So this happened:

Late last year, I was reading the New York Times, as I do every day, and I saw this call for short submissions about what you’re most looking forward to after the pandemic is over. I don’t know why I wrote in, but I did. Later, I got an email that my submission was to be published in the Sunday print edition, and here it is in all it’s glory. 800 people wrote in, and only a handful of us got selected, so I guess that’s something. I know it’s not the same as getting a piece published, but I take what I can get these days!