Float Your Own Boat

Today's self-important Wall Street Journal has an op-ed piece written by an appropriately self-important person, telling readers "What To Do When You're Sheltering in Place," as if what works for him will surely work for everyone else. Excuse me for saying this, but it's mostly a load of crap. It starts out like this:
"Make your bed first thing when you get up. Stand up straight. Comb your hair. Dress in clean clothes. Don't spend the day in pajamas."

Okay, let's take it point by point. I never make my bed first thing because I firmly believe the sheets need to air out rather than get covered over immediately with a blanket and heavy bedspread. I usually make my bed later in the day, sometimes just before I get into it at night, and I am none the worse for it.

Stand up straight is fine advice I suppose, if you can, but some people might wake with a sore back and need to bend over a little for the first few minutes. As for combing your hair, what about bald people? And dressing in clean clothes seems ridiculous if you are, say, going to paint your bedroom or drywall the basement, work that this guy, a "senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center," probably hires out. The pajama thing is okay advice, but some people may find it cozy and comforting to be in their jammies all day long while a pandemic rages outside. How could it hurt?

The writer suggests "avoiding alcohol except for an evening cocktail or wine at dinner," so we can assume he is an alcoholic. He also says to "entirely avoid marijuana and other such substances," losing all credibility with me at that point. And even worse, he never says anything about making art or writing a blog. Or hitting a few golf balls in the yard. Or tramping though the woods, if there are any woods nearby. Or baking cookies, making jam, knitting a sweater or doing a jigsaw puzzle, all of which seem a lot more relaxing than his tip about reading the Constitution aloud to your family. What a jerk.