Word: Staycation

staycation

[ stey-key-shuh n ]

noun

a vacation spent at home or near home, doing enjoyable activities or visiting local attractions.

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              Jeff had his legs draped on top of the couch, while his upper body was lying on the floor. He stared at the TV with glassy eyes. How long had it been since the season ended? Was it an hour? Two hours?

               “Man, this sucks.” He managed to utter.

               “What does?” Greg, Jeff’s roommate, asked.

               It took Jeff longer than it should have to respond to the question. “This. This whole thing that’s happening now. You know, not being able to do stuff?”

               “You mean the quarantine?”

               “Yeah, that. I mean, we’re supposed to be on vacation now, right?”

               “Yup. Had it booked last year.”

               “And now we can’t go. Because nobody can go anywhere.”

               “Hey now, don’t be like that. We’re still on vacation. It’s just a different kind of vacation.”

               “How is this any different than the previous months? I mean, we’re doing the same exact thing.”

               “Yeah, but now we’re doing it because we want to, and not because we have to.”

               Greg tried to sound cheerful, but it rang hollow for both of them. Jeff oozed off the couch and sat up.

               “That’s not true and you know it. When you’re on a vacation, you’re supposed to go out and do something that isn’t watch Netflix or YouTube. We haven’t left the apartment in months, and the only difference is we don’t have to do any online work.”

               “Well there you go. Vacation. And we can do stuff. We can leave any time we want.”

               “And do what?”

               “Well, we have the local art galleries and museums and stuff. That’s vacation stuff.”

               “Okay, first of all, the art galleries we have here are, on average, two room a piece. And the art sucks. And the only museum we have around here is that lame bottle museum that only real weirdos want to see. And second of all, all of those are currently closed thanks to the quarantine. So is everything else that’s even remotely fun around here. So explain to me again how this is a vacation?”

               This time Greg did not even try to respond. He was having trouble thinking of anything vacation like as well. Jeff sprawled on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

               “Man, we should be on the beach now. We should be soaking up the sun and be neck deep in bikini babes. Instead, we’re here. Doing the same thing we’ve been doing for months.”

               “Oh don’t be so dramatic. There’s plenty of women around here, even if they are fully dressed. And anyway, this is all temporary. The quarantine will end, we’ll be able to go out and do stuff. And we’ll have another trip to the beach next year.”

               “Yeah, but that doesn’t help anyone now, does it? We’re still here, still not doing anything, and I don’t know about you, but I’m still bored out of my mind.”

               “Yeah, that’s fair.”

               It took several minutes before either of them did anything. Jeff eventually let out a frustrated growls and stood. He marched up to the door.

               “Where are you going?” Greg asked.

               “Technically we’re on vacation. I’m going to see if there’s something to do out there.”

               He opened the door and left the apartment.

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Seriously people, don't be stupid. Just because the worst is over doesn't mean the danger has completely passed yet. If you do go outside, be safe about it.