Humor essayist Shani Silver tells NPR's Michel Martin that being single is much harder when you're also quarantined alone.
Social distancing is the goal during this pandemic, but self-isolation has also pushed millions of people closer together over the past month. Working parents are now home with their children 24/7, and roommates may have no choice but to self-isolate with each other. But what if you're single and live alone? What do you do when you just need a hug?
SHANI SILVER: This is not a typical day at home in any capacity. I think when you remove choice, and you dial up fear, being home by yourself is a very different experience. And I think when we are - as human beings, when we're scared, it's helpful when you have someone to be scared with. You are alone for the duration of this, and that duration is uncertain. And that doesn't take away from being very comfortable being a single woman.
SILVER: That person does not exist. The email you're referencing was from my insurance provider, and they were sort of categorizing symptom levels and indicating which could be dealt with at home and which required a hospital visit. And one of the symptoms that required a hospital visit was somebody is having trouble waking me up. And there is no way for me to know if someone has trouble waking me up because there's no one here.
And then in the moments that are really hard, what I've started doing is every time that I'm sort of here, and I realize, like, no one cares if I'm OK right now - in those moments, I try to check on other people. I try to text all of my single girlfriends and make sure that they're doing OK. I text my friends who have young kids and ask them how they're doing.
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