FOGO & JOSH

Photo c/o RMO

"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave (Dakota)." I am reminded of this as we carry on living today. We often hear this term "the new normal." It may even be a contender for phrase of the year! The Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything: in the way we work, we eat, we play, and perhaps even in the way we think which eventually will affect the way we live. But what is FOGO & JOSH? Is it a new clothing brand, a wellness spa, a shoe-line, an upscale restaurant, a law firm, dental practise, a music duo, a peanut butter brand, a cafe, among many others? This will be the first weekend after Aotearoa New Zealand emerges from alert level one. This will be a real test for FOGO & JOSH with no more restrictions in the number of people watching rugby games, basketball practises, shopping at the mall, attending church services, or just enjoying family and friends at the park. There is no more bubble so to speak. It has burst when PM Jacinda Ardern made the announcement last Monday.

Let me backtrack a bit to those self-isolation weeks. We did our grocery shopping mostly online, availing of the local businesses who gravitated to online after losing their offline business. But on rare occasions we would venture out to the nearest supermarket for those food products and items that were not available online. We had a cycle of 10-12 days in-between the shopping and it was my daughter who would go down to shop while I stayed in the car (it was a conscious effort of my family to limit my exposure to the elements since I was over 60 years old). Of course the shopping exercise would take more than an hour due to social distancing, hand sanitising, and just the sheer volume of people inside the supermarket. While waiting I would often step out of the car to stretch my legs and have a general look-see of my surroundings (getting photos or videos). Every-time I did that, I felt like something unseen is floating around me, trying to engulf me, to consume me, and vaporise me! By then, I already knew that the Covid-19 virus wasn't airborne but I still had that fear! That was my FOGO!

The alert level-4 lock-down made working from home the new normal. As a tutor I engaged my students online not only with the lessons but games and videos from all over the world. We discovered how the museums of the world opened up their collections and rooms for us to have virtual tours. I thoroughly enjoyed the times we had online. I shared with my students a Tik-Tok video of Vietnamese youth showing how to do the hand-wash, and some of my students made a pretty good attempt to do the same. I was able to use that as part of their assessments. One even made a Roblux game as part of his assessment. Working from home allowed me to be in my PJs or just a bathrobe while teaching. I still maintained the regular working hours, not because I was afraid that the boss was monitoring me, but because it was important to maintain a sort of routine. I still had to take a shower, brush my teeth. What I enjoyed most was the home-cooking over processed foods! I even started having breakfasts ( I normally don't have one). There were times, weather permitting, that we went for walks in the afternoon around the neighbourhood. Those days made me realize the importance of family life, quality time over quantity. That was my JOSH!

After eight weeks of self-isolation, my wife and I decided to go on our very first brekkie date to a local cafe (we paid for everything, no sponsorship was involved). Happy to support a local business.

Fear Of Going Out vs. Joy Of Staying Home! You choose!