sure. wait. what?

In February, I went to the Chinese Cultural Center for the first time. I didn’t buy anything, but for a moment I was tempted to spend $3 for a random red envelope off the giant money tree by the entrance. I also saw the AWS booth beside the stage, and the bros manning the booth were giving away blue pens and notepads. They stuck out like a sore thumb, like the obligatory white guy at a Chinese restaurant.

For Lunar New Year’s eve, I had dinner at L’s and I received red envelopes with cash inside. At first I felt bad because I had no red envelopes to give out, but they explained to me that you only had to give away gifts if you’re married. Keri. After dinner, we built Lego sets of the different Lunar New Year traditions. I got the one with the orange tree, arguably the easiest in the set, but it still took me forever to complete.

The following weekend, we had brunch at Red’s Diner and hotpot at Chine. We also walked around Kensington and went to that one bookstore with a cat. I bought a book by bell hooks, an essay collection by Rebecca Solnit, and a collection of short stories from Latin America. “You got good taste,” the lady at the cash told me.

Two people got laid off from work, which meant that the workload of those who did not get the boot became heavier than normal. On days that I worked from home, I ordered lots of takeout food.

One Friday, my friends and I decided to work from home in the same home. We went to E’s house and worked our regular 9-to-5 while squeezing in random chats in between. Y brought an electric grill, then we ordered meat and veggies for our barbecue dinner. We talked about work among other immaterial and inconsequential stuff, like the pros and cons of going to a live concert and the logistics of getting to the closest solar eclipse spot if you find yourself in NYC in April. We also played Unspottable on Switch until we were too tired to function and it was finally time to call it a night.

That same weekend, I went to a escape room for the first time for K’s birthday. I had no contribution to the game other than being tiny enough to get into the smaller rooms and grab the clues for my friends to decipher. It was S’ birthday the following Friday, and I hosted her murder mystery party. The highlight of the night was us playing the Secret Hitler board game after the murder mystery thing. I lost, prrffft, but my instincts and deduction skills were spot-on — I just sucked at convincing other people that I was right.

During the final stretch of February, I had dinner with the two co-workers who got laid off. We went to a pizza place with a back alley entrance. I barely talked during dinner. I didn’t share that ever since they got laid off, I started feeling like I was the next one on the chop-chop block. Will I still have a job tomorrow? Next week? Next month?

Ah, but what’s the point of worrying about these things, eh? Nothing’s ever certain anyway.