Observations From Just Outside the Pandemic #6

I went shopping yesterday.  I acknowledge that that act in itself is not that exciting. In the last fifty or so years, I have probably gone shopping thousands of times.  But this trip was special - it was the first time I had gone shopping since the world, or at least the rational world started to take the pandemic seriously. It had been 19 days since I had been in a grocery store. I was, I confess just a little bit nervous. That nervousness became a little bit more pronounced when two employees coming on shift - hugged each other just outside the store.

I went, I thought, early. I was at the Supercentre before 8:00 AM. The parking lot was surprisingly full - the security guard (something new) at the front door told me when I asked that there were 72 shoppers already in the store. Who knew so many people wanted to be early shoppers? They certainly were not all senior citizens.

While there were some empty shelves - most notably in the cleaning items aisle - there were lots of veggies, cheese, bread and frozen items. With the exception of canned tomatoes without salt, there was nothing on my list that I could not find. I also only got one small bag of brown rice rather than the two I would have normally bought. I did, however, pay more for some items as the lower price, store brand products were sold out. There were no great deals that I saw, but perhaps I just did not notice them.

The store staff were great. Everyone from the security person out front to the cashier were their normal polite selves. When I asked how the cashier was - her answer was "I am glad to have a job".  My fellow consumers were an interesting mix.  Most were single shoppers although there were a few couples. Age is always hard to judge but maybe two-thirds were over 55-60. A few had masks on, more (including me) had gloves on. Some were very respectful of keeping a distance (which is almost impossible when you have to pass someone), a few, quite frankly, did not attempt to avoid people. No one spoke to anyone, but there was perhaps more polite eye contact than normal in that we had to indicate who was turning which way or who was going down an aisle first.

Checking out was well organized. Because the store was not that (relatively speaking) busy it was faster than normal.  It was interesting to note that some people had a hard time understanding the rules about where to wait and when to put groceries on the belt etc. I asked the cashier how many times she had to tell someone not to put their groceries on the belt until the person ahead of them was done. She just said that she said it so often it was just part of her routine.

I came home, followed whatever protocols about washing hands etc. that made sense to me and then spent the rest of the day worried about every sniffle and sneeze (it is allergy season here) and every tickle in my throat.  My anxiety/paranoia is higher than logic says it should be. But it is there.

Will I go shopping again - of course. I am not about to starve myself. I know that the odds of getting infected by the virus because I touched a crown of broccoli are more than remote, I know that if I made sure that my hands were washed, and that after washing them, I did not touch anything that could have the virus on it, I am as safe now as I was 24 hours ago. I just don't feel safe.

I do not like that feeling.

Observations from Just Outside the Pandemic #5

I try so hard - I really do - to be moderate in my statements, to avoid judging too harshly other people's statements or actions. I am usually careful about my language so that I do not hurt or insult other people BUT sometimes my anger or frustration is so overwhelming that it is all that I can do not to go to that person, grab them by the throat and shake them. I am a lifelong pacifist but sometimes people need a slap alongside their head.

1) There is a couple, it is reported in the local press, who have just returned from a trip outside of the country. They, despite being warned, are refusing to self-quarantine for the fourteen days as required by law. Really? I know it is a nuisance not to be able to run around and do all of the things you would normally do like showing off your vacation pictures and flaunting your tans - but the rest of us living in the Cowichan Valley are doing our best to stop the spread of the virus by minimizing our contact with other people. We don't need people who may have been exposed to share their disease with us. For heaven's sake stay home! If they don't, perhaps they should receive a healthy fine and then be forced to stay at home.

2)  One could write 500 words every single day on the silliness of Mr. Trump. In fact, there are reporters and stand-up comedians who earn their living by doing exactly that. It is so easy to find fault with some of his comments that I generally do not bother - if I did, it would just be me being lazy. But his latest decision to restrict the export of n95 masks to Canada it such a flagrant, absurd, isolationist decision that someone needs to sit him down and do a mental health check. I am having a hard time believing that even a politician could be that selfish or short-sighted.

I can't ever remember when a country stopped shipments of a product to another country. I get that there are shortages everywhere and I can even understand why someone might initially think that country that makes them - should get them. But it is incredibly short-sighted. I wonder if Trump knows that at least some of the pulp used to manufacture gowns and masks in the US comes from Vancouver Island? Perhaps we should just redirect those materials to Canadian manufacturers. I know we are a much smaller country that Mr. Trump's but if he does not want to share, there are other countries that will.

When the public hears a president of a country looking out only for his country first - it is perhaps not so hard to understand why individuals put themselves first before their community. This is not the world I chose to live in.

Observations from Just Outside the Pandemic #4

It is all too easy to rant about the sheer dumb and irresponsible behaviour of some people such as a few church ministers in the USA who have continued to preach to large groups of people saying that if you truly believe in Jesus, then you won't get sick from COVID-19 or the doctors who continue to order and self prescribe anti-malaria medication because they think it will help them (and thereby potentially depriving this medication from people who have malaria). It is equally as easy to publically fume about the greedy, immoral people who develop scams to prey upon individuals who are, at the best of times, at risk of being taken in by telephone scams and who now because they are isolated, are even more vulnerable. There are almost no words to describe the despicableness of returning travellers lying to border or security agents about whether or not they have any symptoms.

One could also talk, in glowing terms, about the thousands of people who have continued to work because what they do is critical to a community's capacity to function. Long distant truck drivers, medical professionals, personal care aids going into people's homes and of course, all of those workers in grocery stores who are keeping us fed are working long hours and at least some of them are, unfortunately, getting paid just above minimum wage.

So many people have been put in precarious positions because their place of employment has been shut down. Whether one works for a national transportation carrier, in the manufacturing sector or in an office - your income has been reduced. The government's plans to supplement people's income can only be a band-aid for people's real living costs. Owners of small business- some of whom have spent a lifetime creating that company must be in tears over the losses they are experiencing. Hopefully,  the government's plans to support those businesses will alleviate some of the stresses.

It is less clear what self-employed people are going to do, of how they are going to financially stay alive when they may not fall into a specific category making them eligible for support. Musicians who are just starting their careers and who have planed perhaps to spend the summer travelling across Canada to play in various folk festivals will have lost those gigs and will have no potential to replace that income. University students who regardless of whether or not they get a credit, not only have lost at least part of their learning experience for this year, but they face the very real possibility that they will not have the opportunity to work for part if not all of the summer. There are hundreds and hundreds of small crafters who make some or in many cases all of their income from selling at local markets. Many of them have, in the past, been so far off of the grid that the government does not know they exist. Many of them will have no income this spring and there is no back-up plan.

 It has already felt like it has been a long spring - there is no doubt that as the weather gets better - it is going to feel even longer as many of us do our best to ensure that the virus does not spread to ourselves or to those we know. I am hoping that someone far wiser or more creative than I will find ways that people like me can be more supportive of some of the folks who are struggling.

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?