Nobody to bubble with

Do you live alone, and are you now - following the latest relaxation in the 'social distancing' rules - going to choose another person to 'bubble' with? If so, it will surely come as a welcome change after such a long period of enforced solitude. I do hope you enjoy pairing off. It'll be quite an experience, getting close and personal with another human being, and touching and holding them, after months of separation. Conceivably a life-saver for those who have needed physical contact, and, denied it, were gradually finding their emotional resilience crumbling away.

Mind you, the choice of another person to pair up with must be a good one! It needs to be pretty much a soulmate, someone you get along with really well, and don't mind seeing a lot of, because only two people can be in a bubble, not several. You can't have a pool of singleton friends to draw upon, and see them close-up one at a time. Not yet, anyway. 

As for me, I'm afraid I can't be in a bubble.

There's no family anxious to see me and clamouring for a hug.

As for my friends, there's nobody among them whom everyone knows and accepts is a particular soulmate and therefore a good candidate for bubbledom. I regard all my friends as equally special, and I'm perfectly content to see them on a socially-distanced basis. In any case, they all have partners at home, and therefore can't be in a bubble with me. And actually, I'm glad not to have to choose anyone over another.

It's in my nature to be solitary, and to be honest I would find it claustrophobic to be bubbled-up with somebody else. This is another way of saying that I can't cope with extended closeness, and (I don't mind admitting it) with any kind of intimacy. Which makes me wonder what will happen when all the social distancing rules are gone, and it's possible to go back to the kissing and hugging that went on when greeting people, and departing from them. Will we want to slobber over each other as before, and squeeze each other till our ribs crack?

We got into the habit of routinely touching each other rather a lot. Now that there has been a break from that, how will it go? Personally, I'm not all that keen to return to the old ways. So I won't want to throw myself at somebody, just because it used to be the custom. Especially if it's a man with a wire-brush beard. And I don't want them to assume I'm waiting impatiently for an enormous hug. Or need a comforting arm across my shoulders. I don't want be be treated like a child.

I'll be quite happy with a few nice words, sincere eyes, and a warm smile.

Footnote
Since writing this, a friend has told me that bubbling isn't just one-to-one. I misunderstood. It can be with an entire household. Well, that's fine, but it doesn't remove the awkwardness of having to choose between several equally-liked households, bubbling with just one of them and keeping the rest at arm's length. So I'm still keeping out of bubbles.