"Grandma, are you buying lots of toilet paper?" This from a 9 year old. "Some, but not lots," I replied. "My mommy bought some more.” Long pause…. Then in a puzzled tone, said, “But I don't know why??!!!" A few days later, she understood why!
The whole family had been gearing up all winter for spring
break and a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. The granddaughters were
looking forward to their first trip to the Caribbean Sea with promises of sun,
sand for castles, a waterslide, and buffets where they could eat as much or
only what they wanted. Our little What'sApp group buzzed with information and
anticipation.
In January we made all the right noises in sympathy with the
virus outbreak in China and prayed and hoped for the best for them. Then bit by
bit, day by day, it all moved closer to home. Still, 3 days before our intended
departure we told each other it'll be okay. No virus in Cancun. Besides, how
bad can it be to be stuck in a resort on a beach for a few extra days!
But we woke up the next day to the certainty that home was
the best place to stay. We sadly made an early morning decision to call it off
and some tears were shed. However, that made us feel terrible and guilty
knowing that all we were losing was a vacation while others were likely losing
their livelihoods and their very lives. Even the young girls understood that,
and later we heard from the 11 year old how much she had learned, things
children shouldn’t have to know, about terrible words like
"pandemic", "epidemic", and "plague".
The next frustration was trying to phone the tour company to
cancel. Patient husband spent 9 hours on hold the first day until the office
closed and the phone went dead and 5 hours the next day until we were nearly
surprised out of our socks when a real person interrupted the hours of muzak we
had been listening to.
Anxiety had abounded with questions! Should we, shouldn't we? We were firmly of
two minds for a while. Will we lose all we paid? What should we do? Now that feeling in the pit of the stomach was
relieved. Now the trip was cancelled and a credit voucher was promised - yeah!!
- all good, but an empty feeling took over and was compounded by fear of
contagion.
Every group event we were involved with was being cancelled, including
Sunday church. The kids were out for Spring Break anyways, but now there were
no promises of when school would start up again.
We went shopping for basics and felt that we had enough -
we'd be okay for quite a while. We couldn't find any hand wipes or sanitizer
anywhere but lucked out finding a little bottle of rubbing alcohol and bought
rubber gloves at the hardware store.
The next morning, somehow, enough didn't seem like enough, so
we went again even though we knew that shelves were probably going to be empty.
We decided going really early would be best so we left home about 8.15am
heading to our favourite bakery, usually open at 7, to find a note on the door
that they'll be opening at 9 while the kids are out of school. Weird!! Is that virus related?!
Then to our local grocery store which is part of a small
chain. When we arrived it wasn't too busy but by the time we left, cashier
lineups were bizarre. I know it was early and staff were busy restocking but so
many shelves were depleted! Bread shelves were pretty much empty when we
arrived but a supply came in and bread was disappearing into people's carts.
Fresh produce was spotty. Absolutely no fresh carrots - except a few bags of
organic "baby" carrot packages and no I didn't feel that desperate
for carrots! No paper products of any
sort. No frozen veggies or fruit. No fresh beef or chicken just pork, venison,
meat wannabe, etc. No eggs. We took the last 2 packages of egg noodles. Took almost
the last cans of regular tuna. When I say none, I mean the little bit that was
left was vegan or non-traditional blends that clearly weren't on the top of
most people's shopping list. Even potato chips were in short supply.
We wore our blue rubber gloves throughout. There was a huge
number of employees working, doing their best. The atmosphere was so charged
that it made me feel like grabbing and running with just about anything,
whatever was at hand, basically self protection I guess. I also found myself wanting to buy treat
things like ginger beer and chip dip and cake!
The atmosphere was charged but with a quiet urgency. Everyone
was focussed on their lists. The feeling of social distance, the lack of
chatter and friendly accommodation was evident. There was an understated sense
of hysteria even though officials of all levels of government have tried to
tell us “the sky is not falling”!
What an interesting study in human behaviour - my own! It's
really hard to hanker for carrots when my mind is still thinking about the
lunch that might have been - some grilled fish, choice of salads and vegetables
- with a view of the surf on the shoreline. And there's that guilt again - some
people are missing more than a nice lunch. And there's another thought - if I'm
not at that resort, the waiter, the housecleaner and all the rest, will not
have a job, not to mention the people employed by the airlines. At about that
time, my brain is too tangled up to even assess the web of economic woes that
threaten our globe.
God is still in the heavens and we can trust in His strength.
We can reach out and assist our neighbours and check on friends. Or
self-isolate and protect ourselves and loved ones. We have the opportunity to
do what's right, even if the best we can do is stay home and pray.
[If you are
receiving this due to subscribing via your email, you can go to the address
below to see the blog in its published form, make a comment or view previous
posts. Thanks for reading my reflections.
Velma.]
1 comment:
Great article - you said it all well.
Harry
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