Hello,
Having a bit of an anxious day. I needed to get a massage today so searched carefully online for a nice place and chose one because they had an open (ie transparent glass) shop front, it seemed clean and they said they are COVID safe.
i was running about two mins late and google maps said I had arrived and pointed to the parlour. I noticed the name was different and the whole window was not transparent (had pictures on it). Because I was late I didn't question it too much - I said I'm sorry for being late and asked if this is [abc] massage - the lady said yes and I asked have they got a new name and she said yes. She might not have understood me - English was not good. She didn't seem to understand I had made an appointment. The place was a little dingy and she did not wear a mask and when I asked to sign in for COVID at the end she didn't understand - I wrote my name and number on a post-it note. I didn't know what else to do. I feel fairly safe here in Melb with our low numbers but I got very anxious leaving. That was made worse when I drove away and down the rd about 100m I passed the correct place. I felt terrible for them. And it looks like a beautiful place. I noticed a missed call and called when i got home to explain - I don't think they understood vey well and said they waited a long time for me but thanked me for my call.
I don't know why but I felt dirty and felt the need to scrub when I got home. Now I feel like I shouldn't see anyone for a few days? But then the rational me says masks are only required in a small list of places here now and there are so many close interactions we all have without masks now - eg beauty therapists, hairdressers, cafes, etc. and we can't isolate from society every time we do these things. And I did my bit to record my name and number and used hand sanitiser. I felt the same anxiety when I travelled my plane interstate and a person behind me had their mask hanging from one ear and continued to wipe their nose and sniff the whole flight - I didn't see any friends/family on my return until I knew I didn't get sick. This is exhausting if I do it every time, because the pandemic will go on for a while yet.
I know I have given support to some people here about health anxiety, but I too occasionally fall into difficult times where for some reason my anxiety is OTT.
i suppose I'm just looking for some opinions or reassurance.
