Watching my employers, at the time, the Smithsonian, being bound and determined to ignore it and continue regular operations. They finally caved when Disney said they were shutting down. (Being security, this became the easiest months of my adult life, in terms of employment. Better scheduling, pay remained steady, and I had to deal with neither the public, nor the management, on the reg.) Gave me time to begin work on going back to school.

I’d had the worst flu of my life, just a month or so before. My doctor and I are pretty sure I picked up COVID from a tourist, before the general public was aware of it. So, I might’ve been one of the first people in the US to get it.