Pandemic soul cleanse? I felt irresponsible going to Morro Bay during the pandemic, but I took super careful precautions while there and, well, it probably saved me from the dark hole of depression which I was trying to avoid. I ate in my hotel room from the supplies I brought and I kept my mask on even while walking by the Rock. It was surreal. When once I was surrounded by smiling, greeting faces, now everyone was on edge, keeping distance, wondering if the next person we came across could be “the one.” This is not the world in which I want to live.
As such, I did not take too many photos. I didn’t want to document the visit with images of mask wearing visitors.
Why am I so depressed? Well, two months ago, I quit my job as door monitor at the hospital because it was turning me into someone I didn’t like. It was my job to enforce the hospital’s mask policy, the policy that many did not like and did everything to avoid. I was threatened, name called, given the “sieg heil” salute, told I was doing the work of the devil, yelled at, berated, and more. I could deal with it if it was just occasionally, but it was hourly! No one deserves to be treated like that. I mean, the hospital is only asking them to wear a mask just while in the hospital. It’s a medical facility, for goodness sake. I was becoming cynical, hateful, and my fuse was incredibly short. This was not me. After a discussion with Jim, we decided it was best if I quit, as the stress was beginning to affect me not just emotionally, but physically. So, I left.
Hence, my need to get back to nature.
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| Weirdly fitting for what we’re all enduring right now. |
I came away from Morro Bay with a melancholy feeling. The depression was lessened, sure, but seeing the place I love so dearly become an utter ghost town made my heart hurt. I can only hope this pandemic is over soon.