c’est la fucking vie

Yesterday morning, in the middle of a two hour face-to-face tutorial, my students told me Canberra was going into lockdown at 1700.  So, after tute, I checked in with my team, reset a bunch of stuff on my course site to 2020 version, emailed all my students, then looked around my office to decide what to take home… instant curries from the filing cabinet, a couple of textbooks, the fruit sitting on my desk… and, oh yes, my “little box of fucks” (for when you have none left to give – thank you B_ for that thoughtful gift)…  Grabbed my stuff, collected kids from school, and got home just in time to run my 1600 to 1800 tute online.  (sigh). 

Hence this, in mirrored refrain form for the Thursday dVerse prompt: 

C’est la fucking vie,
Here we go again…
and we retreat into our homes,
as another lockdown descends.

We bunker down inside, while
outside the virus roams,
as another lockdown descends
and we retreat into our homes.

All-day PJs, work-from-home hair,
and we wonder if this will ever end….
and we retreat into our homes,
as another lockdown descends.

At least in Teams we can click mics off,
so no one hears our groans,
as another lockdown descends
and we retreat into our homes.

Lectures online, tutorials too,
Lab kits via snail-mail are sent,
and we retreat into our homes,
as another lockdown descends.

Hugs and kisses sent through the aether,
now we’re each again alone,
as another lockdown descends
and we retreat into our homes.

Of course, I’d rather be locked down than seriously sick. I’m happy to trade a bit of “freedom to” for “freedom from” if it’s freedom from dying, or watching a family member die. Living in a society is inevitably a compromise between one person’s “freedom to” and another person’s “freedom from”, and you don’t have to look far afield to see the results of excessive “freedom to”. I applaud the ACT government’s decision to lockdown hard and fast, no matter how much I’d prefer to be in the classroom than online.