CPOY

CPOY 75 COVID Experience Award of Excellence: Should We Watch Something?

My roommate, Eyal, started seeing Sam a few weeks before the Coronavirus outbreak. They met for the first time at the Basement Club in Queens, New York, and later matched on Tinder. When Eyal and I began to quarantine in our Queens apartment, he asked me if it would be okay for Sam to stay with us. A week into the quarantine, Sam moved in with us. The coronavirus outbreak caught many couples whose relationships had just begun in a difficult dilemma. How could they still see each other while practicing social distancing? Is this the end of casual dating? In the case of my roommates, the answer was obvious. Countless nights started by watching 'Mad Men' together and ended in lying down and spreading out on the sofa. Eyal and Sam were wrapped in each other. On the other side of the couch, I sat by myself, grabbing my knees close to my chest and not interrupt them. Reluctantly, I became the third wheel in their relationship. Observing them day after day showed me an alternative to how a healthy relationship can blossom. Every evening after we cooked dinner, we sat in the living room and contemplated the question, 'Should we watch something?'. There was food on the small coffee table, an undersized ashtray, Raw rolling papers, and a mix of weed and tobacco scattered on the table. "There is the new RuPaul episode!" Eyal said. "Oh yes, I'm totally down for it," Sam replied. Although they were thousands of miles apart, with Eyal having moved back to Israel and Sam still in New York, this period allowed them to experience the pandemic's fear and anxiety together.

Caption
Slide 8 of 12
May 14, 2020
A funeral held in the street outside of the window from the apartment, Ridgewood, NYC, May 14th 2020.
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