Many Changes

I’ve been thinking about how much school has changed since I was a kid. I don’t think I could survive it today.

While in school, my greatest love was sports. I belonged to many sports teams like volleyball, baseball, waterpolo, badminton, etc. We had practices, games and tournaments. It was so much fun going to other schools and meeting other students. I made many friends from participating in school sports.

And before the virus, teachers were striking. Teachers never striked when I was in school. I’m not picking sides, but I don’t think it’s fair to the kids when teachers strike or work to rule. During those times, the kids don’t have after school programs which were important to me.

University was something I was expected to attend, but, if it weren’t for a sergeant in the Israeli army, I wouldn’t have gone. I was 22 years old and living in Israel. I had spent 6 months on a kibbutz and a year working in Haifa, but I wanted to find a way to meet Israelis my age, so I thought I’d join the army.

I met with a really nice sergeant. He was sympathetic but said, since I had no family in the country, I would be considered a security risk, and therefore I wouldn’t be able to get a good job in the military. When he learned my reason, he suggested I finish my university degree.

I’ll tell you one funny story about my university days. I studied English Literature, and, for my classmates, English was a second language. 

I usually read the assigned books before my classmates. While reading, I would eat a bowl of popcorn. If it was an easy book to read, I only needed one bowl of popcorn. But Portrait of a Lady by James Joyce took me 5 bowls of popcorn!

My classmates would ask me, “How many bowls of popcorn did it take to read the book?” Then they’d know how difficult it was.

​But university/college has changed with the virus. It’s done online now. Not an environment I could survive in.

I miss smiling at people. Nowadays everyone wears a mask. You can’t see anyone smile.

But how does covid-19 change our books? Do I write about situations before or after covid-19? Do my characters wear masks and keep a 6-foot distance?

What do you think?

Have fun,
Patty

p.s. I’ve parted ways with my developmental editor and proofreader. The proofreader edited another book of mine and did a terrible job. I would expect a novel to be ready for publishing after it’s been edited. Obviously these editors did not fulfill that objective.