Finding Love in Quarantine

The year is 2020.

This is planet earth.

We're all in a fishbowl.

Kind of like this guy only,

there's a whole lot less room to move around.

We walk fast, we live fast.

Things are always in super speed, travel, commute to work,

the list goes on and on.

And then one day,

suddenly we take a big break,

a human stop if you will.

And this is that moment.

So where am I going today?

Gracie, have you seen my phone?

I need to talk to you about this.

Wait, were you talking to me?

Yeah, I was talking to you.

I just queued up, they'll IP ban me if I quit!

Okay, I'm not understanding a word you just said.

Dad, can you come back later?

Gracie, I'm your father, I don't have to schedule

an appointment to talk with you, okay.

Look, I just got your progress report,

it says that your grades are tanking

and you've missed math like four times

- in the last quarter. - I was sick, remember?

You need a buckle down kid, okay?

You have an end of the year test in less than a month.

Please.

Okay.

Dad, I'm not a kid.

So not a kid.

My name is Rick Baldwin.

Well, I think we've made real progress there.

I'm 45, a single dad,

and I'm still learning how to do this whole thing.

You know, life living it,

trying to be a good dad, a girl dad, if you will.

The thing is, I don't know what I

would do without my little girl.

It may sound cliche, but she really is my rock.

She is my reason for doing what I do every day.

Time, it's this idea that we have so much of it

and that we can do things inside of it, with it.

My daughter, Gracie, she gets up,

makes her breakfast, day in, day out,

goes to school, studies for class, goes to the dance camp.

And then I sell, make calls, repeat calls,

build my clientele.

Back and forth I go,

back and forth Gracie goes.

We both get into our days and it begins to repeat itself.

Suddenly time is somewhere between standing still

and going by so fast that I don't know

what happened to the last three years.

My daughter and I are so similar,

we share so many hobbies,

but yet we are so busy or so preoccupied

that we don't even notice that we forgot

to spend time together.

She goes left, I go right.

She goes up, I go down, and the cycle repeats.

When did we lose perspective?

How can we stop time

and remember to start new memories with each other?

Bills, swipe more bills,

make money, pay bills.

We get into a routine and it takes us away

from the things that we should be doing.

California, Ohio,

Montana, New York, the list goes on and on and on

as I pack a suit, a new suit, another old suit,

on my way to just doing my job.

Well, so it's ironic,

because today something different is going to happen.

Time is gonna slow down,

and in just an instant, we may get our wish.

We may get more time.

Virus spread

all over Europe.

Shutdowns, quarantine.

Goodness, the stock market

plummets to...

Oh, San Francisco.

I never really liked that purse.

Well, you said it was your favorite.

You gave it to me as a birthday gift,

what was I supposed to say?

I don't know, maybe the truth.

And what kind of example would that set for our daughter?

Gracie is doing fine.

She's like any other kid her age, you know,

going through the changes.

You just gotta let her be.

She's gonna grow up to be an amazing woman.

I'm dealing with it.

Best that I know how.

You gotta stop being so hard on yourself, Rick.

You're doing great.

I just miss you so much.

I know it's been three years,

I just don't know if I can do this without you.

You can.

You just have to let yourself be.

I don't know how.

Don't waste your days

wishing for the past to change.

There is no promise for tomorrow.

Today is your best day, Rick.

Today is your best day.

Hey.

Hello?

I gotta fly out today, I'll be back tomorrow.

Okay.

Yeah.

Who's coming over?

I texted Miss Audrey.

She should be here when you get home from school.

Cool.

Hey, when I get back, we should do something.

Do something?

Yeah, you know, together.

Like what?

I don't know, whatever dads and daughters do.

I'll Google it.

Okay.

Good.

Do I even wanna know what kind of music you're listening to?

Probably not.

Uh-huh.

I think that's my Uber guy.

Alright honey, be good for Miss Audrey, okay?

Hello.

Oh, hi Steve.

Hey Rick, hold up.

Don't get on that flight to San Fran,

it might be dangerous.

Wait, what?

Are you watching TV?

Turn it on.

- Turn on your TV right now. - Okay, hold on.

We are receiving reports

of what is being called an unprecedented global effort

to shut down streets across nations,

- within cities - Oh.

And all non-essential storefronts.

You see that?

It's a global pandemic Rick.

Families are asked, if not more so urged,

- to stay - I don't understand.

California Governor Thomas Haley declared

a statewide shelter at home order effective immediately,

with all but essential functions to be shut down.

This is serious,

and it's going all over the world, Rick.

I'm watching it right now.

I guess we just have to ride it out.

State models that predict millions

of potential infections in the next eight weeks.

Okay, bye.

What's going on?

Well, you know how people have been

talking about the flu lately?

Kind of.

I guess the doctors told the government

that they need to stay home for a little while

so they don't get sick.

So can Emma come over?

I don't think so.

I think she needs to stay in her home too.

What about dance camp?

Reporting on assignment, here-

We'll see baby.

We'll see.

The trouble with mankind

is we think we have time.

We kill time, we save time,

we make it and we lose it.

Some believe we have all the time in the world,

but not one of us is powerful enough

to stop the march of time or slow it down.

You can't keep time but you can spend it.

Be careful though, because even free time is priceless.

Once it's lost, you can never get it back.

Thursday, Friday, today's Friday.

Can you believe it, Denton?

21 years and our love is as strong as ever.

I got one month to figure out what to get her.

She's the love of my life.

She makes it all worth doing.

I've always told her,

if you ever divorce me, I'm going with you.

I think you should get her a gift card.

Yeah, nothing screams, "I love you babe."

more than a prepaid gift card.

Not a bad idea.

I'll give that some thought.

And of course she always wanted to go to Italy,

but that's way down the line.

I gotta figure out what to get her now.