Coronavirus Hits: Italy Locks Down, Part 1 is an episode from our archives that captures what life was like exactly five years ago.
Do you remember what life was like during the first days and weeks of lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost exactly 5 years ago?
This month, we’ll be airing four episodes from our archives, one every Friday, during that momentous, uncertain, and historic time.
In this episode, which originally aired on March 16th 2020, Italy has recently entered lockdown. There was no going out except for basic necessities or medical reasons—or work if you had an essential job that could not be done from home.
How was Tiffany coping? How was she staying sane, keeping her four-year-old entertained, and resisting tearing her husband limb from limb?
And while Tiffany was living through that unprecedented time in Italy, Katy reported on how Seattle was responding to the rapid spread of coronavirus in Washington State and the rest of the US. Did she have any idea a lockdown was in her future?
***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!***
You can listen to the episode right here, or find the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and elsewhere.
Related Episodes:
Episode 310 A Day in the Life under Quarantine, Part 2
Episode 309 A Day in the Life under Quarantine, Part 1
Episode 308 Tips and Tricks for Surviving Quarantine
Episode 307 REPORTING
Episode 306 LOCKDOWN, Part 2
Episode 305 LOCKDOWN, Part 1
Episode 304 VIRUS
Five key takeaways from the episode:
- Katy and Tiffany discuss the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Italy and the US, with Italy being under full lockdown and the US starting to implement restrictions.
- They describe the challenges of convincing family members to take the pandemic seriously and cancel travel plans.
- Tiffany and Katy talk about life under lockdown in Rome, including staying home, establishing daily routines, and managing relationships while confined.
- They discuss the psychological impacts of isolation and social distancing, including feelings of uncertainty and changes in social behavior.
- The conversation touches on how people are coping with the new reality, including working from home, homeschooling children, and finding ways to maintain a sense of normalcy.
Full Episode Transcript:
Katy
Katy, here. This March marks five years since the COVID 19 lockdown. And this community told wonderful stories during that time. And it really felt like we were sharing the moment together. So to mark this five year milestone, we’re using our Bittersweet Life past episodes to look back and revisit that time. And I want to thank you again for being with us today during all of that. It made the time feel more global and less lonely, like we really were in it together. And that’s a feeling that I and Tiffany were very grateful for. So thank you and enjoy this look back at the stories you told and what life was like five years ago. Hello and welcome to The Bittersweet Life. If you’re new, I’m Katy Sewall. I live in Seattle. My co host Tiffany Parks is in Rome. Normally on the show we explore life and life abroad and how the decisions we make affect us for good and for bad. And as a community of listeners, over the last six years, we’ve been exploring Italy and Rome and how to sort out what you want from life and how to take chances and how to move away and how to come home. Together, we aim to live a different life. But now, today we are in a different and unique position as people living in the epicenters of a worldwide pandemic. Seattle is where the first coronavirus death occurred in the United States. And Italy, where Tiffany is, is in total lockdown. Maybe you are too. Let us keep you company. Let’s explore this difficult time together. The good and the bad of it. Okay, on with the show. Welcome to Rome. This is the Bittersweet Life with Katy Sewall and Tiffany Parks. Hello. This is the Bittersweet Life. I’m Katy Sewall.
Tiffany
I’m Tiffany Parks.
Katy
And this is The Bittersweet Life. It’s more the bitter than the sweet.
Tiffany
Oh, it is so bitter and so sweet.
Katy
Yeah.
Tiffany
Craziness. We haven’t talked in a couple of days, but it feels like it’s been weeks.
Katy
Could have been six years. Yeah, it’s true. Things are changing so fast. So last week we. For the Monday episode, we broke the fourth wall and we said we’re taping this early. Everything we say might be out of date by the time we air this.
Tiffany
And it was.
Katy
I feel like we have to do that again. We delayed all week, but I have to be in a class all weekend. So we couldn’t tape the day before we released the episode. So we are taping on Friday.
Tiffany
Friday. It’s just two to three days before. Yeah, two and A half days.
Katy
You have to give me some time to edit these things. So, yeah, just because things are changing so fast, I feel like we need to say, I don’t know what’s going to happen this weekend. It could be crazy. So here we are on a Friday. A Friday where you have been being interviewed by news outlets all over the country.
Tiffany
A few.
Katy
Few.
Tiffany
Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely interesting to sort of hear the question that I got that I felt was the most pertinent, or at least the one that they were most interested in hearing. My answer to was, what should Americans learn from what’s going on in Italy? Because I feel like they know it’s like on the brink, it’s about to happen. Everything that they’re watching in Italy, they know is about to happen. And I don’t think that they got that even a week ago.
Katy
Right. What did you tell them?
Tiffany
Well, I told them, you know, just to take it really seriously and to learn from our mistakes because, like, we were first, it was us looking at China, the whole world really looking at China and saying, oh my gosh, look at this horrible thing. And this is such a tragedy. But, you know, not thinking it would ever cause a problem like this here. And then it was us. And then, you know, slowly, slowly, it just kept escalating and it kept getting worse and worse. Not only the situation, but the restrictions. Like every day there was a new thing and it started, gets continuing every day they’re like, okay, now you can’t do this, you can’t do that, and you can’t do this. And so, you know, we’re here. And I’ve spent the past week trying to convince my mom not to go to California and trying to convince my sister, who’s in California, to tell her not to come. And they’ve both been sort of fighting me. And finally something changed. It was like a flip had switched. And I remember because I woke up, I want to say it was Thursday morning. I woke up, I went into my studio, I meditated, and then I turned on my phone and I just saw these messages from my sisters on my sister chat. And they had a totally different vibe and a totally different tone. And I was like, oh, something has changed. I don’t know if it was also happened to be the same day that Tom Hanks was diagnosed. I don’t know if that was. Or I think it was right after they declared that it was technically a pandemic. But something changed. And now my mom is no longer going to California. And as you know, tons of People are working from home now who usually don’t work from home, and so many schools have been canceled. I mean, you actually catch me up on the States because you’re there.
Katy
Yeah. Did you see all the Twitter comments with Tom Hanks, who I think, obviously deliberately released this in a press release to make it seem more serious to people? It’s not like Tom Hanks has to let us know how his health is doing at any given time. I mean, that was strategic, I believe, to be like, we have this. We gotta tell everybody. And then, of course, people joking online saying, now all of us have someone we love with coronavirus. Yeah.
Tiffany
Yeah. It’s. It affects everybody now.
Katy
Yeah. Now it’s not that we don’t know anybody. And what turned the tide here? I don’t know. I think the tide is still turning, personally.
Tiffany
- I think it depends where you are.
Katy
Yeah, I think it depends on where you are in the States. I think it also depends on your age, how much you’re reading the news. Some people are not paying that much attention. I think that’s true in any country. I think there’s a lot of factors, but I have definitely felt like I’m the crazy person in the last week where I’m like, no, you need to listen. I’m. I’m being serious, you know, And I, too, was trying to get my parents to stop doing certain things, and they had a. They have a lot of trips planned, and I was trying to get them to not do them, particularly one my mom wanted to do, to go visit her mom, who is 101. And I felt like I was nuts, you know, like being so emphatic, saying this is just the beginning, and trying to be convincing all the while. I don’t know. I’m sure everybody’s feeling this a little bit. Like you feel like you’re this voice in the wilderness. Like you’re just, I don’t know, screaming about it. And everyone’s like, oh, come on.
Tiffany
Yeah. I was like, I feel like Cassandra in the Greek myth. You know, who knows what’s going to happen and no one will listen. I feel like that. Not in Italy, but when I. When I’m talking to my family. And it’s starting to change now because they’re starting to see supermarket shelves empty and their schools are being canceled, events are being canceled. It’s starting to become realer for them. But for so long, I just felt like they were all kind of even rolling their eyes at me. I mean, maybe that was my paranoia. Maybe they weren’t But I just felt like. I almost felt hysterical when I was talking to them, even though I’m like talking calmly. But like I said to my mom, like, I started crying. I wasn’t crying on the phone, but I did start crying when I was just thinking about. I read some statistic and granted, I read the news too much. I’m trying to cut back, but I read some statistic that said some congressional, like the official congressional doctor or scientist, I don’t know, somebody who supposedly is qualified, supposedly being a keyword, said that 50 to 150 million Americans are going to get coronavirus at some point over the next year or so. The high end of that number is almost half the country. And I know that if my stepfather gets it, he will not survive. I know that because of certain health issues that he’s had. My mom is strong and healthy, but she is older, so she could all, you know. And I just started crying. I just started thinking about it and I thought, oh, no, I won’t be able to go home. I won’t be able to say goodbye. And I started crying. And I mean, it was probably. I was probably overcome by emotion and it was, you know, I didn’t have to be panicking at that moment, but I told my mom that and she was just like, how can you tell me this? Like, how can you know, you’re making me feel bad. I’m like, okay, the point is, is not to make you feel bad. The point is to make you not go so that maybe you can survive.
Katy
Yeah, it’s to make you stay in your house, basically. It’s interesting because I think all along I’m seeing a lot of this online, too. So I imagine that a lot of you listening feel the same way. Also, is that even as you’re giving warnings to other people, you are thinking, do I even know what I’m talking about? I mean, I feel like there’s definitely this thing because the information’s unfolding so fast. And I’m not a medical expert. I can only just read what I’m reading and hear what I’m hearing, hearing my journalist friends uncovering and things like that. And then actually with Derek, I don’t know if you and Claudia are going to have this problem too. But I, I finally just said yesterday because every time I would come out of my office, he would say, oh, did you hear whatever the thing was. And I said, you know, eventually you and I are going to have to talk about something else other than the coronavirus every single time we Have a discussion. I’m going to go insane. There’s got to be some other things going on. I’m reading the news too.
Tiffany
Yeah.
Katy
I don’t need an update every 30 seconds, you know.
Tiffany
Yeah.
Katy
But I think that a few things happened in the United States that made people sit up straight. And some of those things are as simple as Tom Hanks, of course. But they canceled the entire NBA basketball season. Well, the remainder of it. They were just going to host it without fans. And then they. And then a player tested positive for coronavirus and one of them shut a game down right before it was about to start. And then after that, it was like a domino effect. So sports are off.
Tiffany
Same thing happened with the. With the Italian football, soccer. One of the players, they found out they had it and they just shut it all down. I heard the same thing with Major League Baseball, the season is just canceled.
Katy
For this foreseeable future. I don’t know as much about that, I must admit, because I’m more interested in basketball than baseball. Sorry, friends who are fans of baseball. So that was a big thing. And then it’s like also little things like, what do you expect to get you through this? Okay, I’m gonna be stuck at home, I’m gonna catch up on all my shows. All of a sudden, a whole bunch of late night talk show hosts are no longer beginning to be doing their shows anymore. I saw that in Washington State specifically. We went from taking it pretty seriously to taking it really seriously. Because now the schools are shut down till nearly the end of April. And no event with 250 people or more. And they say that if it’s an event with less people than 250, you have to be able to prove that you’ve been through certain hurdles.
Tiffany
Really.
Katy
But really what’s happening is everybody’s just canceling everything.
Tiffany
Yeah. Well, I just think it’s good. It’s the right thing. It’s the right thing. Yeah.
Katy
And it’s just been like a domino effect like that. Just like you guys saw. We’re not in the restrictions where they’re saying, don’t go out of your house, don’t take a walk, don’t do any of these things. The businesses are still open, but, you know, it’s changing every day.
Tiffany
So in Rome, as you know, we had the official. Well, not just Rome, in Italy, we had. The countrywide lockdown was announced on Monday night. So that would be, you know, just. Just about a week ago. And it was, I think, two days after that that they came out and Said, okay. Not only is the lockdown continuing, of course, but now restaurants, shops, and coffee bars are closed as well. That was harsh, because, I mean, up until that point, I mean, it’s all harsh. But up into that point, you could try to create the same semblance of normality Going into your coffee shop. Of course, you have to wait outside until you know there’s only one other person in there. And then you have to stand back and all of this crazy stuff. You know, you’d see shops open even if you didn’t go in. You know, you’d see activity. You’d see people out and about. Not a lot of people, but some people. There was still stuff going on. And now all shops are closed except supermarkets and pharmacies and I think post offices and maybe some banks, but, you know, really just almost nothing. And then I think it was the next day that they came out and said, okay, to be honest, this is still up for debate. And there’s so much confusion over this issue that I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing. But you basically have, like, half of the people in the country saying, you can go out for a recreational walk in your neighborhood. You can take a walk. You can walk your dog. You can take a jog if you need to, around the block a little bit. And the other half of the people in the country are saying, no, you can’t do that. And it’s. It’s very. In. Some of the newspapers are saying you can, but then the laws make it sound like you can’t, and it’s very confusing. I think that is, like the. I don’t want to say the final straw, because it can always get worse. But the thought of not being able to just take a walk around your neighborhood by yourself to get some fresh air is. It’s very stifling and kind of terrifying. Today we worked out inside. Claudio—I don’t know if you know this—he used to be a personal trainer when he was a younger guy.
Katy
Convenient.
Tiffany
It’s very convenient.
Katy
This could really step up your game.
Tiffany
I know. No, I was like, Claudio, if I do this every day, I’m going to be totally… What’s the word when you have your muscles out?
Katy
Ripped.
Tiffany
Ripped. I’m so not with it. You can’t. You have to cut that bit.
Katy
No way. That’s hilarious. What would they call that in Italian? Do you have any idea?
Tiffany
No, I have no idea. But I’m gonna be ripped by bikini season. This is gonna be amazing. So just to finish this point. And then I would like to talk a little bit about the reality of lockdown and like the daily… what it’s like. And you know, it might be in your near future.
Katy
So I. I feel like I’m already there.
Tiffany
Yeah, well, as someone who works from home, you are almost there. So anyway, that was the more recent one. And then just before we got on to tape, I saw. And this one doesn’t affect me personally right now. Hopefully it won’t in the near future. But they’re suspending all non essential hospital visits. So you’re not allowed to go to the hospital for, I don’t know, whatever some minor thing you might need.
Katy
Yeah, I think like elective surgery or something like that where if you’re getting a knee replacement, you’re kicking that down the line now.
Tiffany
Yeah, exactly. So, you know, it’s scary. Like I was playing with Aurelio in his room and we were doing the airplane game, you know, classic game we all used to do with our parents. And Claudia was like, don’t do that, don’t do that. Because if anything happens, like, if there’s any like, minor accident, we can’t really go to the doctor for it. You know, it’s like, this is not the time when you want to have a broken bone or when you want to have a gash in your head that needs stitches. You know, this is just the time to like lay low. And that’s one of the reasons they’re telling people to like not go out, don’t go driving. We cannot handle any accidents right now. That’s scary. It makes you feel like you’re in wartime.
Katy
Well, and it also feels, at least to me right now at the beginning and because they have no idea how long it will last. Of course, because it’s a disease, it just feels like it could be like this forever. And what kind of people are we going to be like on the other side of this if we get to a point where we can’t ever socialize in person with our friends or don’t.
Tiffany
Worry, it’s not going to be forever. I felt the same way too.
Katy
No, no, I know. But right now it just feels like it. It could be so long from now before that happens.
Tiffany
I know.
Katy
You know what I mean?
Tiffany
I know.
Katy
And it’s not like you can’t tolerate it, but I think it will profoundly change people.
Tiffany
I think so too.
Katy
It’s interesting. Even in walking around our neighborhoods, which we still can do and know we can. I guess that behavior has already changed in a Sense that if I went for a walk this morning, and if I’m walking down the sidewalk and somebody else is coming toward me, either I or that other person are going across the street.
Tiffany
Really?
Katy
Or if you can’t cross the street for some reason because there’s somebody else on the other side of the street, you know, you’ll just separate as much as you can. Like. Like today I had to pass a woman, and I walked out into the grass and around. Right.
Tiffany
Wow.
Katy
And we’re still trying to do that thing of doing that without trying to seem rude. So you still smile at each other and go, good morning. But I don’t want to be near you, and you don’t want to be near me.
Tiffany
It’s awkward.
Katy
Or with the elbow bumps. Like, everybody’s greeting each other with their elbows rather than their hands. Right. You know, they’re still having fun with that. They’re just sort of like, hey, man, you know, like, leaning in. Good to see you. Like, let’s touch toes together.
Tiffany
Let me just say. Is elbow pumping really a good idea, considering. Considering they’re telling us all to sneeze into our elbows?
Katy
Yeah. But, you know, it’s true. It’s not about.
Tiffany
Technically, it’s the other side, but. Right. I’m. I taught Aurelia to sneeze into his elbow. He’s. He’s a pro at it now. But I’m like, maybe we should avoid. Maybe we should touch toes. Maybe that’s better.
Katy
Yeah. Yeah. Well. And then at the other hand, which is what I think you were talking about happening in Rome before you guys got really cracked down on, is that the bars, from what I hear, are busier than ever.
Tiffany
Yeah.
Katy
People are going stir crazy. And so they’re either don’t know enough or don’t care, or they’re going stir crazy. And they’re like, well, at least I got to get out to somewhere. Like, I gotta go do something. And so just last night, I had a small group of people at my house or my writing group, which we were joking, of course. This may be the last time we have any kind of personal contact with anybody. But one of those guys in the group is a bartender. And he said, oh, I’ve been completely slammed ever since all this went down.
Tiffany
You invited a bartender into your house? Katy, you’re screwed. You’re screwed.
Katy
Maybe. Maybe we’ll find out. It’ll be good for show ratings if I get the coronavirus right. We’ll just tell ourselves, hopefully. Okay, so tell us, though, before, because you are in the true reality of the lockdown. You are at your house, you are in your condo with your husband, with your son, who’s 4 years old. In Rome proper. It’s not that giant a condo. I mean, you guys have a couple bedrooms and, you know, one big main room. But it’s not like you’re living on multiple floors or anything.
Tiffany
No, no, we’re definitely not in a mansion. We feel lucky because for Rome, or for by Rome standards, this is actually a large apartment. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, separate kitchen from the living room. And luckily, thank God, we have a terrace. That’s like the saving grace of this place is that we can sit out on the terrace and get fresh air. So I’m so happy about that. If we had been in Trastevere, in our old Trastevere apartment, we would have been dying. We would have been going so crazy.
Katy
Yeah, that was like a two room. That was kind of a two room apartment. Really.
Tiffany
It was a two roomer. It was tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny.
Katy
He had that crazy guy across the street screaming all the time.
Tiffany
Oh, my gosh. Yes, that’s right. I almost forgot about that. But today is the first day. Like, I literally haven’t left the house all day. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. The two days before that I had to go to work. I was basically strong armed into going to work. And so today is really the first day of full, like 100. I have not set foot out of my apartment today. I do have to say today wasn’t so bad. But like, you get to the point in a day, like, you’ll just like have a moment when you’ll say, how am I going to do this for three or more weeks? Like, how, how is this going to work? I think it’s got to be hardest for people who live alone. Those are the people that I’m most worried about, the friends that I know who live alone or just anybody who lives alone in maybe a small apartment. That has got to be the worst. As much as I’m like dreaming of that in the sense that I would love to get all that work done that I can’t get done right now. I think that’s gotta be the hardest. You know, famously, I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but in China, like lots and lots of people are getting divorced right now. Like, the divorce rate is way up because people have been stuck at home with their spouses.
Katy
I am not surprised.
Tiffany
I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised. And like yesterday was the first day that I was at home and we, we fought almost all day, my husband and I, like, I mean, not all day, but we were really at each other, bickering with each other. And I thought, oh no, this is not going to be good. And I said to him, I said, I don’t see this ending well at all. And so what we did, well, we were still kind of in the process of it. But what we’re coming up with is like a routine, like a schedule. And it’s going to involve like free time for each of us so that each of us has some breathing space because we have a little kid. You know, I think it’s hard enough for couples who are, who have, don’t have kids, who are stuck in the same, you know, home together 24/7. But when you have a kid, it’s like, ugh, like one or both of you always feels like you’re doing all the work and you’re not getting any true free time. And so we’ve kind of, we’re working on coming up with a schedule and having, also just having a routine. It, I think it helps. I mean, not everybody thrives on routine. I personally do. I like to know like, this time of day I’m doing this more or less this time of day I’m doing that. And so we’re trying to keep that up. I’m getting up every morning, I’m getting washed up, putting on makeup, which I never put on makeup when I don’t leave the house ever. But I’m doing it, I’m doing it right now because I’m like, I need to feel like I’m, you know, I’m not wearing my pajamas around the house. I might have like sweatpant bottoms on, but I’ve got like a nice sweater on and put my earrings on, try to make myself feel. Not that I’m just lazing around the house. And we’re trying not to get the turn on a video until 5pm for our son so that he’s not like zombied out on the couch. And today was much better. I do have to say we had a much better day today, I think because we’re getting this routine and, and implemented.
Katy
What did you do today? What happened today? This is the first shut in day. Let’s just walk us through it.
Tiffany
All right. A day in the life. This is the day in the life. So I actually didn’t. I got up late for me.
Katy
All right.
Tiffany
Yeah, I got up at like 7:30, really late for me. That was nice. It’s nice to, like, wake up. When I woke up, it was. It was lovely. Got ready, got dressed, got my son up and ready and dressed. Breakfast. That is a big, you know, ordeal with a kid. But we got it done and then we just played. I think we just went into his room and we. We played with his toys a little while. And then. And then I said, you know, listen, Claudia, I need a couple of hours to do some work. I know I did something else this morning, but I can’t remember what it was. This is probably going to be typical of this time. Like, the days are going to. They’re gonna flow together and I’m gonna forget things because I don’t have clear distinction. Distinction between moments of my day. But eventually, Claudio took care of all of the lunch stuff with Aurelio, and he’s famously a very bad eater and takes a long time. So I just basically shut myself up in the studio and I worked for almost two hours while he took care of all of that. And then in the afternoon, we did some drawing. Oh, I know what I did. In the morning. Every day I’m giving Aurelio a one hour reading and writing lesson.
Katy
Oh, that’s nice.
Tiffany
Yeah. And it’s actually really great. And he’s. He’s into it. He likes it. He gets frustrated, and he’ll like, be like, I want to draw or, you know, I want to do something else. But he really. He really actually likes it. And I feel like he’s learning and he’s getting a little bit better every day. So that’s something that I. And I’m going to be doing every morning. And then this afternoon we worked out. Claudio first did, like, a workout for Aurelio. He also is giving him karate lessons because Claudio has a black belt in karate. And Aurelio is just starting. And so since he can’t take his lessons, Claudio is giving him karate lessons. So he did that. Then he gave me a session. Training session. Not karate, but it’s just a training session. And Aurelio and I made cookies. We played with Play doh. And then it was dinner, and then it was bedtime, and now it’s podcast time.
Katy
Yeah. And then after that, it will be Netflix time.
Tiffany
Yes. That was one thing. We were like, okay, this is what we’re gonna do every single night. We’re gonna watch Netflix. We’re gonna drink a glass of wine. And I’m not, you know, I’m not a big wine drinker, but, like, you.
Katy
Will be by the end of this.
Tiffany
- It’s already happening, Katy. Like, I’m like, I need that one minimum, one glass of wine at night before bed.
Katy
I get it.
Tiffany
And, yeah, so that’s our. That’s our schedule right now.
Katy
This may be an inappropriate question, but since I’m not a parent, when you guys are just playing with his toys, do you enjoy that?
Tiffany
No. That’s a totally. That’s a totally appropriate question. It really depends. If he has a new Lego toy and I get to help him put it together, then I like it. Playmobil as well. I’m very into that. Like, you have to assemble them, like, the big ones. And he’s not at the age yet where he can really do that, so he can kind of help. But I really. I really like to do that. I also like to play with his train set. He has one of those, like, brio wooden trains, but he’s got, like, 3 million pieces to it. So, like, we can. We can make a train set that takes up the entire living room. And I try to, like, do it so, like, we get every single piece in use. But, like, he often wants to just play with trucks. What does that mean? Like, what am I supposed to be doing? I’m not a boy. I don’t understand the draw of the trucks and the cars. So I’m not. I’m not into that. I don’t have fun with that. He also likes to do fighting with swords. Like, sword fighting. It depends on the moment if I’m into that or not. Play DOH is fun. Drawing is fun. It really depends, but I find that when I put my phone down and I totally give him all of my attention, I have much more fun.
Katy
What did you like to play with when you were a kid? Is it the same Legos Playmobil?
Tiffany
I loved Legos Playmobil a little bit less. I don’t think they had as much cool Playmobil stuff when we were kids. Now it’s really amazing. Like, he’s got the entire Ghostbusters station. Every character. It’s. It’s pretty cool. But I liked. I like. I liked Legos and just building anything with blocks, I liked. And I liked Barbie’s, quite frankly. And My Little Ponies, paper dolls, all that stuff.
Katy
Yeah, Yeah, I loved that kind of stuff. The paper dolls, the Barbies, for sure. The. My Little Pony. I. I wanted one of those. When I was a kid. I. I saved my money. I finally got one. She was a yellow pony with a pink mane with her butt Covered little flowers. And her name was Posey. That was the official name. And but once I got her, I was like, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this horse. It’s too small for a Barbie to sit on. I don’t have any other ones. So it’s not like the horse is interacting with other horses, you know. And so all I did was brush its hair.
Tiffany
I think that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Katy
Put it in outfits and lay it preciously back in this little box I had for it. So much so that today that pretty pony, which is still, I think, at my parents house, unless my mom gave it to my niece, it was an immaculate condition still all these years later because all I did was like brush her and make her look perfect and then stick her back in the box. Okay, so what I want to suggest because I want to take us in a couple other places particularly, I also want to know what it’s like to go inside an Italian supermarket right now and maybe contrast that with the American supermarket. But since we’re already at an episode length, I think we should say goodbye and maybe put out a special episode tomorrow. Okay, do you want to do that?
Tiffany
Sure.
Katy
Okay, so we’ll leave it with the toys and the routines. Everybody, start planning a routine and tune in tomorrow and we will talk about grocery stores and more. I have other questions that are more serious than groceries. And until next time, until tomorrow, this is the Bittersweet Life. I’m Katy Sewall.
Tiffany
I’m Tiffany Parks.
Katy
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Tiffany
That way.
Katy
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