The Great Covid Isolation Party of 2021: A Cautionary Tale (Lab drama)

 Well well well, let me tell you about the time my lab mates threw a New Year's party and ended up in Covid isolation. As a graduate student in a large research group in Asia, I'm part of a minority as an international student, especially as a black international student. My lab mate and I have often wondered how our other lab group mates always seem to know about things that we don't, like how did they know about a certain document that wasn't even shared with us on the group chat or via email? We've suspected that they probably have another group chat that excludes us, a place where they joke about us.

But back to the party. While I had no plans for New Year's due to Covid restrictions, my lab mates decided to go all out and throw a dinner and drinking party to welcome the new year. They even invited some lab alumni to join in. Now, I'm not sure if they thought they were invincible or just really wanted to party, but they didn't seem to care about the risks. And of course, things didn't go as planned.

A few days after the party, one of the guests tested positive for Covid, making everyone at the party "suspected cases." I found out about all of this when my lab mates started messaging me, saying they couldn't come into the lab because they were in isolation. I have to admit, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all. Here they were, trying to party and have a good time, and now they were stuck at home for a week.

But the real kicker? None of them except for that one guest actually tested positive for Covid. So, they missed a week of lab work and research for no reason. The boss was understandably upset, but my lab partner and I had the whole office and lab to ourselves for a while. It was a strange turn of events, but it's something I'll always remember.

Xoxo 

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