Life is kind of bad right now.
The number of COVID-19 cases is rising, everyone’s on lockdown, and supplies are running out. But, in such a stressful situation, many forget about love — unless you count pushing each other out of the way to get the last pack of toilet paper a show of affection.
Nonetheless, even with the COVID-19 pandemic, love must go on, if without physical contact. For the people that aren’t used to showing affection to others while being stuck at home, don’t worry: I’m an expert at this.
Being an introvert, I like to avoid going out at all costs. So, over the years, I have invented several different methods to keep in touch with my friends without having to step foot outside of my house. I figure that since no one is allowed to see anyone else besides their family, I should share my techniques with you.
So, without further ado, here are some ways you can show affection to your loved ones while in quarantine.
Elbow Bumps
This may sound childish, but it’s the only form of physical contact that I would recommend at this time. Hugging, kissing, holding hands, and all other ways we do to show love puts us at risk of spreading and transmitting COVID-19. So, the best solution is to elbow bump.
And I understand that this doesn’t really go under the category of “loving from a distance,” but I want to include this, just in case you happen to meet your friends at the grocery store by accident.
If you don’t know how to elbow bump (and I won’t judge you if you don’t), here is the most simple, step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
1. Bend your elbow so that you make a chicken wing with your arm
2. Rotate your arm so that your elbow points to the elbow of the other person
3. Move your body so that your elbow finally touches the elbow of the other person
And voilà , you can elbow bump now. It’s important to remember, though, that you do need two people for this. If you try elbow bumping the air, you’re going to get some weird looks.
Sadly, with shelter-in-place, you can’t really elbow bump your friends. But, you can give plenty of elbow bumps to your family!
Love Letters
We’re taking it back to the 1900s, or whenever email didn’t exist. Take this time off to handwrite a letter. Yes, I said, “handwrite.”Â
“But Sam!” you say. “Why do that when you can just text each other?”
Letters are different from a typical email or text message. Letters show that you took the time to take out a piece of paper and write on it. A text, on the other hand, takes almost zero effort, and you can always just use Siri to write it.
And I understand how weird it feels to write a letter. I wrote a letter for the first time in a while last week, which is also how I learned that I didn’t know how to address a letter properly.
Anyhow, letters show that you put effort into showing your affection, and they don’t just have to be to your significant other. You can write letters to your distant relatives, your friends, or just whoever you want, as long as you have their address.
Amazon Gifts
If you want to give someone an actual gift, use Amazon!
Amazon makes it super easy to send gifts to someone else without actually having to give it to them in person. Simply just search for the gift you want on Amazon, add it to your cart, buy it, and then send it to their address.
Then, a week later (or maybe sooner if you have Amazon prime), your friend will open their front door and see the wonderful gift you got them.
FaceTime
Being stuck in the house and only seeing your family’s faces can be difficult. That’s why FaceTime was invented.
Utilize FaceTime to connect with your friends; you can even add multiple people to the call (just don’t ask me how to do it because I’m not tech-savvy).
But, for those non-Apple users, it can be hard to FaceTime when you, well, don’t have FaceTime. So I suggest using Zoom, the app that all students at Carlmont have become familiar with by now. You just need to start an account, host a meeting, and invite all of your friends to join by giving them the link.
Zoom even has a screen-share option, so you guys can watch movies together through Zoom. Awesome, right?
So hopefully, now you have new things that you want to do instead of scrolling through your phone for hours on end.
As they say, love unites all, but just remember to love from a distance.
