The Price We Pay

Dearest Rachel –

It was probably only a couple of pages within a fairly substantial novel (and moreover, one novel in a whole series of novels – you know how fantasy and science-fiction writers create entire worlds and universes to play in and milk for a career), but within his “Incarnations of Immortality” series, Piers Anthony has his main character, newly minted as the avatar of Death, visit a pseudonymous banana republic of Niqueldimea to collect his latest soul to sort out personally. I always found that name to be a clever one (which, I suppose is why Mr. Anthony is – was? – able to make a living writing in the first place), and thought I might use it as a title of an essay (say, “The Prince of Niqueldimea”) to describe the feeling of being ‘nickel-and-dimed’ by folks who seem to think we’re made of money; I may yet do that soon enough.

But this isn’t quite the situation here. Sure, I’ve discovered that the cruise line, while offering an internet package, did not include it as part of our booking (and at this late in the game, I’ll have to wait until we’re aboard to purchase it separately). At the same time, I get that the technology is such that (unlike on land, where there are 5G towers everywhere, hidden in plain sight) it’s still challenging to make enough bandwidth available to all guests at all times (and sometimes, the assumption is that people on vacation want to get away from being connected to the wider world, after all – they still think of themselves as doing a favor to their clients by doing so – especially since this line’s clientele is likely older and more affluent than I’m used to hobnobbing with; they’re more likely to see the internet as a business tool to set aside, as opposed to their main source of entertainment and social connection). It’s an irritation to be borne, yes, but not quite as much so as another expenditure I had to deal with as part of our preparations – and one that can neither be avoided nor considered opulent.

You see – and this should come as no surprise – I’ve had to have myself tested for Covid every time I make plans to travel. The pharmacy down the street offers drive-through testing, in fact, and as far as I was aware, it was completely free – or at least, it was covered by insurance. So, Daniel and I will be tested early Wednesday afternoon in order to travel on Thursday evening (I also arranged for a test for myself around noon on Thursday, just to be on the safe side, but I decided not to sign Daniel up, for reasons that will become clear in a moment).

Anyway, I filled out the questionnaire regarding my Covid history (both recent and long-term experience, as well as any vaccinations and boosts I may or may not have gotten), and signed myself up without any difficulty at the ‘office.’ But I realized I would need to borrow Daniel’s insurance card to sign him up separately. So last night, I did just that; I also couldn’t get the same time I signed up for, but I assume that’s because I signed up for it, so I got the next closest, in the hope that it would suffice. But after answering the same questions I’d dealt with, I was told that his insurance would not cover the testing process, and it would be a bit more than a hundred dollars for him to get tested.

Now, I realize that this kind of thing isn’t going to break us – a hundred bucks here or there isn’t really that big of a deal; it’s why I’m not really raising a stink about the Internet package on the cruise ship (yet). Besides, it’s not like we have any say in the matter; if we want to travel, we have to prove we don’t have Covid. But we’re outliers in this regard, in that we can just brush this off like a minor annoyance. For most people, this is a significant amount, especially if they’ve been used to paying nothing for the service.

Which leads into a separate aspect of this whole situation. The cruise ship insists on a recent (read: 48-72 hours or less) negative test before we can get on the ship as well, but we’re staying in Tokyo for a couple of nights before we ship out, both to acclimatize ourselves to the time date change, as well as to see a little bit of the city. Between the time in Tokyo and the fifteen hours to cross the pond, there’s no feasible way to get a test done just before we board the flight that would satisfy their requirement, so we’ll need to get tested while we’re over there. Thankfully, our travel agent has suggested that we simply get a kit for each of us, and do the test in our hotel room. Not only that, but she pointed out that we could request one (or more; she claimed to have at least a dozen, thanks to an absurdly generous pharmacist) for ‘free’ at any pharmacy counter – that ‘free’ is in quotes because supposedly, it’s paid for either by the government or insurance; I’m not clear as to which. But here’s the catch; this ‘free’ offer is only good until May (and I’m not sure if that’s the beginning or end of May, now that I think of it – not that it matters to us). After that, we have to pay for them going forward.

Again, I suppose that government largess has to have a certain cut-off point, and since we’re getting in under the wire, I certainly have no right to complain about it. But it does strike me as a bit arbitrary, and if the testing is so necessary in order to travel (and some people just have to from time to time, whether they want to or not), the change from free to whatever they may cost is going to hit some people pretty hard. I can shrug and say, “well, that’s the price we pay for our choices,” since Daniel chose not to be vaccinated (although he had to deal with a fair amount of both personal and institutional pressure), and we chose to travel. Not everyone gets that option.

Of course, I don’t have any answers for my complaints; I just needed to get that off my chest, since I’ve just been having to deal with it. Hope you don’t mind; it’s not something you need to worry about where you are, after all, and it’s not as if you’d object to the extra spending, as you’ve no use for the money at this point yourself.

Anyway, I’ll try and keep in touch with you a little later on. Until then, keep an eye on us, and wish us luck. As always, we’re going to need it.