Dealing with COVID emotionally has become somewhat of a challenge. The pandemic has caused a lot of anxiety amongst individuals and families and it’s hard for many of us to deal. People go get tested when they have any kind of COVID symptoms, ranging from sore throat to headache to a stuffy nose or cough and others.

Other ways we deal are by sharing information, discussing, debating and analyzing the steady stream of facts and fiction that comes our way. Everyone deals in his or her own way; some are chilled and others are tense, but however way we handle the situation, we all  look forward to when this era in our lives will be behind us.

In the meantime  I’ve decided to create a specific  self-taking test. Any grandparent or parent of adult kids can take this test from the comfort of his or her own home to check his or her manner of dealing with COVID, both emotionally and socially.

Answer the questions below by picking one of the choices. At the end of the quiz, you can check your Covid-style score with the answer-key.

1. You read an article online about a new study claiming the vaccines can cause infertility in child-bearing women. What do you do? A. You immediately forward the article to your entire Whatsapp list of adult children B. You print out the article for later reading and evaluating without forwarding it to anyone, planning to share with your kids later. C. You post the article on social media, allowing it to spread its viral wings to all the innocent and unknowing citizens on your list  D. Not applicable, you don’t read any articles with these kinds of dramatic headlines.
2. You hear from a friend about how their grandchild came down with COVID. What do you do? A. You hang up and call your own adult kids to find out if any of them are in the same class as said COVID-infected child, so they should know to stay home from school too. B. You say to your friend that you are sorry to hear about that and share it with your children in a later conversation  C. You offer advice to your friend on how to help, advise or counsel the family. D. You say “oh, I’m sorry to hear,” and then promptly forget about it when you hang up.
3. You hear on the news about a lockdown coming in a few days in your city. What do you do? A. You head out to the nearest COSTCO and buy as much toilet paper and paper towels as they will allow, and then to the supermarket for same. B. You say “oh that’s interesting, we’ve had lockdowns before,” and then mention to your husband later while eating dinner, and discuss how you will avail yourselves of Instacart for the next week or so. C. You write a post on social media, warning everyone on lists that they should stock up on canned food, bottled water, and other essentials, and you attach a few articles to the post. D. You say, “Oh that’s interesting,” and “whatever,” and “I don’t obey lockdowns anyway.”
4. You walk down the street and pass a family who are not wearing masks.What do you do? A. You scold them loudly and  strongly and cross the street. B. You keep your own mask on and walk around them and away without any fanfare. C. You scowl at the irresponsibility of these people, and you go home and write an article to share on social media and all your What’sApp chats. D.You smile at the folks and say hello, while making eye contact and then continue walking.
5. You go into a store that has a sign on the door that masks are mandated and you’ve forgotten your mask in the car. What do you do? A. You walk in without the mask and if anyone says anything to you, you exclaim it’s your right to do as you wish. B. You go  back to your car to get your mask and use it to return to the store. C. You leave the store and go back to your car thinking about those stupid rules. D. Not applicable, you’d never forget your mask. You keep one in your pocket at all times.
6. You find out that restaurants are closed in your city. What do you do? A. You complain about the closures and blame the politicians B. You make a decision to buy take-out from the local restaurants every so often. C. You shrug and say, “whatever, at least I still have work.” D. Restaurants? You cook all your own food all the time.
7. You get an email or text letting you know that the Vaccine is available for your age group near your home. What do you do?  A. You stress out about whether it’s Moderna, Pfizer, or J and J, and therefore delete the message. B. You make an appointment for the vaccine. C. You post on social media that the vaccines are dangerous and nobody should take them, because they’re unkown, and we all are guinea pigs. D. You decide to save the message, and maybe revisit the idea of a vaccine in a few months, after you’ve had a chance to do more research and/or see how well others fared or didn’t .

ANSWER KEY:

Answered A -You’re intense and uptight

Answered B – You’re practical, a rule follower and easy going

Answered C – You’re critical and a know-it-all

Answered D – You’re chilled as a pickle; nothing bothers you