Sunday, September 27th, 2020

The boss sends a group text overnight. In the automated English translation, the genders of some nouns and people get scrambled. A reference to “coronavirus” becomes “coronary heart disease.” With some work, the meaning comes through. Another programmer on the team probably has the virus. His partner has been ill and has tested positive. The programmer has lost his sense of smell. He shares a cube with the other coworker who has the virus. They sit with their backs to each other, somewhat over a meter apart, but that may not have been enough. He’s also friendly, but we don’t talk much or work closely together. He sometimes comes to my cube for a moment to ask how to phrase something on an interface in English. Only two other people are in the office when I come in today. It’s a half-day, stuck between the Sabbath and a holiday, so few people show up. I could have taken a vacation day, since we have a lot of them. When I asked the boss last week, he answered in circles. I think I was supposed to pick up on something that was not being said, which was either that I should come in or that I shouldn’t. I don’t know what he meant. I work for a few hours, then run into the supermarket downstairs just before it closes. In the cashier’s line, I get stuck behind someone buying a lot of bottles of different kinds of beer. A voice overhead wishes for us all to be sealed in the book of life for the new year, and tells us to check out and go home. As I walk away, the bus that I often ride passes me. Due to the new lockdown, I didn’t think that it would be running today. Oh, well. It’s not like I’m in a hurry to get home.