Everyone has ambivalent feelings about getting the first jab for covid-19 virus. There are a lot of hearsays, updates, news about the different brands available for us to have our immune system fight the disease. We are sometimes confused about having the first jab or not. There were reported adverse side effects from the first brand of vaccine that make some people feel nervous while others are skeptical about the efficacy of the vaccine in different brands.

Actually, I already had my first job two weeks ago and I was hesitant at first because of the numerous side effects being broadcast in the news locally and internationally. But I have to do it for the reason that I belong to the second priority which is for senior citizens. 

When I went home after my vaccination, I was a little bit worried about the side effects which I may experience on that day. Luckily, it was just a minor side effect. I felt cold and I was chilling for 30 minutes. I was advised that when fever occurs, I will just have to take the medicine that the doctor gave me and after a few hours, I was able to sleep comfortably without the chills.

I really do not go out often as I am more susceptible to catching the virus as an aged individual. So I felt good when I went to the supermarket to buy some food and toiletries but I still wore my face mask and face shield. I had fun going around the supermarket. I do not go out often because we are discouraged from doing so.  

After a year with the pandemic still around, I was able to go out still with some restrictions but now I can go shopping malls for essential commodities to buy and take for a walk for some needed physical activity.

The first time I went out of the house, it seemed that it was a new environment for me. People did not do much talking and I felt it strange to see them almost like strangers and a little bit hostile. I could understand this because everyone is careful and frightened about contracting the disease which is really horrible and fatal.

I went to a park across from some business establishments and I tried to see someone who I could talk with to just have some chats or a tete-a-tete if possible, with someone who belongs to the same generation as mine. 

I thought that it is easier for me to break the ice with someone who is similar to my age or within my generation. I was really excited to talk to someone that day. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone like that. I think seniors are mostly at home and they hardly go out during this pandemic.

I went home a little bit disappointed because I really want to talk to someone who has the same interest and ideas to talk about and that I can only find within my age range. You know when you are getting older, you would miss talking and having a good conversation with someone like you. 

You want to know how they are, about their family, and what their plans are in the near future. Even if you’re already old, you still plan something for the future, right?

There are other things that you could do as a senior to make your life more joyful and fulfilling. It is not always that you always take care of your family. You finished that responsibility already and there are other people that need your attention and care to make their lives a little better by checking on them and having a fruitful and nice conversation.

Interpersonal communication is what I have been wanting to do. I want to make friends with and have a good relationship with that someone. I want to communicate and exchange ideas and also listen to their ideas that would make our lives happier and we would have fun together. My best friend is far from me, she lives in another country, but we do communicate with each other through social media.  

So this is the foremost reason that I want to have another best friend that I could personally talk to, face to face, so we could have some personal conversations in a coffee shop and that would be delightful for both of us. 

Now I am discussing interpersonal communication which is interaction or exchange of messages not only between two people but also with more people. There are principles involved in interpersonal communication. I retrieved these from an online article that tackles this kind of communication. ( http://textbooks.whatcom.edu/) namely:

• Interdependence - as human beings, we are somehow mutually dependent on each other with our lives and actions are “interdependent.” For example, when my best friend’s mom passed away, she was really devastated and I also felt the same way when she told me about it. I was able to feel how she felt losing someone who she loved so dearly.

• Uniqueness - with our interpersonal relationship with someone such as a best friend or a family member, we at times agree to form a unique kind of bonding such as calling each other by another name so that we cannot be identified by others. That agreement becomes unique for two people involved in an interpersonal interaction,  

• Free Will - interpersonal interactions are not always subject to one’s will. We could have our own free will to choose or to have a different idea from others. Through constant communication, we may be able to explain why our ideas are different from others so that they may understand our side of having a different view or idea.

Although it is said that not all communication can solve our problems, interpersonal interaction as a form of interpersonal communication is still a great help to understand others and vice versa, thus creating more harmonious relationships with others. That is what I need after my first jab.

We can have a cup of coffee for a face-to-face and interpersonal interaction on a FlexiSpot’s standing desk such as the Standing Desk Pro Series-Extra large desktop where we can have more people to have some coffee because it is bigger and is more spacious compared to other desks. That could hold up to 275 lbs. It has also an all-in-one keypad with 3 (three) height presets where you can change s/stand postures that can be programmed with an alarm system. Learn more about it.