I've been out just for a drive since I got home but yesterday was the first time I went into a building. I've been carting around $410 U.S. since I got home and decided I wouldn't be able to go to the States next winter so I may as well cash it in. I was kind of nervous about going to the bank but also kind of curious to see what our new world looked like.
I put on the face mask that Kim gave me and discovered it was a little harder to breathe with it on and it also caused my glasses to fog up. Kim was right when she said we'd keep adjusting the mask and handling it wasn't safe. I drove to the bank and walked through the front door...hardly anyone in the bank. There was a guard sitting at the front door to make sure only a few people came in at once but there was a teller waiting for me so I didn't have to line up.
She was also wearing a mask and stood behind a glass shield..she stepped back as I approached her wicket as though I was dangerous. Not a nice feeling. She asked me to insert my card in the reader and then step back behind a line that had been taped on the floor. I couldn't help but feel that this was all a bad dream and that it really couldn't be happening. But it was. I did my banking and left.
On the way home I decided to drive by the grocery store to see if there were lineups and there sure was a long one. Kim and Cindy are still getting my groceries for me but I didn't realize what they had to go through to do it. Now I know and it made me think of a third world country where groceries and supplies are limited. Ours aren't at the moment but the lineups are a stark reminder that there is a present danger in the air around us.
As I drove home I saw so many businesses closed and wondered how we were ever going to survive this shutdown. The shutdown is completely necessary but that doesn't take away from the fact that many of these businesses will have accumulated so much debt that they will be bankrupt. It's easy to forget the logistics of the shutdown when you're comfortably tucked away in your little home and someone else is doing your shopping for you. Not so easy to to live with when you step out into the world.
Faye phoned me and she has moved in with Valerie for good now. She's hated living on her own since Gary passed away and she needs a bit more help now so she's quite happy to be with Val. Val is also partly taking on her friend, Carol, so she's becoming the Mother Theresa of the family. We've always known the horror stories of some of the nursing homes but we're now hearing of worse stories...most of the people dying from the virus are in nursing homes and many of the staff have either become sick themselves or abandoned their jobs out of fear of becoming sick. Those of us who have children who will take care of us when we can't care for ourselves are so damned lucky.
My grandson, Tyson, referred to the essential workers still caring for people in one way or another as possibly sacrificial or expendables. I see it so differently. The true front line workers who are taking care of the sick are the angels on earth and deserve every honor we can give them. The others, such as truckers, grocery clerks, etc. are putting themselves in danger, too, and should be paid more than they're getting. It's true they might prefer to stay home and stay safe but they keep on working for their own reasons and deserve their own honor. We, the masses, couldn't survive without them. Not one of these people are expendable. All are living this nightmare the best way they can and they need to know how much they are needed and appreciated.
I read how an Indiana congressman said he was willing to accept more deaths from the virus if it meant opening the country up for business sooner. I was horrified. I wonder if he'd feel the same way if he knew he'd be one of those people who would die? We honestly see very little callous thinking like that but, instead, see so much more of people going out of their way to help others. Thank heavens.
We're told it could take another 12-18 months before a vaccine is found that will be sufficient to kill the virus and be safe for most of us to use. That means a long, cold winter ahead for us snowbirds. But there are worse things, aren't there? For one, there's that godawful congressman from Indiana that someone is married to or given birth to.
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