My experience with a COVID-19 test

I had a COVID-19 test this week.

It thankfully came back negative and was an interesting experience, so I thought I would share a little about it here.

The place where I work is having employees tested, and I was selected as part of a random sample. I like being chosen for anything, so I was happy to receive the invitation.

It’s an honor just to be nominated.

I hate being late, so I arrived at the testing site about 15 minutes early. When I got to the door, though, I saw that I was not supposed to be more than 5 minutes early. I love following rules, so I went and waited in my car until it was exactly 3 minutes early (I didn’t want to look too excited to be there) and then walked in the door and waited in line.

While in line, I was quite worried they would think I was late, but quickly distracted myself by thinking of things that could go wrong. What if I did the test wrong? What if I put it in my ear instead of my nose? Was I supposed to take off my shoes? They’re not going to weigh me are they?

The line moved fairly quickly and soon I was up to the first desk. The person there was very nice and she took my information down, told me what would happen and then told me to go stand in another spot in the room.

So I walked to my space and focused for a while on if I should stand directly on the tape, if I was supposed to be behind the tape, or what was the best way to stand. That led to other important thoughts racing through my mind. What if I tripped and fell within six feet of another person? Should I be breathing more with my nose or my mouth right now? Is it really six feet to the other spaces? I would like to measure these spaces to see.

While standing on my tape, I realized I had been in this same room for meetings just a year or two ago. If I had imagined then that I would someday be waiting in line in that same room to be directed on how to put swab stick in my nose, I would have assumed I had fallen asleep in a meeting again.

Standing there in line also made me realize once again what a strange time we are in. I had to leave my home where I was working and go to my workplace to get a test that could determine if I had to be isolated in my home for a set period of time. It’s all so odd if you stop and think about it.

After being lost in my thoughts and hopefully not staring at anyone for a several minutes, I was called up to the testing counter along with another person (who was six feet away from me). The person in charge there gave us great directions. She seemed excited to help us and was very good at showing us everything, despite the fact that she must be doing this hundreds of times each day. I have no idea how she was so cheerful.

We put swab sticks into our noses and did what she said, and it didn’t hurt. It was a little uncomfortable, but not bad and it was very simple. It did give me the opportunity to think more about the word “swab,” which is actually quite interesting. It’s a whole other story, though, so you can read about it here if you are interested.

The only problem came when I was holding the swab stick in my nose with my right hand and then somehow hit my right hand with my left hand, which jabbed the stick into the side of my nose. It was painful, but more than that it was embarrassing and stupid.

And then we were done.

I got the results back quickly and I was very happy to see the negative result.

It was simple, easy and very worthwhile, just like wearing a mask.

So, if you need to get a test, don’t worry too much about it. Just listen to what they say, keep your shoes on, and you’ll be finished in no time. It’s easy and all perfectly normal in this crazy and not-normal-at-all world that we live in today.