By Linh Dinh
On 2/5/22, a reader, Troy, left a comment:
I’ve been living alone in a subsidized apartment on a subsidized pension due to a severe tick born illness. This happened to coincide with COVID, so it’s been weird to say the least. I’ve never experienced this much isolation before and have always considered myself a loner. At times, this is flat out neurological torture and I can feel the lack of personal interaction to my core. I’m blessed to recognize this. I don’t have a t.v. and have recovered enough to walk again in order to relax and think better. I’d rather be back in a shelter with other men than alone in this apartment. The isolation is killing me and I know it.
JustPlainBill responded:
I, too, always considered myself a bit of a loner, and at work I interacted with people all day long for most of my career. But then I retired, a couple of years before COVID began, and although I had some time to get used to having far fewer people around, the difference now is stark. I used to laugh at people who went back to meaningless jobs just because they couldn’t stand being at home, and couldn’t wait to get away from the workaday world. But although I’ve never been even a little bit tempted to go back to work, I now I understand a lot better why some might feel that way.
I’d say most Americans know all too well that predicament. They are among the loneliest people on earth.
When I moved to Philadelphia in 1982, just shy of my 19th birthday, I noticed personal ads for the first time. Like any young prick still vain enough to think he’ll never sink that low, I thought they were amusing, but listen, dumbshit, there’s always another subbasement with your name stenciled on a dark, corner bunk with a stone hard pillow, so go ahead and laugh!
