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| My work-from-home setup. |
I marked a milestone in my life at a bad time. I turned 60 on Nov. 17, 2021, in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At that age, you become more conscious about your health, and with a pandemic hanging over your head, you worry even more.
I knew I was in good health because, before the pandemic, I had to go through the annual physical examination required by our health card provider.
But not wanting to take any risks, I never ventured far from home from the moment the pandemic was declared, going only to nearby fast-food restaurants and stores to buy food and other supplies. There are a lot nearby, just a block or two away.
And fortunately, the office allowed a work-from-home setup as copyediting, which is what I do for a living, did not require being at the workplace.
So for two years, I stayed home.
I didn’t even try to get a senior citizen’s card when I turned 60. A 20% percent discount — one of the perks of that card — wasn’t worth exposing myself to possible infection by queuing up to get the card.
I only dared to go out on Christmas Day in 2021, months after getting the mandatory two vaccination shots and a booster. Since then, I have been going out only once a week, on my day off. To this day, I still follow that schedule.
Last year, a few days before Christmas, I got a bit of good news when I went to get my annual checkup — which was suspended for two years before.
My blood pressure was 110/70. I was amazed, knowing that I still smoke up to a pack of cigarettes daily and drank 10 to 12 bottles of beer weekly, on average.
I told the nurse taking my BP that it was probably because of the work-from-home setup.
“Ah, yes. No stress from traffic,” she said.
I didn’t tell her that I lived a block from the office and didn’t have to face the daily stress of traffic even before the pandemic. But she was right, the work-from-home setup was less stressful — at least for me because I’ve been living alone through the pandemic.
Now living alone could itself be stressful to some people. But I’m a bit of an introvert, despite my pre-pandemic habit of dropping by a bar before going home.
So now I’m 61 and in relatively good health, with no ailments requiring maintenance drugs. My most bothersome ailment is allergic rhinitis, which gets triggered by house dust, certain perfumes, a sudden change in air pressure and temperature.
I think I’ll be safe queuing up to get that senior citizen card.
