What You’re Feeling Is Plague Dread
During a pandemic, terror and tedium can go hand in hand.
Fourteen days ago, my world began to shrink down to nearly nothing. That evening was the last time I left the office and rode the subway back to Brooklyn. Three days later, I walked to a restaurant with friends and then got my hair colored nearby, two luxuries that felt intolerably risky even the next day. Five days after that, I planned what I hoped would be my last trip to the grocery store—on my previous last trip, I had neglected to consider how much dish soap I’d need while cooking and eating meals at home for weeks on end. Now, I mostly sit on my couch with my laptop and phone, trying to keep up with what’s happening in the world. Sometimes I move to my kitchen table. My
