the fruitcake enterprises social review — winter 2021
In the winter of 2021, I engaged in in-person* social interaction with the following people on the indicated number of days:
1. Rebecca—13
2. Noah—12
3. Gabriel—7
4. Lea—7
5. Karen—6
6. Katherine—6
7. Adrienne—5
8. Shobhit–4
9. Laney—4
10. Brent—4
11. Alexia—3
12. Tracy—3
13. Danielle—2
14. Mandy—2
15. Andrew—1
16. Molly—2
17. Michelle—2
18. Scott—1
19. Marie—1
20. Rebekah—1
21. Steven—1
22. Cathryn—1
23. Eric—1
24. Justine—1
25. Beth—1
26. Jennifer—1
Boy, the longer this pandemic goes on—and this marks the fifth Social Review covering days within it—the more wonky things get, with what used to be trends just thrown out the window. For instance: Shobhit seems to have given up trying altogether. That's quite a shift for him, and as far as I know, the 3 points he had on the very first Social Review he was part of, having met me rather late in that particular three-month period, is the one and only time he got fewer than the mere four points he's got this time around. He's ranked 8th! We need to start getting out more often again—which, perhaps, will indeed pick up after we are both vaccinated. And luckily, we can pretty much both expect to be by the time the Spring Social Review rolls around.
Monday, December 21: with Gabriel, Lea and Mandy, opening my Mandy Earrings gift [via Zoom]
[*Includes extended FaceTime, Zoom or Skype, due to of COVID-19]
1. Rebecca—13
2. Noah—12
3. Gabriel—7
4. Lea—7
5. Karen—6
6. Katherine—6
7. Adrienne—5
8. Shobhit–4
9. Laney—4
10. Brent—4
11. Alexia—3
12. Tracy—3
13. Danielle—2
14. Mandy—2
15. Andrew—1
16. Molly—2
17. Michelle—2
18. Scott—1
19. Marie—1
20. Rebekah—1
21. Steven—1
22. Cathryn—1
23. Eric—1
24. Justine—1
25. Beth—1
26. Jennifer—1
Total days in the winter with in-person social interaction: 37 (41.1%, a -6.2 percentage point change from fall)
Boy, the longer this pandemic goes on—and this marks the fifth Social Review covering days within it—the more wonky things get, with what used to be trends just thrown out the window. For instance: Shobhit seems to have given up trying altogether. That's quite a shift for him, and as far as I know, the 3 points he had on the very first Social Review he was part of, having met me rather late in that particular three-month period, is the one and only time he got fewer than the mere four points he's got this time around. He's ranked 8th! We need to start getting out more often again—which, perhaps, will indeed pick up after we are both vaccinated. And luckily, we can pretty much both expect to be by the time the Spring Social Review rolls around.
Also: only 26 people even ranked this time around. I couldn't even tell you the last time it was that low; I don't have time to go back that far, but it's likely been several years. That said, the 37 days on which I socialized with someone actually matches that of last summer—and that quarter, the total number of ranked people was 31, only five more than now.
Two key things account for that difference, I think: no family gatherings whatsoever, not over the holidays when they usually happen, and unlike the early days of the pandemic, not even over Zoom. In fact even the only large "virtual" gathering to happen was when we had our Merchandising Department Virtual Holiday Happy Hour on December 22, without which even today's ranked list would be shorter.
Two things that are now typical, though, include the high ranking of all the regulars on our weekly work Office Lunch Meetup, five of which make up the top ten, and another five make up the rest of the top twenty. And then of course there are Gabriel and Lea, who remain reliable companions for our roughly biweekly "Movie Draft" FaceTime hangouts, plus two times watching online comedy shows together this quarter. And Karen remains reliably regular as she always has been: our twice-monthly FaceTime lunches affording her six points and the 5th place in the rankings this time out. Similarly, even with her out traveling on a permanent basis, Laney and I have kept up our monthly Virtual Happy Hours, with even an extra one last month, giving her four points at the #8 spot.
So! Let's get to the who did what with whom where and when!
Monday, December 21: with Gabriel, Lea and Mandy, opening my Mandy Earrings gift [via Zoom]
Tuesday, December 22: with Rebecca, Brent, and Noah, Office Lunch Meetup #21 [via Zoom]
Tuesday, December 22: with Scott, Noah, Tracy, Steven, Beth, Justine, Eric, Cathryn, and more, Merchandising Virtual Holiday Happy Hour [via Zoom]
Wednesday, December 23: with Alexia, Walking Neighborhood Lights Tour #2
Thursday, December 24: with Karen, lunch over FaceTime
Thursday, December 24: with Shobhit, walking Candy Cane Lane in Ravenna
Tuesday, December 29: with Noah, Rebecca and Adrienne, Office Lunch Meetup #22 [via Zoom]
Tuesday, January 5: with Noah, Rebecca, Adrienne, Andrew, and Katherine, Office Lunch Meetup #23 [via Zoom]
Saturday, January 9: with Tracy, "Happy Hour" [via FaceTime]
Sunday, January 10: with Gabriel and Lea, 1970s Movie Draft [via FaceTime]
Tuesday, January 12: with Laney, Virtual Happy Hour [via Skype, from Lake Havasu City, AZ]
Wednesday, January 13: with Rebecca, Brent, Adrienne, Molly, Katherine, and Michelle, Office Lunch Meetup #24 [via Zoom]
Friday, January 15: with Karen, lunch over FaceTime
Saturday, January 16: with Alexia, walk to Central Library and to Ward House
Wednesday, January 20: with Rebecca, Noah, Michelle, Andrew, Katherine, and Jennifer B, Office Lunch Meetup #25 [via Zoom]
Tuesday, January 26: with Karen, dinner hangout over FaceTime
Wednesday, January 27: with Noah, Rebecca, Molly, and Rebekah, Office Lunch Meetup #26 [via Zoom]
Saturday, January 30: with Gabriel and Lea, 2020 Movie Draft [via FaceTime]
Tuesday, February 2: with Shobhit and Danielle, lunch at our place
Wednesday, February 3: with Rebecca, Noah, Katherin and Adrienne, Office Lunch Meetup #27 [via Zoom]
Tuesday, February 9: with Laney, Virtual Happy Hour [via phone, from Port Aransas, TX]
Wednesday, February 10: with Noah and Rebecca, Office Lunch Meetup #28 [via Zoom]
Thursday, February 11: with Karen, lunch over FaceTime
Saturday, February 13: with Shobhit, out for a walk and takeout lunch (Piroshky Piroshky)
Saturday, February 13: with Tracy, "Happy Hour" [via FaceTime]
Sunday, February 14: with Gabriel and Lea, and later Mandy, 1993 Movie Draft [via FaceTime]
Wednesday, February 17: with Noah, Rebecca and Katherine, Office Lunch Meetup #29 [via Zoom]
Saturday, February 20: with Danielle, FaceTime hangout
Saturday, February 20: with Gabriel and Lea, Patton Oswalt RushTix show [discussion over FaceTime]
Wednesday, February 24: with Rebecca, Noah, Kathryn and Marie, Office Lunch Meetup #30 [via Zoom]
Thursday, February 25: with Karen, lunch over FaceTime
Friday, February 26: with Laney, Virtual Happy Hour [via Skype, from New Orleans]
Saturday, February 27: with Gabriel and Lea, Maria Bamford RushTix show [discussion over FaceTime]
Wednesday, March 3: with Rebecca, Noah, Katherine and Brent, Office Lunch Meetup #31 [via Zoom]
Saturday, March 6: with Shobhit, short walk at Foster Island, Washington Park Arboretum
Wednesday, March 10: with Rebecca and Noah, Office Lunch Meetup #32 [via Zoom]
Thursday, March 11: with Karen, lunch over FaceTime
Friday, March 12: with Laney, Virtual Happy Hour [via Skype, from New Orleans]
Saturday, March 13: with Alexia, walk to Central Library and Target
Sunday, March 14: with Gabriel and Lea, 2003 Movie Draft [via FaceTime]
Wednesday, March 17: with Rebecca, Noah, Brent, Adrienne and Katherine, Office Lunch Meetup #33 [via Microsoft Teams]