My Life in SAMerica

I have always cared about words. I'm not big on poetry, but song lyrics matter a great deal to me. My best friend, Allison, wouldn't care if the lyrics were:          Aardvaark sitting on a hot stove          Watching the yarn ball roll away          Isn't it bacon to say          I'll never move your chair again ...as long as she liked the music. For her, and I'm sure, most people, the music is the important part. And most people don't even care if the lyrics sit correctly atop the music (meaning the stress falls on the right syllables), which is key for me! Key! I had such a tough time getting used to Alanis Morissette and the way she puts the stress on the wrong sylLAbles! So in SAMerica I spend too much time thinking about lyrics. When I'm walking around town listening to a playlist on my phone, I can be heard to actually comment out loud, like "Katy, what does Swish Swish mean anyway...

December 2020: My temp agency called with a new assignment - registering patients for the Pfizer vaccine at the Javits Center. "Wow!," I thought, "they're going to do vaccines in such a large conference center in midtown Manhattan?" I was excited to hear the pay was good and I gladly accepted the offer. Finally getting back to work! Finally getting paid! Finally leaving the apartment! The job began January 15, 2021. We'd all been self-quarantining at home for a number of months and were anxious to get back out into the real world. The first day showed us, though, this wasn't going to be the real world. We had apparently joined either the Army or first grade and we were going to be treated accordingly. For training, the registrars were mixed in with the nurses for a mass meeting where the supervisors explained "this is a clinical environment," which meant no food or beverages in patient areas. Also, no sweaters or coats, no books, and absolutely...