Where where you? January 6, 2021

On the morning of January 6th, 2021, I was dealing with anxiety. Picture me sweating and wringing my hands at the doctor’s office. My knee bouncing like an electric carving knife, I saw the insurrection in DC live, a mob on a rampage. I seem to remember hearing something on NPR. I thought it was another Stop the Steal Sadpalooza.

I had drunk 25 cups of green tea that morning. Nothing normal there. I needed some relief, very normal.

I thought I was getting there before I had some sort of toxic reaction. The morning is difficult to recall. Sometimes during the morning I drank 25 cups of tea. I might have been up since 3 or 4 AM. I think I drank that much tea to get relief, but it made me feel awfully anxious.

Drinking 25 cups of green tea for breakfast

Absent-mindlessly drinking tea while I was working on something in the kitchen. I remembered feeling extremely jumpy. I kept thinking if I could just have a relaxing cup of tea…

I would watch the mob force its way into the Capitol later at the doc’s office, but for the time being, I was aware of Trump ranting to a crowd, a mix of lies and threats, slurping tea, camped by the kettle, pacing on grimy bare feet. I kept downing cup after cup of tea, and all of a sudden I started feeling ill. I was getting news on social media of rising disorder, Trump stirring the pot.

I saw them breach the Capitol on a TV in the doctor’s waiting room, on my way out. It took me a couple of days to sweat that tea out. Everything had a hallucinatory quality. I was so horrifyingly alert and crackling with energy. I kept thinking how unsurprised everyone would be at the Capitol getting smashed. By the next day, things appeared much heavier, sure.

On January 6, I was experiencing green tea poisoning in my kitchen.

I decided to switch to coffee.