In a few short hours—that will seem like eons—I will be getting on a plane and traveling by myself to Dayton, Ohio. “Why Dayton?” you’re thinking. Of all the places to board a plane alone and travel to, what the heck is in Dayton, Ohio? Is the Birthplace of Aviation really a stronger draw than say, Venice, Florida or Montréal du Gers, France. Or anywhere in Italy?? Just getting on a plane and flying back and forth across the country alone would be a welcome little getaway. (Well, maybe in the days of Pan Am, it would have. Not so much in the jam-‘em-all-in-screw-COVID days.)
Here’s why: finally, finally I am going to attend the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. In person. In Dayton. I don’t recall how I heard of this workshop, but it was years ago. And it’s a biennial conference, which began in 2000, so--it’s been a long time. I’ve written about this conference before--as recently as this year in fact, when I didn’t win the essay contest--again. All the other times, I attached my attendance to winning the contest, which includes the conference registration. If I didn’t win, I didn’t go. (Yes, I did enter the contest this year, but I had already registered, so there.)
The 2020 Writers’ Workshop was held virtually in October after being postponed from its original date in April of that year because, you know, the world shut down. COVID impacted this year’s conference, too: when I initially registered, it was going to be in March. But because of a COVID surge, it was once again postponed to October of this year. Actually, that worked out just fine because when I had to re-book my hotel, I realized I had only booked through Saturday instead of Sunday and would have had to spend the night ducking security in the hotel lobby until the next morning when my flight home was scheduled.
So, I’m all ready. I’ve been primed for this conference for ages. Entering, registering, postponing--it can make a girl almost a little paranoid that something is going to happen to prevent her attendance again. Like even talking about it is risky, right?
Take this for instance: In one of the emails with tips and FAQs for the weekend, there was a short little form to fill out. In these times of COVID, it is expected that there will be some policies and procedures to protect the vulnerable, which I am mostly* fine with. I’ll wear a mask, I’ve been double vaxxed and triple boosted, you tell me what makes you feel safe and I’ll do it. I didn’t even have to bring my vax card, I only had to take a COVID test within 48 hours of my arrival. Fine. We have dozens of them. No problem.
But then I developed a scratchy throat and a mild cough. Dammit! Naturally I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had somehow contracted COVID. I’d have to take the test, find out I had it and not be able to go to Erma. For about 48 hours I fretted about it. I considered lying--but about what? If I had it, would I lie that I didn’t? Or would I lie about taking the test, but not take it so I wouldn’t have to know if I had it or not.
I knew how I could solve this problem: take the test. I wasn’t going to be able to lie about any of it anyway, so I might as well find out and deal with the results. And the test was negative. The dry throat was simply newly acquired fall allergies. So I’m going. To Dayton. Finally. With a mask.
And I can’t wait.
(*Don’t get me started on who the “vulnerable” are now--the ones who refused to mask and vax all along? I will wear masks 24/7 to protect the actually vulnerable--the immunocompromised and others who can’t get the vaccines, but I’m getting a little tired of the people promoting misinformation and taking such a selfish stand by not following any of the CDC guidance. It’s ironic they’re among who we’re protecting now.)
So happy Erma brought us together! It was wonderful to learn and laugh with you. xx
So happy you're here and I got to meet you and get to hang out with you. Such a wonderful experience! Your writing is lovely.