Jeff asked Boston Rob if it was romantic to be back on an island with his wife, since they’d met on an island during Survivor many years before. Rob didn’t roll with Jeff, though. He said no, it wasn’t romantic at all. He said EoE was maybe the worst place he’d ever been, and he felt guilty for causing his wife to be there.

Not to sound like a broken record three entries in a row, but is this at all similar to Covid-19 quarantine life now for couples? A lot of couples who normally had time to be apart at work or other activities are now being confined together for days and weeks on end. And like Boston Rob and Amber, for some couples it isn’t romantic at all. How are they all handling this? Will divorce rates go up after the quarantine lifts?

A related issue is domestic abuse. A lot of people are now trapped with their abusers. Before quarantine they might have learned to navigate in and out of the home to avoid the most dangerous times with their abusers. Now that’s not an option. On top of that, their abusers are probably even more agitated than usual, whether it’s simply from anxiety over losing freedom or something more pressing like losing a job.

At some point, I predict the weight of quarantine will become collectively heavier on many societies than many people’s fear of getting Covid-19. At that point, there will be a strong push to loosen the quarantine. Then we’ll start navigating the wreckage, like after a hurricane, seeing what we can put together again. (Speaking of that, I live in New York City, where some drivers are speeding down the empty streets like surfers enjoying the giant waves of a hurricane. I wonder how many pedestrians and bike riders are getting hit these days?)

And getting back to this episode of Survivor, why the hell is there no roof on the shelter, but there’s a log swing? Wendell might be great at building furniture, but he’s clearly not great at establishing priorities.