Quarantine and chill

Feed your body and cultivate your mind!

By Matthew Fraser, Opinions Editor

Douglas College, like every other BC learning institution, has cancelled in-person classes for the remainder of the semester. With this, hours upon hours of free time have been unleashed. But, in a cruel twist of fate, concerts have been cancelled along with bars and restaurants being ordered shut. Most small businesses have shuttered themselves down to weather the storm. To the delight of every dog, humans have been ordered to stay inside. Communal leisure has been wrenched from the hands of the masses by way of social distancing. Now that we are all suffering quarantine, where can one turn for food and entertainment?

In a sense, the food front is easy—between SkipTheDishes, Foodora, and Doordash, any restaurant that is still open and delivering can satisfy your hunger. Certainly, the wait time may be longer, but careful planning will reward the decisive! Those who waffle and waver on what to order have my permission to starve in the wait. But with health being the very thing that crushed our routine, the best choice is not Panago or even Momo Sushi—you need fruits and vegetables!

Cue the godsend of grocery deliveries for the faint of heart and a quest to the shop for all the young and reckless. The most important thing to do is give your body the fuel it needs to combat COVID-19 at first emergence. Brave the streets on foot, step over the supermarket threshold, and navigate the aisles in search of the sustenance that gives white blood cells and your immune system the savage power to destroy intruding viruses. It pays to seize sunshine and light exercise in your endeavours; indeed, the body’s humours are best stimulated by nature’s simple fares. Let the fear hoarders and toilet paper resellers drive their cars, a short solo (or small quarantine group) walk will supply the needed fresh air to make your body fight invaders.

Alas, before I wax overlong of the healing power of sunshine and cool breezes, I direct thee to the leisure’s available to you in this trying time. Now that you have bunches of grapes suitable for your repose, what pray tell, entertains thee?

In a fit of good luck, technology has not succumbed to the respiratory illness that threatens the Homo sapiens; I’m sure you’ve already checked but Spotify (and its competitors), Netflix (with its rivals), and YouTube (in its lonesome glory) all still function as designed! But it’s time now to revert to a simpler time and rediscover the low-tech pleasures of the past.

With this thought, I hope your eyes have slid to that pile/wall of books you have been neglecting. Nothing pairs better with sickness and pestilence than paperback glories or hardcover fantasies. Let the sun cascade through your window and wash across the pages of your new read. When night falls like a frail body struck by intense fever, find refuge in finely crafted prose. An active mind will not grow old, and quarantine will allow for all the late-evenings-to-midnight-page-turning that you can handle. Like the Spanish plague once demanded, burn the midnight oil. I have to admit that I am not a fan of the board game. But this is not a season to resist the roll of the die or the silent war between bishops, knights, and pawns. Whatever you choose to use for entertainment purposes and however you see fit to nourish yourself through this pandemic, don’t forgot to sharpen those pencils and study. Better yet, do some writing and get yourself into the Other Press, we’re always hiring.