Observations From Just Outside the Pandemic #3

I have not been out for a week and that was a short trip to the drugstore to pick up my medication. I last shopped for food 12 days ago.  Although my life has not changed dramatically in the last week or so I am finding my reaction to the self-imposed isolation somewhat strange or at least unexpected.

I am bored. Lord knows I have lots to do inside the house. There is a full fleece to wash, enough clean wool to spin for a shawl and some wool already spun waiting to be woven into bags. I also have a table cloth to make and some display stands to repair in case the farmers' markets ever open this year. If the weather would get a bit sunnier, I have even more to do outside. If I was really bored, I could clean the house.

I have talked to all of my neighbours within the last ten days, in fact, more than I normally would (although the nice weather last week may have been responsible for our collective chattiness) as well as talking to both of my kids more (in the case of my son) than I normally would have. I have no reason to be bored or to feel ignored or lonely.

I find myself having mini panic attacks about not have enough food or supplies. For example, as I shower - I realize that I am running out of shampoo and conditioner - I only have enough for another two, maybe three weeks and I think I need to go and buy some. My fridge is emptier than it was a week ago and while I will need to buy to broccoli, mushrooms and some root vegetables sometime soon, the sense of panic that I get every time I open the fridge is unwarranted and absurd.  I have enough food for at least another week. My diet may be marginally less varied than it was ten days ago, but that just means that I need to be a bit less lazy and a bit more creative about cooking.

I miss reading real books. E-books are great, but I miss holding a book and turning the pages. I find my tablets somewhat clunky and slow to peruse the hundreds and hundreds of choices. It is sometimes a slow and frustrating process. But I have lots to read and to listen to.

So what am I missing? Corey Mintz, in the March 2020 edition of the Walrus wrote an article about how the process of buying food has changed over the last seven to eight decades. One of the paragraphs was particularly relevant to my developing sense of boredom or loneliness. Mintz suggested that low-level interactions - those interactions we have with casual acquaintances such as neighbours, or the brief interactions we have with store clerks, bank tellers or librarians form what is referred to in the sociological literature as "weak ties". These weak-ties contribute to our sense of well being and may protect us from, amongst other things, memory loss. Those ties may turn out to be critical to our well being.

So I am not bored or lonely. I am just missing that casual interaction with people - most of whom I do not know their names. Just that little bit of visual contact, a brief comment about the weather, uninterested questions about how I am feeling or even a please and thank you when buying something.

The big stuff I can handle - it is the small stuff that I am missing.

No Explanation for Dumbness

Sometimes, people say and do dumb things - I think it is part of human nature to be significantly less than perfect.  At least I hope it is part of our nature - I can't be the only one who, on occasion, says or does dumb things. BUT.....

Right now there are a whole bunch of folks who are saying and doing dumb things, and what is worse they are completely oblivious to their dumbness! We have doctors from some of the Prairie provinces who go to a curling bonspiel just days before WHO officially declares it to be a pandemic; about the same time, a large number of dentists and their colleagues from BC attend a conference. We expect these medical professionals to understand both how viruses are transmitted and the need to be ultra-cautious. Either they were being dumb or they are incompetent. What is particularly scary - not all of them took the necessary precautions when they returned.

We have people who continue to gather and associate in large groups as if they are immune from catching the virus and even worse - transmitting it to others. People congregate on beaches or playgrounds - ignoring the messages from almost every politician or doctor; some people get on ferries to go to tourist spots or decide that they paid for their holiday in some warm place and they are going to have that holiday regardless of any risk. According to the CBC, people who are trying to get home from some other country lie when being screened at the airport - they know they have a fever, but they would rather risk infecting a whole planeload of equally as desperate Canadians than to stay where they are. I can accept that some people who do not watch the news and who never talk to anyone about anything - might not know about the virus but all of the above individuals knew about it - and still decided to go ahead with their plans.

It is perhaps understandable that some people are naturally suspicious of messages passed on by politicians and scientists. To be cynical about the accuracy of such messages is one of the characteristics of our post-modernist society. For those people who see conspiracies around most corners, it must be even more difficult to trust anyone. Knowing who to believe becomes more challenging for all of us when the leaders of certain countries spout information that is wrong and that panders to our fears or our desperately held fantasies. For example, the leaders in the United States - specifically the president has continued to demonstrate his inability to read and his unwillingness to listen. He has either downplayed the seriousness of COVID 19 or else has stated that the US will find a cure etc. before anyone else. But he is not alone - the leadership of Iran has continually suggested that CNVID 19 is a plot by the USA to destroy Iran. Iran has, as a result of this ideology, blocked help from such agencies such as Doctors Without Borders.

We are in difficult times. Social isolation is a short term solution. At some point, we will have to either find some sort of cure or accept that those of use that are a risk - cannot be saved. At some point, we will need to accept that developing a "herd immunity" may be the only way out of it all. But in the meantime - can we stop saying and doing dumb things? Can we stop rationalizing our behaviour or our fears but keeping our heads stuck in the sand?

Observations From Just Outside the Pandemic #2

There are some of us for whom a five-minute conversation with a neighbour meets all our social requirements for a week. There are those of us who are quite content to spend a lot of time alone. I have said for years that a good week for me is when I do not have to go out or talk to anyone. Some of us have to schedule activities in the community to combat our tendency to monk-dom. We are not all born to be social creatures.

But many (perhaps even most) people are social creatures. This semi-voluntary social isolation must be a terrible strain upon those folks. To not be able to mingle and chat, to not be able to play or to hug friends, to not be able to just be where there are other people are must be almost unbearable.

There are numerous postings on Facebook about how wonderful this slowdown in the economy is for the environment. Just this morning I read that deer are wandering the streets of the cities of Japan, that dolphins are playing in the ocean just off the beaches of Italy and that the water in the canals of Venice is clear. Last week there was a lot of buzz about how China's carbon emissions were down by 25% because of the shutdown of factories. There is talk about that the COVID -19 virus is Mother Nature's way of making us slow down so the planet can heal. There is a general sense amongst some posters to social media that this is the new way of doing things - people will consume less, they will work out of their own homes, as well engaging less in the broader community and certainly travelling less.

However, social isolation is not the way to resolve the world's environmental problems. It may solve a short term problem in terms of pollution, but making/allowing people to separate from each other will only increase the sense of isolation that so many people fear. If we do not stay intimately connected with each other's lives we are doomed as a species. To not be able to share or to interact with our neighbours, our friends or our co-workers will destroy the one thing that has allowed us to survive.

Humans do not create anything alone. Everyone, whether it be artists such as Tom Thomson or Picasso, inventers such as Edison or Elon Musk or social innovators such as Marx or Tommy Douglas have all used the work of others and the social interactions of their own lives to create what they have created. If someone does invent/discover a cure to the COVID-19 virus - it will because that person was part of a team that used the work of other researchers. Socially isolating ourselves is necessary at this particular point in time because it is the easiest way to stop the virus from consuming all of our medical resources, but it is not the panacea for all of our environmental issues.

Children need to go to school- not just to learn academic stuff that may be useful but also to learn how to relate to others, how to explore and then understand what they have found. If it takes a community to raise a child - on-line learning and the internet, in general, is a very poor substitute. Yes, there are some jobs that can be done at home - but without the collegial interactions, without the peer support how can an individual maintain any sense of collective purpose.  People need to share, to be intimate with each other, to just be with other people.

As this pandemic and the consequences of it continue to unfold - we need to continue to be human - and that means being connected to each other.

Observations From Just Outside of the Pandemic

Waiting for the pandemic to come to my town sort of feels as if I am standing on the train tracks - knowing that a train is coming and that if I do not stay out of the way - it might hit me. If the pandemic is like a VIA train - I do not have the foggiest notion when it will arrive. But we all know that more people will get sick before the CONVID-19 virus has run its course. In the meantime, I will do what I can to limit my exposure while still maintaining some sort of life. It is interesting to observe other people make adjustments to their routines.

I had to get a blood test done earlier this week. The receptionist was wearing a full, clear plastic mask - acting as if nothing was unusual about her appearance. The mask was rather hard to ignore. She asked me if I had visited any countries where people were sick and when I said no - she asked me if I had been around anyone who had visited any countries where people were sick. Again I said no. I was struck by the fact that despite the seriousness of the pandemic - that at this point people were prepared to trust each other and assume that we were all being honest. I am not sure if that is true in all countries, or how long it will remain true in Canada if more and more people get sick.

It is sometimes hard to trust people when one reads about the couple who cleaned out the shelves at their local Costco store of disinfectant wipes - they bought two pallet loads so they could sell them on eBay for a huge profit. They, according to the news item, were proud of themselves for seizing the opportunity to take advantage of people's fears.  One would have hoped that the Costco staff would have said something. But then apparently, people are allowed to walk out of various stores with more hand soap or toilet paper than a family could use in a year with no one saying anything.

A day or so after my blood work, I had a doctor's appointment. The reception staff are always behind glass so they did not feel the need to wear a mask. No one asked me anything. On Wednesday I had an appointment at the neurologist - no masks and no glass barriers between the reception on the public - but I did notice that in both the waiting rooms, all of the magazines had been removed. The neurologist was a good doctor and I appreciated the information he gave and the way he answered my questions. I think in other times we would have shaken hands as I left- we didn't do it this time.

I have noticed that the US media uses " coronavirus" to discuss issues and concerns whereas the Canadian press seems to prefer COVID-19. I wonder why?

I am amazed at how fast various events have been cancelled. On Vancouver Island where there is (I

 It is difficult to know how people are adapting. There certainly were fewer people at Habitat's ReStore on Friday and the Saturday Duncan Farmer's Market looked rather empty (it was also bloody cold) but the Supercenter was so crowded that I decided not to bother shopping. I suspect that people will be cautious and practice some form of social distancing. Many will do so because some if not most of their activities have been cancelled. think) only one reported case, all events have been cancelled. Which would suggest that either people are over-reacting or that people are determined to mitigate the spread of the virus? Schools are on a scheduled two-week spring break so there is another week or so before a decision needs to be made.

I have a bit of a runny nose and my throat might be a bit scratchy. Is that train getting closer or do I just have a bit of a cold?

Reconciliation - Using our Words Correctly - Part Two

If there was ever going to be a Canadian word of the decade - reconciliation would be most likely be it.    Unfortunately, despite it being an important word, by the time we reach 2030 - many of us will be so very tired of hearing the word. We will be tired of it because it is being so badly misused.

Reconciliation is a process. Reconciliation does not mean that we have to change the name of every public building from the name of a historical figure who was racist ( so many if not all were racists and sexist) to a name in an Indigenous language. Taking down the statues of every politician of the last 140 years will not do what is needed to achieve reconciliation. Chanting the word reconciliation a thousand times will not cause change. Repeating it like some sort of mantra - applying it to every situation will not do a single thing to address the issues that so desperately need to be addressed. Using the word like a hammer on such topics as boil water advisories, inadequate housing and the lack of accessible education or medical care will not produce any resolution. Discovering that some civil servant or bank manager had made a decision that may have been based on race - is not proof that reconciliation is dead. Furthermore, passing laws based on what the United Nations says about Indigenous rights will not mean that all of the issues are resolved.

I suspect that saying to Indigenous people in Canada that any sort of true reconciliation is going to take time will cause many to say that they have been waiting for centuries - why should they have to wait any longer? And that is a fair point. Canada as a nation and individual Canadians have for far too long, made decisions based on race. The question is how do we stop doing that?

It would seem to me that people need to change how they think about people who are different than them. We need to eradicate the bias that has existed since the arrival of the Europeans, those Eurocentric assumptions that have allowed us to mistreat, abuse or ignore Indigenous people. Those biases are deeply ingrained into some peoples' thinking. That thinking is not going to change just because someone says it should.

I believe that people change their attitudes or beliefs when they are convinced it is the best thing to do. For example, I, along with all other drivers in North America, drive on the right side of the road. Yes, it is the law and I do not want to get a ticket, but many of us break laws every day. We all drive on the right side of the road because we have been convinced that doing so is better for us. After all, it is safer. Those of us who have supported LGBTQ, rights, feminism or the acceptance of individuals with disabilities have done so because we knew others who were engaged in those struggles and what they said made sense to us. It made sense for the world we wanted to live in.

If reconciliation is to ever actually happen, we as individuals need to make individual changes. Little things such as being careful of how we use words, how we include everyone into the conversation or reading, no matter how difficult it is, about the issues from a different perspective. Reconciliation will not happen because someone says we have to accept it. Reconciliation is about changing the hearts and minds of a nation. And that will take time.