Finally got MINUS-19 after avoiding it for a year, I hate my life (Reddit-style post)
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(Thanks to @miss-lillipants for the inspiration! This is in a world inspired by her posts. I will be updating this every now and then, when I can. It will be in the vein of the gentle tags I gave it.)
Posted in r/MINUS-19
by u/CheckPleaseWell, it finally happened. I got MINUS-19.
I had been lucky enough to have not gotten MINUS-19 for the first year of the pandemic. I’m a manager at a restaurant, and after the government shut us all down for 3 months, my restaurant took the money, paid our staff, and shut down.
After that 3-month lull, when I couldn’t help but read news on social media all day, we came back, and that whole time, I’ve been nervous as hell. I’ve always been a germophobe - which makes for a great kitchen manager, the health department is always impressed by how clean our kitchen is - but this disease, the one that can shrink you - seemingly permanently? This sent my anxiety into overdrive.
Based on the advice of my nurse friend, I bought real N-95’s as soon as I could get them, and I wore them at work. I implemented a strict policy for all employees to wear masks, too, but you know they didn’t cover their noses half the time, and then, there are the bars and restaurants that are operating like nothing changed that are all around us, that they all spend their off hours at.
How could we all avoid it, even with us all masked? We were surrounded by a crowded room of customers who couldn’t mask while visiting. You can’t eat, or drink, or pretend like it’s 2 years ago before the pandemic, while wearing a mask.
So everyone has gotten sick since we re-opened.
Employees got it. Customers got it. Suppliers got it. Most just shrunk for a day, but some were out shrunk for weeks. One of the customers still has it - she’s still just four inches tall after 8 months. I only know because her husband told the bartender last week. He was crying over his beer about it, and he’s not normally an emotional guy.
The vaccine coming out last month should have put my mind at ease. But there was such a small supply, and it was only for old people. I should have lied about having immune deficiency just to get the jab on the first day. I finally got it last week.
It takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to kick in. And guess what, I just got sick this week. 5 days after I was inoculated.I felt groggy, first. Then I felt sweaty. I had stomach cramps, and I got home, and when I noticed my sense of smell was gone, I panicked. My husband, god bless him, assumed the worst, and immediately drove our two cats to his sister’s house.
When he got back, he had Nyquil for me, and was wearing an N-95 mask. He asked what sort of Shrunk Shelter I wanted. I said, “None”. He laughed, and hugged me. He said that we should put it together as a couple, before I couldn’t help him with the project anymore. I didn’t get what he meant at first, but he just looked at me. I already had the brain fog.
“I mean, before you’re too small to snap together the shelter kit, honey.”
Well, fuck.
He drove to the store and got the Log Cabin. We set up the plumbing with my tap water, just because I’m used to it. He put in a part of a cinnamon stick as an air freshener, and he cut up a small piece of one of his shirts as a blanket, because I always tell him I like his natural scent. I wanted to kiss him as a sort of goodbye, but he kept his mask on the whole time.
That was last night.
He set me and the Shrunken Shelter up in the guest bedroom, and I took some nyquil. I slept on the bed, on our bright white sheets, wearing my black chamois - so I could be easier to see, if I shrank.
And shrink, I did.
This morning was hell. I don’t know how to put it all into words other than to say this has been my nightmare for the past year. And I’m finally living in it.
I know I am so, so, so, SO lucky to have the husband that I do, who luckily works from home so he can look after me a bit. I know we are lucky to have money for a Shrunken Shelter, and for a guest bedroom to isolate in, which just makes all of the logistics so much simpler. But I’m looking around at this tiny log cabin’s walls, which I clearly remember used to fit in my hands last night, and I’m typing this on that dumb Android Microtablet they come with, with its crappy touch screen keyboard, and I want to scream until my throat is sore, that this virus is absolute shit.
Why did I have to be born into a new plague? I know we all are, but god damn it, I’m still mad about it.
I need this to be a short infection. I don’t know how I could handle it if I was the height of a chicken’s egg for the rest of my life.
I know this was a long rant. But, folks, what are your coping mechanisms? Is it wrong for me to just drink vodka all day? That’s all I want to do. Just numb myself out, whenever I’m not coughing.
Do you actually like any of the games on this stupid Microtablet? I used to play The Sims as a kid, and now I feel like I AM one. The little diamond over my head is bright red. I am NOT happy.
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@tiny-ivy (I love and am super flattered for your own take on this!)
u/PeevousGrievous
Replying to u/CheckPleaseFirst of all, I’m sorry that you contracted MINUS and I hope, for your sake, that it does not become a chronic condition for you. Thank goodness that your husband has been so supportive.
As a fellow MINUS sufferer, first and foremost: try to rest and relax. Whether a short-term or long-term infection, there isn’t much you can do while you’re still sick - it really is much like the flu in that respect.
If you’re feeling restless or can’t sleep, I recommend a free mobile game that’s just been released: Mi-Crow Cafe! It’s an adorable, “cosy” game about running a tiny cafe in a tree hollow for small animals. Each animal is a unique customer, with their own favourite foods, and as you build up a rapport with them, they tell you more about their lives. It’s also got amazing music, very Studio Ghibli-like. On top of that, it’s been recommended as a therapeutic game because the stories are actually based on the experiences of other MINUS sufferers. And I can confirm: it runs just fine on the tablet (I have the same one!)
