Better Assessment

When he woke up in the morning, he did not feel any excitement about the new day. The sun did not shine as it used to. Also, what use was the sun when he could not enjoy it? He could not go anywhere anyway. So, it didn’t even matter if the sun came up or not.

With those thoughts in mind, he had no incentive to get out of his bed. But eventually he did. He could not lie forever. He checked his phone. There was a text from a friend of his. He was asking if he could get some groceries for a man that needed help in the neighborhood. He agreed. It was a good excuse to get out. He would also feel more useful, so that was a plus too. He decided that it would be better if he went out now. The grocery store would not be too crowded at this time of the day.

He didn’t ring the doorbell. His friend had told him to pick the keys from him, so he had the keys. He opened the door and walked in. The old man was lying on his bed. He could not get close to him, so he said hi. The man smiled and also said hi. The man then asked how he was. He replied, ‘Well, you know, struggling.’ The man then asked what kind of struggles he was referring to. He just summarized the whole situation. How the whole had to stay home and everything was at a standstill. The man listened silently, nodding at all times. When he was done, the man said the four sentences he had to hear to assess his situation better.

‘You know I have been forced to stay on my bed for God-knows-how-many-years now. I can’t even go to the toilet without help. And that is not going to change until I die. Maybe with this information now, you can assess your situation better.’