PRODUCTIVE

April 21, 2020, Tuesday. 

I overheard someone complaining that the Coronavirus quarentine was a waste of productive time. I assumed they were thinking about being productive in the sense of producing a product or service that could be sold for money. That's what the gross domestic product index or GDP measures -- as I understand it (and I may not.)

The comment set me to thinking about a couple of things: what is the value of the services we all render voluntarily, without pay? And how are people spending their time while they are isolated at home?

In normal times, I pay a woman to clean my house. She provides a service that is valued and paid for. Although I've asked her not to come during the pandemic, I'm still paying her because I suspect she's undocumented and will not be receiving any kind of financial relief from the federal government. (The humane governor of California IS promising financial relief to undocumented residents.) Since the cleaning lady is not coming to the house, Don and I are doing the cleaning. We're doing the same amount of work, but we're not getting paid. So does our work not count as "productive"? As a stay-at-home wife and mother for the past 59 years, is ALL the work I've done unproductive?

Some people seem to be spending their enforced at-home time playing games and binge-watching shows on television and the internet. Spending some time for leasure and relaxation is OK, and even necessary. I normally read a lot, usually nothing profound or enlightening. Actually my reading time has diminished a bit because Don and I are talking to each other more. That's strengthening our relationship, a worthy effect but one not measurable in monetary terms.

Mostly I'm sorting through old boxes of stuff, making art, working a bit in the garden, cooking, shopping for groceries, paying bills and maintaining our financial affairs, and doing the usual cleaning, laundry, and household upkeep that most of us routinely do.

So to those of you who can't do your normal work from home, and don't know how to fill your "unproductive" time, help with the routine house-keeeping. Then think about organizing your computer files, fixing the drippy bathroom faucet, learning another language, downsizing your possessions, researching on the internet for that personal project you've been putting off, and the 101 other things that you thought you'd get around to sometime. Sometime is now.

P.S. You might even send a hand-written letter to someone you know who is alone and lonely.