#7 | Ah, but actually...

Darlings, I’m back～

“Ah,” the thought after a sigh is a feeling brought by habitual thinking, “but actually,” upon careful consideration, things are not as taken for granted.

1 Ah, the epidemic prevention policy in my hometown is a bit strange#

That day I was preparing to take the high-speed train from the county town to the provincial capital, but because a confirmed case appeared in a town in the county, the conditions for entering the high-speed train station suddenly changed. For people whose address on their ID card is that county town, a 24-hour requirement was imposed, whereas previously it was only 48 hours.

The town is about fifty to sixty kilometers away from the county town, filtering the crowd based on the address on the ID card rather than the movement of individuals is indeed unreasonable—this would miss a portion of high-risk group A (for example, those who passed through an epidemic area but whose ID card does not indicate that they are from that county town) and mistakenly filter a portion of low-risk group B (for example, those who are several dozen kilometers away from the epidemic area but whose ID card indicates that they are from that county town).

My family belongs to group B and was not allowed to enter the station, while I, because my ID card shows I am from “Shenzhen” [Doge], was allowed to enter, even though it was clear that my travel plans were the same as my family's, yet we received different treatment.

In the end, with little hope for policy changes, my family had to cancel their trip and return home.

Ah, the epidemic prevention policy in my hometown is a bit strange.

But actually, upon careful consideration, this might already be the lowest-cost solution.

The cost of tracking individuals' movements is high. The big data in the county town is certainly not comparable to that of big cities, which requires a high cost. Moreover, it is generally unnecessary because there is little population movement. In special situations, like this time, using the address on the ID card for filtering, combined with specific checks on epidemic areas, basically meets the requirements.
The number of people affected is also small. No matter how strict the epidemic prevention policy is in small places, the impact on society is minimal because of the population base. Since the impact is small, it is not unreasonable to try to filter out high-risk groups as much as possible to reduce the spread of the epidemic.

2 Ah, the nucleic acid testing experience in my hometown is not great#

The National Day holiday was about to end, and on the 7th I went to get a nucleic acid test. Originally, the plan for the morning was to finish the nucleic acid test and then do something else, but unexpectedly...

Upon arriving at the testing site, there was a long queue that seemed never-ending. Actually, the length of the queue doesn’t matter; sometimes in Shenzhen, the lines can be terrifyingly long, but I found that it usually takes no more than half an hour to finish.

However, the queue here seemed to move less smoothly; on the contrary, it was very slow, and at times it didn’t move at all. But that’s okay, this fragmented time is perfect for practicing what I mentioned in #3 | Another Way to Enhance Cognition** about reading public accounts to enhance cognition**.

When I finally moved closer to the front of the queue, I noticed many parents with children blatantly cutting in line, claiming “there are people inside” and “the child has school tomorrow”... No wonder sometimes the queue doesn’t move.

“There are still so many people behind, who doesn’t have something to do tomorrow!” Fortunately, a fierce aunt yelled at them, and the situation improved somewhat.

But there were still parents sneaking in, and surprisingly, the staff inside even allowed them to go first. Therefore, to eliminate the occurrence of cutting in line, not only does everyone in the queue need to have an awareness of following the rules, but the relevant staff also need to maintain order, and I believe the latter is even more important for maintaining order.

Finally, I found that the staff scanning the codes were not very skilled, their phones were lagging, and when they encountered repeated scans, they didn’t know how to go back, then called another staff member over to help, which is why the queue moved slowly.

Suddenly, the staff said, “Those at the back don’t queue anymore, we’ll disperse at 12 o'clock,” and at that moment it was 11:58, with three people in front of me, and the scanning staff was stuck with a repeated scan and didn’t know how to go back.

Fortunately, in the end, it was a close call, and I managed to get my nucleic acid test done just in time. The whole process took nearly 2 hours, which can be considered a new personal record for nucleic acid testing time.

Ah, the nucleic acid testing experience in my hometown is not great.

But actually, upon careful consideration, if it weren’t for special circumstances, life in my hometown has basically freed itself from the constraints of the epidemic, while life in big cities is characterized by the motto “the epidemic is the norm.”

Although the nucleic acid testing experience is good in big cities, it is almost done every day (the experience is good also because they have accumulated experience from doing it frequently).
Although the experience in my hometown is not great, it might only be done a few times a year, mainly during peak population movement during holidays.

3 Ah, the 1.5-day trip to Shunde has to be compressed#

On the 8th, the plan was to take the high-speed train to Shunde in the morning and start “tasting Shunde” at noon.

However, the nucleic acid test that SS did on the morning of the 7th, had not yet produced results after nearly 24 hours (I overly trusted the speed of the test results, thinking that in Shenzhen, of course, the nucleic acid volume on the last day would be considerable).

So, SS went to the hospital for an expedited nucleic acid test, which they said would produce results within 4 hours at most, and then I rescheduled the high-speed train ticket to noon.

Ah, the already short 1.5-day trip to Shunde has to be compressed.

But actually, upon careful consideration, the original intention of going out to play is just to relax~

So we used the morning to go to a private cinema to watch a suspense thriller called “The Corpse Case,” directed by Oriol. You might be more familiar with his other film “The Invisible Guest,” both of which have endings that can make my hair stand on end; I recommend watching them~

Speaking of which, it is said that traveling is an important standard for testing couple relationships. There is a passage in “Fortress Besieged” that goes: “The honeymoon trip after marriage is in reverse order; one should first travel together for a month. After a month of exhausting travel, if neither party has seen through the other, grown to dislike each other, or quarreled, and still maintains the original marriage contract, this couple is guaranteed not to divorce.”

Indeed, the process of traveling can reflect many things, such as the consumption concepts of both parties, points of interest, living habits, whether the initial planning considered both parties' tastes, preferences, and energy levels, and how both parties handle changes.

Take this trip delay as an example, what SS and I did was:

Embrace change, don’t forget the original intention of going out to play, don’t complain to each other, and find the best solution at the moment: Change isn’t that scary; we can do something else in the morning; what’s important is that we are together; then we can compress the Shunde itinerary a bit, focus on key places to eat, and leave some things for next time, which isn’t a bad idea.
Review the reasons to avoid making the same mistakes next time: Some critical factors need to be thoroughly considered; don’t avoid thinking because it seems troublesome, otherwise, the cost of remedying later will be higher. For example, as a precaution, we could have considered doing an expedited nucleic acid test the day before.

Finally, here’s a short video produced by SS~ In SS’s words, it’s a trip to Shunde of eating and sleeping.

(See video account: Bo2SS)

Ah, it’s been two weeks without an update. During the National Day holiday, with the company of family and friends calling, the priority of writing has been continuously lowered. But actually, upon careful consideration, the purpose of writing is to achieve a better state of life. During this time, I truly immersed myself in my real world, experiencing the changes in life, which is also a good state.