In this section, Gig Buddies' user-led group the Soul Fly Buddies will share their experiences and views in regular Soul Fly Buddy Stories.
First up, we start with Jack who shares his perspective on the lockdown
(originally published October 10 2021).
In June 2021 many suspected COVID had become a thing of the past, yet sadly at the end of the month it decided to rear its ugly head once more and thus Sydney was plunged into what has now become 107 days of lockdown.
Socialisation is tough for someone with a learning disability at the best of times, but lockdown adds a whole new level of challenge. Naturally, the only possible way to be in contact during this time is through a virtual means, either through the likes of Zoom or FaceTime, or even something as simple as texting each other to touch base and keep each other’s spirits up.
The point is, even though you can’t see each other in the physical world you can still be connected - just in different ways. Myself and my buddy Brendan (below, L - R) kept in touch throughout the lockdown by FaceTiming each other to have a chat or a laugh, or we would watch a movie together through Facebook and Netflix. Our movie of choice was Jim Carrey’s comedy classic The Mask.
Then finally at the end of September/start of October, as both of us are fully vaccinated, we were able to meet up at our local park and have a picnic together on a beautiful spring day. In all honesty meeting up with someone physically after months of virtual connection felt strange at first, almost as if I’d slightly forgotten how to do it. But soon enough it all came back and it felt so good to see my buddy again face to face.
So if I was to conclude this I’d say lockdown was tough, no question about that, but it was made slightly easier by the knowledge that this would pass in time and that my buddy and I were still connected both virtually and physically.
Thank you, Jack, for sharing your perspective on the lockdown. Next week we hear from fellow SFB member, Joni.