Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience
Something very strange happened this morning. I was on the bus, seated, headed downtown, and I suddenly realized: I'm not wearing my mask! It wasn't even in my coat pocket, as is, until now, always the case when I am outside the home but don't have it on. I had literally left the condo without thinking to bring it with me. What the hell? How could I do that, after all this time? I don't ever forget it. Until today.
That's not even the strangest thing about it. The thing is, it's not like I wasn't around any other people in the meantime, and not one person said anything to me. People really are afraid of confrontation. I mean, so am I—when I occasionally see someone get on the bus, to my eye blithely (which is probably what it looked to others like I did this morning), I never confront them. I get up and move away from them, if they are close to me.
Just the other day, I was on a bus where the driver said, "Excuse me? Wear a mask please" to no fewer than three people who had tried to board the bus without one on. She even got on the intercom at one point to remind us all that masks are required, clearly to get someone she saw without one to put it on. And through all of this, I really appreciated that lady and what I was doing.
That was a different bus, though, and a different driver. I had walked right on the bus, maskless, without thinking. All buses now have a dispenser with disposable masks we can use. The guy could have at least pointed that out to me, but he didn't bother. I passed by two other people seated in the front section of the bus before I sat down, although they were both absorbed in either a book or a phone. It's entirely possible that the three or so people already on that bus just didn't pay any attention to me and thus didn't realize I did not have a mask on. I certainly didn't.
But it did, suddenly, about two blocks from home, hit me. Oh, shit!—I whispered that out loud, involuntarily, while also involuntarily lifting my book up to my face, staring out over it. I had a very brief moment of minor panic. Going back home for my usual cloth mask would have made me too late for work, but what could I do? I could not have stood the idea of knowingly riding all the rest of the way downtown without a mask on. Was I going to have to get out and walk? But the I remembered the mask dispenser at the front of the bus. Thank god! I rushed up there and grabbed on to put it on.
As I write this, I am thinking about how these attitudes vary wildly depending on the region of the country. Seattle and King County has long been well known for high mask wearing compliance. But if this happens to someone else, say, in Texas or Arkansas or wherever, there would be nothing even remotely like the thought process I went through. Plenty of other people, far too many, just immediately take on the "fuck you" attitude and refuse to wear a mask wherever they are.
Now, there's also this: I am fully vaccinated, even with a booster shot; the risk of infection to me is minimal, and even that risk is lowered both by my being on that bus for only about 15 minutes, surrounded by other people who all had masks on. The larger point here is the optics and how I appeared to them (this being something millions of Americans don't understand: the idea of a common good and public health policy): they didn't know I was vaccinated. All they would know, were they to have actually paid attention (which they didn't, at least not right when I got on the bus), is that I was the only one potentially spreading droplets with each breath over far greater distances than any other person on that bus. If I want others to play the game, I have to play by the same rules they're expected to adhere to.
I'm so, so glad there are disposable masks so easily accessible now, even on buses. I'm also delighted that, as of yesterday, most public spaces must require proof of vaccination or a negative test for entry. This includes movie theaters, and thus the movie I plan to go see tonight will be the first I go to that asks to see my vaccine card. I have felt fairly save already with just general masks wearing, the time spent without masks on by people to eat notwithstanding, but this added measure will make me feel even safer. Honestly, requiring proof of vaccination makes the use of masks in a given space far less vital, but being both "masked and vaxxed" still makes me feel (and actually is) safer than just one or the other.
Speaking of which, although I did not go to a movie last night, I did go to a public event—with Shobhit, Danielle, and Rylee (Danielle's youngest).
We went to an awesome, interactive, temporary exhibit in Sodo called "Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience." It was originally supposed to be Danielle, Morgan, Rylee and me; I found out about it back in March, and that was when we purchased the "family pack" with covered two adults and two children for a discounted price of around $26 each after fees. We even purchased the tickets in March, for Friday October 8, when Danielle knew Rylee was interested but Morgan was iffy; she said then that if Morgan backed out later then she'd let Rylee bring a friend. I don't even remember now how I first learned about the show, probably an ad somewhere; back in March they didn't even have a location set. Still, we chose a date and bought the tickets.
Danielle didn't even have the same work schedule then. When I got an email in September that the start of the exhibit had to be postponed a month due to supply chain issues (a rampant problem all over the place these days), I had to contact Danielle to reschedule, because we had booked a date within the first few weeks of originally scheduled dates—and this is here at least through January. We had booked 10/8 and now the opening date would not be until 10/19; Danielle had said back in March that Friday would be best and now she preferred a Monday. So, once I found a date that could be used to transfer our same tickets for the same time of day at 4:30 (which is cheaper than later in the day), we settled on Monday, October 25.
I was sure glad we were still able to make it work. Although we have been talking for months about getting together to watch Contagion and compare notes after actually experiencing a pandemic, I hadn't actually hung out with Danielle (barring a few FaceTime calls) since Shobhit and I went down to her house for the Fourth of July. Shobhit also invited them to come over for dinner after, and they accepted.
But, in the end, Morgan did not come—and Rylee did not bring a friend. Danielle asked if Shobhit wanted to come in her place, and so he did. I was a little concerned about the tickets actually being for two adults and two kids, and now we were three adults and one kid, but when they scanned the QR codes for our tickets, the guy paid no attention to our ages and we went right in just fine.
Anyway, the warehouse the exhibit was in was located, finally, on Occidental Avenue south of T-Mobile Park. This is 2.8 miles south of where I work, but due to the awkward location of my office, that meant two buses and a transit itinerary that was close to 50 minutes. We booked for 4:30 entry and I always said I would just leave work early; I left at 3:35. And actually, I am realizing just now that I really could have just walked the whole way leaving at the same time and still gotten there on time.
But, whatever. I hopped on a Rapid Ride D bus earlier than expected. Then got to the transfer spot for the 132 bus, and saw a 131 coming—I quickly checked the schedule and it now said I could take the 131 as well. I hopped on that, and suddenly had an ETA of 4:12 rather than 4:30.
That later switched right back to 4:30, though, when Shobhit texted me as my 131 was approaching Pioneer Square. He said he was walking and he was at 4th and James. I got off at the next stop and he was only a block away from there! So, we just walked the rest of the way together. Shobhit only discovered earlier in the day that there was a Seahawks game at Lumen Field at 5:15, and much of our walking directions had us going down the stretch of Occidental Avenue between the two stadiums. The crowds of football fans was nuts, and I actually took a few pictures which I included in my full photo album for the exhibit on Flickr (44 shots total, 41 of them at the exhibit). Of course that's what the shots embedded in this post are from.
I think Shobhit liked it but never would have spent that amount of money to go; he was happy to go for free. I got lots of great pictures and am really happy I got to see the exhibit. In that huge, 360° projection room, Shobhit was saying "I'm ready to go when you are" no more than a third of the way into its cycle; Danielle and I stayed until the cycle was complete. It seemed like even Rylee was pretty into it. One of the many still exhibits with informational text provided fascinating clarity on the story behind the self-mutilation of his ear. A lot of it talked about his mental illness and psychosis, and made me think about how much more easily he could have been taken care of and treated with medication today. Shobhit argued he would not be as famous or have made art as great as he did were that the case. Not that it mattered to Van Gogh himself; the guy never had any idea how famous he would become and only sold one painting while he was alive. Another plaque in the exhibit noted the five most expensive prices his paintings have sold for, the most expensive being $82.5 million! That's just nuts.
Anyway, about the proof of vaccine thing. They asked for that before they scanned our tickets, and Danielle had thought the start date was today, not yesterday, so she had to search in an app for her own proof of vaccination; and had to tell them Rylee was 11 so she could go in without it (she's been vaccinated, she just didn't have her card with her—she just turned 13 this month).
Shobhit and I both had our cards at the ready. He keeps his inside his wallet at all times; mine is in a plastic sleeve and my wallet is too small, so I keep it in an inside jacket pocket. I also have photos of it, though.
We finished there in maybe an hour and a half, or slightly more than that; after seeing multiple lots charging $50 or $70 or $80 for football parking, the Van Gogh exhibit has its own parking for $5 for two hours. Nice. Danielle had her van so she drove us all back to our place, where quite a while was spent with Shobhit frying scratch-made aloo parathas to have with the several dishes he made to feed us all for dinner. I ate too much. At least I got the last paratha and the last of the delicious paneer dish to bring for lunch today.
Danielle was eager to help and Shobhit gave her several tasks to do while dinner was getting prepared. I actually cleared off most of the dining table so we could all sit to eat there. Danielle and Ivan are both nurses and I kind of like it when they cross paths, and under normal circumstances they would have last night—but Ivan was still in Portland, for his three-night getaway there; he's expected back today. It still worked out, though: more leftovers for us! Shobhit sent Danielle home with two quart containers (old yogurt containers) full of leftovers. She and Rylee left shortly after dinner was done; "Sorry to eat and run," she said—not a problem, though, given how long it took after we got home just to get dinner made. Frying up nine aloo parathas alone took the better part of an hour.
After that, I barely had time to edit and upload the photos. Now I have two photo albums full of photos that still need to be captioned.
[posted 12:28 pm]