#COVIDCatLady, Day 16

I went out for BRUNCH today, which is almost a normal Shanghai weekend activity, except when I tried to put my “nice” clothes on, I found them all covered in cat hair. I’ve been wearing... Let’s call it leisurely outfits. Sweatshirts and comfy jeans. And for whatever reason, my pre-caffeinated brain thought an all-black outfit on a Sunday morning when everything black I own is covered in cat hair is the only option.

So the endless roller cat hair removal made me late, but the scooter ride to north bund was lovely. The restaurant is a new location of a chain that started out on my old street as just a sandwich and beer-in-fridge shop. Slowly they expanded two new locations on the same block, and now two new locations in a very different part of town. Except they’re both set in the same mall. Nothing like spending 10 minutes walking through a sleek and sterile mall with unhelpfully “minimalistic” signage when you’re late and un-caffeinated. As soon as I sat down, I took off my mask and reach out both of my hands to my friend, who was holding up her bottle of hand sanitizer for me. I noticed that her cheeks had red line, indentation from her heavier-duty mask. Brunch was just as photogenic as ever, and conversation around the table included various effects of the virus. Loss of bonus. Anticipated events postponed. Canceled work or personal trips or both. Friends and dates fleeing the city en masse. Some guesstimating of the year ahead. The dwindling tinder/Grindr dating pool. Yeah, we’re still dating in the time of #COVID19, or at least attempting to. Like I said to a friend... Just in case this really is the apocalypse, somebody will have to repopulate the planet, right?