Things have thankfully started to stabilise in Hong Kong, and many people are returning to work. A friend of mine works for a large international bank in Central, and he was able to go back to working in his office full time a couple of weeks ago.
Yesterday, I agreed to meet the chap for coffee, and was told to pop by his office at 2pm. I lost track of time while running errands in the neighbourhood, leaving me late for my coffee meeting. As a rule I pride myself on punctuality, so I decided to run to the man's office some five blocks away.
I admit, I'm not a very active person. The five block jog took its toll on me. By the time I arrived in the lobby of his building I was a sweaty, red-faced mess, wheezing behind my surgical mask. This didn't sit well with the office employees who circled around me.
As I walked to the reception desk, I was stopped by a security guard doing temperature checks. "Step away, sir," he told me. "You've registered as having a fever."
Despite my protests and explanation for my over-heated condition, the guard asked me to back away and leave the building at once.
I was forced to find an air conditioned coffee shop to cool down. Of course, my old friend found the situation hilarious. He asked if I would use this as a sign to get in shape. Quite the contrary. I will never be running again!