MEDIUM RARE

Not the “isolationists” who are under detention waiting for their quarantines to lapse, but men and women who live without family or a significant other to make life easier or harder during pandemic times. Physical distancing being the norm and isolation facilities being law, is being alone safer than being together?

It depends how you look at it, but then the people I know – and they are many – who are proud of their aloneness have been at it longer than the nation has been under lockdown. As one of them told me, “There are more of us than you think.” Most, if not all of them, live in condos. I recall Senator Edong Angara saying condominium living was so much more convenient and efficient for him than living in a big house where a big staff was needed to keep the place safe, secure, spic ‘n span.

Before condo living became the norm, singles, couples, and multiples lived in apartments when they could not yet afford to own a house. Today, with so many high-rises housing the urban population, professionals and retirees, a condo unit is the answer. For single women, there’s safety in numbers. For single men, privacy is a given.

Linda brags about her independence. On the second floor of a three-story building in New Manila, she claims she’s dependent on only one person, her youngest brother. He delivers food regularly because she cannot cook. A maid comes in once a week to do the cleaning. If Linda has a craving for a particular food, she has to wait for the maid to come so she can send her to the restaurant for take-out food. Linda, does this count as living alone?

Aida is a much tougher lady. No helper, no cook, no driver to help her, so she says. She does everything on her own. At her age (secret!), she goes out every day or every other day to do her errands – bank, computer repair shop, supermarket, restaurant, barangay office. “No choice,” she declares. She believes in “cosmic destiny” so she doesn’t believe in vaccines. “I wear mask and shield, keep my distance, spray everything I touch. Think positive. Worry and anxiety lower your immunity. Years of TM should calm you.”