families but now they are ready for them to get the hell out again. Fitness rats want to resume…whatever it is that fitness rats do. Moms and dads are MORE than ready for kids to go back to school and everyone is racing for things to go back to normal. Slow down for a minute and enjoy doing absolutely NOTHING for a change.
Times are hard for everyone, the key thing is to remember that things WILL go back to the way they were. People will come back to Pattaya. Tourism will flourish again at some point but businesses will see liveaboard Pattaya patrons flock to their places of business as soon as they are re-opened because they are tired of being cooped up and they are overdue for a fix.
It is great to see people and businesses out there handing out free food to others and helping folks out that are genuinely having a hard time with things. I personally hope the world can take away a few things from the virus, instead of just HATING everything.
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