Eat In/Go Out

As we head into winter, which could also be called the season of respiratory illnesses, I have been getting vaccinated about once every week or two, and reflecting (once again) on the changes that the pandemic brought about for me. The first is that while I was an avid vaccinator before the pandemic, I am a militant one now. I now get the flu shot because I don't want to die of a respiratory illness, but for decades I got it because I work in health care and I didn't want to kill someone else. We seem to have lost that community focus, so hand onto it when you find it, make your own community, and while it is unnecessary when someone who chooses not to vaccinate themselves or their family dies, it is not a tragedy because they made that choice--the tragedy is that they kill others. The other, far less consequential change is that I am now firmly in the Eat In camp. I started out there, mostly because I like to cook, my spouse likes to cook, and we are not billionaires and would prefer to spend many of our discretionary dollars on something other than mediocre food out. During the pandemic I realized that if I cannot eat the food in a restaurant I would rather make something at home than get take out--it just doean't hold up. I also learned to deep fry. The quality of tempura at home is so much better than what I have had out that I don't order it out any more. It is so easy to make at home, and so much better. My fear of frying is gone, thanks to COVID, and it made me one step closer to rarely leaving my house.