A Story About the Ants in My Bathroom Sink

Musings from Day 6 of Self-Quarantine

It has now been one week since I moved back from university, marking the sixth full day of social isolation. It is great being back home, especially now that the weather is getting nicer. My family is all back together, and we are still enjoying each other’s company. One thing I did not miss, however, was the small cluster of ants that live in one of our bathrooms. These ants have been here for a few years now, and trust me, they’re not going anywhere.

I used to make a concerted effort to eliminate them — killing every ant on sight, every time I visited the bathroom. My theory was that eventually, with steadfast determination, I’d exterminate them. I was wrong, yet I continued trying. Some days I could kill upwards of thirty without getting up from the toilet. I‘d think there was a problem, yet some days there would be none.

Returning to my home now, in such a tumultuous time, I have gained a new perspective on these ants. After returning from spring break in early March only to be told I had five days to vacate campus, I subconsciously adopted a new mindset about the world. Stories of death in Italy, a place from which a few of my studying abroad friends had just evacuated, began to seem more real. Events that were occurring oceans away were now happening to me on my own semi-suburban college campus. How could this be true?