Reflection: A Few Days of Family Time!
If I were still living in Denmark, tomorrow would be what we used to call "Little Christmas Eve." It would also mark the start of a long week of pretty much non-stop eating. At least in our family.
Our middle son arrived from Seattle yesterday and is here for the holidays and on his "winter break" from his job with the city Parks & Rec... they still lay a bunch of their staff off from mid-December till March... so he has to collect unemployment every winter.
Sounds a bit weird, to me... but I guess it's a cost saving thing that keeps them from having to give the benefits that go with being a full-time worker. And this is a city government department, no less.
Meanwhile, our daughter and son-in-law are arriving tomorrow for a couple of days. It's actually the first time in quite a few years we have been together for Christmas.
It makes me pause to ponder just how disruptive Covid was for so many people. It also makes me recognize how comfortable we became with just staying at home. I'm sure it was a lot harder for all the social butterflies of the world!
What seems like relatively minor things can end the established ways of doing things and we have to adapt. And then we adapt "back" to how things were before, as best we can.
Tomorrow, I will head in to town to do the "big" Christmas grocery shopping although it will have to be a little more modest than it once was... inflation dictates that it must be so, whether we like it or not. Just another sign of the times.
Without a doubt, these are interesting times in which we live! Time to be grateful for what we do have, rather than lament what we don't!
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!
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Created at 2023-12-23 01:26 PST
1023/2278
Covid destroyed so many things because a lot of people lost their jobs and they have not been able to recover since then…
I wish you a merry Christmas in advance
Yes, Covid definitely destroyed a lot of things for a lot of people!
Merry Christmas to you, as well!
I am no social butterfly, but the gray of winter requires me to put some effort into my social calendar purely as a way to maintain my mental health anyway. COVID was worse than just "stay at home," it was fear and a dark loneliness imposed from outside. And yes, returning to normalcy has been an odd experience even for those of us who thought policy was an overreaction. It has to be worse for the true believers even now.
People imagine government jobs are cushy and lucrative, but certainly not for those of us at the bottom of the ladder. I have worked seasonal jobs, and the knowledge that a gap is inevitable is not a good feeling.
Good luck with the crowds and the prices!
I will openly admit that I am probably an outlier as far as my capacity to spend time alone is concerned. I have spent summers in remote cabins with only nature for company, and only a trip to town for supplies every two to three weeks. And I find myself perfectly content with that. But, as I said, I recognize that I am an outlier in that sense.
And yes, the part of Covid lockdowns I definitely did not enjoy was the constant diet of fear, fear, fear served up by the media and government propaganda. To this day, I think the Swedes still took the right approach in only taking relatively minimal precautions and putting their faith in "herd immunity" developing. When looked at over the longer term they actually have fared quite well.
Somehow, the city of Bellevue have managed to create a job classification which our son is part of known as "permanent seasonal worker." which basically means he's treated like a full-time worker while he's there but he doesn't get the benefits. Bullshit, if you ask me.
The.problem with COVID lockdowns wasn't solitude per se, but the coerced nature of that solitude. It messed with me bad.
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