Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The counter in the kitchen at work is full of small wrapped candies, a result of the holiday yesterday. Like trick-or-treating run backwards, people visit friends and neighbors, sometimes in costumes, and give them gifts of food. It’s supposed to be a real meal, but candy happens. In the office, we’re preparing to work remotely, installing the needed software on each computer and making sure that everyone can video chat. We don’t need to yet, but we may. The government just banned gatherings of more than a hundred people. We only have two dozen in our office, but it’s time to plan. A worker who has been out sick with flu symptoms may be going through a battery of tests. Or he may not. His text messages are cryptic, even to native speakers. In the men’s room, I find that we’re out of paper towels again. I wash my hands for twenty seconds, singing the chorus to “Jolene,” shake them around till they’re not too wet, then finish drying them in the kitchen.