My own Covid horror stories

My friend Tom Woods is publishing a book containing stories shared by his followers about their experiences living through the Covid lockdowns and attempted transformation of how human beings interact with one another. Although I can’t say I suffered any true hardship, I did have some interesting experiences I’ve been wanting to put into writing. So when Tom sent an email to his list of subscribers soliciting Covid stories, I decided it’s as good a time as any to do just that.

So what follows is the reply I sent to Tom.

Tom,

I have some interesting stories during the Covid era while traveling to and from Vietnam from my adopted hometown of Virginia Beach between 2021-22. In hindsight, they’re comical and don’t compare to some of the truly tragic things which occurred because of the lockdowns. And although Vietnam is officially a communist government, in many ways I saw more genuine humanity over there than the mindless compliance we saw here in the West.

I’ll just share the stories in no particular order, and you’re free to use any or all of them in your upcoming book. And of course feel free to share my name.

1) My first real taste of the vacuumization of the human spirit during the Covid era came when I was flying from Hanoi to Virginia Beach in late July 2020. Vietnam had done okay with its supposed “controlling the spread” of the virus to this point and there were no serious lockdowns to this point. But my 12 hour layover in Tokyo was truly eery. This massive airport that ordinarily handles tens of thousands of passengers per day was absolutely empty, save a few of us passengers who were granted permission to travel under “emergency” circumstances. There were no restaurants open; I couldn’t even get a cup of coffee anywhere. No one really bothered me – no one was even there to bother me if they wanted to – but the memory of that empty massive airport will stay with me as long as I live. (I think it was the Haneda airport for anyone familiar with Tokyo airports.)

2) By far the most entertaining story was my return to Hanoi in January 2021. In the time from departing the previous July, Vietnam had gone full-on bonkers with its “containment” policies. My wife had to jump through all sorts of hoops and get special exceptions just to get me a visa to enter the country, which was a bunch of drama in and of itself. But one requirement was for us to purchase a specialized transportation that was supposedly sterilized for my ride to the hotel, where I would be staying for 14 days for my mandatory quarantine. The cost of the 12 mile ride to the hotel at 3 am? $300 USD.

When I arrived at the airport, I was instructed to put on a full hazmat suit, complete with hood, rubber gloves and goggles. And of course a face mask, which I never wore over my nose, and no one really bothered me about it, which completely defeated the purpose of all this equipment anyway but I digress.

After what seemed like an eternity in the baggage claim area, I was finally driven to what I’ve affectionately dubbed the Wyndham Garden Maximum Security Facility. I was escorted through a special area that had been cordoned off with heavy plastic, into an elevator to my room, where I was instructed in no uncertain terms I was not to leave under any circumstances.

Not leaving the hotel, I was not allowed to leave my hotel room.

Now I was expecting things to be quite wacky, so none of this caught me off guard. I was there to be with my wife, and these were minor inconveniences by comparison.

But 14 days without leaving a small hotel room is INSANE. I had a jump rope with me to get some exercise, I moved the furniture around to maximize the open space in the room, and of course my computer was with me so I was able to do my work editing podcasts during this time. So I can’t claim any true hardship.

But about 6 days into my stay, I decided I had had enough of being cooped up in this tiny room. At 5 am one morning, I ventured out of the room and simply walked the length of the corridor (about 100) for about 30 minutes, back and forth. It felt good to just walk a little bit, and it was probably a mile and a half I walked total.

But my little foray into unauthorized territory did not go unnoticed by the Powers That Are.

About 9 am, the phone in my hotel room rang. I picked it up, kind of expecting the morning’s activities would be discussed, but not really sure.

The conversation with who I’ll refer to as Management began thus:

Management: “Is this Mr. Newcomb?” (keep in mind this is a Vietnamese man, English is not his native language)

Me (with my libertarian spidey senses on full alert): “Yes, this is.”

Management: “Mr. Newcomb, were you walking the corridor of the hotel this morning at about 5 am?”

Me: “Did you see me walking in the corridor this morning?”

Management: “We saw you on the security cameras walking in the corridor this morning at about 5 am.”

Me: “I see.”

Management: “Mr. Newcomb, do you want to spend the rest of your quarantine at the Army camp?”

Me: “I beg your pardon?”

Management: “If you want me to call the army camp and have you spend the rest of your quarantine there, I can make the call this morning, and you can spend the rest of your quarantine time there.”

Me: “No, that won’t be necessary.”

Management: “So you won’t be going out of your room anymore?”

Me: “I’m out of water, can someone bring up another jug?”

Management: “Yes! Right way!”

Five minutes later, a 20 liter jug of water was placed at my hotel room door. The remainder of the quarantine passed without incident, and my wife and I had a happy reunion 8 days later. I may have stepped out of my hotel room once or twice just to look out the window at the end of the corridor, but no one ever mentioned it during my time there.

3) In July 2021, my birthday came and my wife Sana wanted to do something special. She ordered a customized cake with a trumpet and “happy birthday!” written on it with icing. Problem was the entry points to the various districts within the Hanoi area were closed off. To stop the spread of Covid, of course. So the cake was baked and decorated in Hanoi, but we lived outside of Hanoi which meant delivering it was tricky.

We came to find out there was something of a black market with such things. Even though the main access points were closed off, the police allowed things to cross the town borders through other means such as back roads (of which there are many in Vietnam). So this is how my birthday cake was delivered. All in all, from leaving the bakery, paying off whatever police was there, then going through the back roads to get the cake to our home was about 3 hours. All in the sweltering heat of July in Hanoi! So by the time the cake arrived, well let’s just say it wasn’t as attractive as when it left the store. We have a photo of it somewhere, but it was pretty sad looking.

But it’s the thought that counts.

Tom, recounting these stories makes me laugh and cry at the same time. On the one hand, they’re comical as to how ridiculous they are, that we were reduced to this level of interaction with our fellow man.

On the other hand, it’s kind of sad that these things ever happened. I didn’t truly suffer because of any policies, but it sure cost us financially. The stay at the hotel was about $2000; to get all the documents signed just for me to step on the plane to Hanoi in January 2021 was about the same amount. So for me to simply travel to live with my wife cost us about $4k.

I was threatened to be transferred to essentially a prison. And for what? Because I walked in the hallway of a hotel, where we were paying premium prices, to get some exercise at 5 am.

That being said, the vibe in Vietnam is different than in America. The hotel manager in hindsight was very awkward speaking to me that way. He took no pleasure in that conversation about my rogue walk in the hallway. Contrast that with the flight attendant on American Airlines (in late 2021) who had no reservations whatsoever in chiding and humiliating a passenger who refused to wear a face mask on the plane – and was eventually forced to leave the plane, causing a lengthy delay of the flight. I was traveling with my then 7 year old son to visit family for Christmas. That’s a bell a young child can’t unring.

Although the policies in Vietnam were draconian in contrast with those in America, I would choose that life every day of the week, for the simple fact that people there are more human than this punitive society in which we live. Once the restrictions in Vietnam were lifted, life basically reverted to normal very quickly. I believe this is because the Vietnamese at all levels of society saw the silliness for what it was, and simply endured it knowing it was temporary.

The emotional scars left from the policies here in America will be felt for quite a long time, this is because people took the silliness very seriously. The fear mongering from the government and media is tantamount to emotional abuse. Those without a solid understanding of the principles of liberty simply don’t have a chance against that level of propaganda.

So that’s my story, and I’m sticking with it. Everything is now two years old, so I don’t recall the conversations I had verbatim, but my memory is pretty good and that’s the essence of my conversation with the hotel manager.

Hope these stories are useful for you!

Be well,

JN