To Live And Die In Boston, Mass
By: Teejay Small
Tags: Vacation, Mwc Reentry, Coronavirus, Career Change, Humor

On returning to life amidst an apocalypse.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

In the onset of the year 2021, I truly thought things would get better.

I wasn’t exactly laboring under the delusion that the virus was going to up and vanish within the year, but I felt confident that the pandemic had run its course and the oncoming throng of vaccines would have enough impact to project us forth into a new normal.

That is why at the start of the year, I journeyed West into the vast unknown, allowing the universe to push me randomly like a shopping bag in the wind, or a political whistle-blower on a rooftop. My plan was to wait out the pandemic and then break into the screenwriting industry when the general public was finished vomiting weapons-grade spittle directly into each others’ mouths.

As I hit publish on this piece, I’m boarding an airplane to Boston for the first time since I left back in February. While in town I’m planning on spending some time with my family and friends, basking in the freezing embrace of the New England beaches, and god forbid, turning 25.

When this vacation was first planned a few months ago, I was freshly vaccinated and feeling hopeful. This trip was supposed to be a “Covid is over” victory lap. Now in the midst of an NFL draft’s worth of new variants, it’s looking like it’s going to be a “Covid half-time show, sponsored by Pfizer.” I’ll spend a few weeks catching up with what I’ve missed before returning West and attempting to launch my career from the inside of my swimming pool, or drown trying.

But I think it may be time to seriously consider how the looming threat of a perennial pandemic will effect my long term plans. If I can’t take the proper steps toward achieving my career goals, maybe it’s best if I return to Boston in a more permanent capacity. Perhaps it would be prudent to skip the old grass roots style of wandering around Los Angeles with a dollar and dream until I bump into the only producer in town who won’t sexually assault me and focus on astroturfing my way into a staff writer position using the internet from a remote city that isn’t constantly on fire.

Uncertainty drove me to make this pilgrimage across the country when it didn’t seem advisable to commit to a lease while focussing on my profession. Now that same uncertainty is precisely what will drive my reentry. In fact, I’m not even certain about the integrity of my relationships back in Mass after this brief stint away from home.

What if I see all my friends this week and they’ve adopted new inside jokes without me? When I pop up in Boston with a set of Invisalign trays in, refusing to eat chips and salsa, will people affix harrowed stares into the distance and forlornly declare “You’ve changed, bro.” What if my ex girlfriend is in a relationship with Seth Meyers’ incredibly dull brother? That last one is from That 70’s Show but anything is possible.

I think she could do better, honestly. Photo courtesy of Google.

A rogues gallery of Greek syllabaries may have us stuck between a rock and an anti masker for longer than previously anticipated, and the next decade of our lives may be mired with uncertainty. On one hand, it feels like these shut downs may never end. Alternatively, maybe there won’t be a second major shut down, maybe America will simply normalize Covid deaths the same way we normalized taking an Uber to the hospital and skipping insulin shots because of their crippling cost.

Either way, I’m due for a reentry. Whether that means returning to the outside world after an earth shaking pandemic with a fresh new set of teeth and a screenwriting career, or returning to Boston to be around the people and places I know best. It all depends on how the world spins. As for now, my flight is taking off, so I’ll just take it one day at a time.