Bill's Covid Journal #1
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Title
Bill's Covid Journal #1
Description
[Email #1 written to friends during the pandemic by Bill Hogan]
Wed 2020-04-01 5:18 PM
Living in a Dangerous Time
I got out today, having been cooped up for two weeks due to social isolation, and my, how the local world has changed.
Timmies now has drive-through only, with a gloved and masked person serving cheerfully. The Avondale (newspaper) has added distancing markers on the floor, plastic shields at the counter and shorter hours.
Dollarama (snacks you know--essential in a time of stay-at-home crisis) seemed to be running low on Viva Puffs, but Smartfood and creme eggs were still plentiful. No I didn't hoard up. I didn't mind bagging stuff myself. The cashier threw a hissy-fit about cash.
The Beer Store, now, was a different story. Cash ONLY, and you can't return empties anymore. (What will the beer bottle gleaners do?) The cash-out was weird, too--it reminded me of the Israeli check-point crossing into the West Bank. Yellow tape 9 feet away from the cashiers. Put your money in a cardboard box (and ID if needed) and step away while it was retrieved and change given. But thank heaven, they are still open. (I know, I know, in Doug Ford's Ontario the beer store will always be open.)
On the way to Virgil to pick up flowers at rock-bottom prices so the wholesale growers don't have to compost them all, I passed Private Eyes. Closed. I guess it's pretty hard to give lap dances during social distancing. Has anyone considered those poor girls, eh?
At the wholesale florist you don't get out of the car. You roll down your window, place your order with someone 15 feet away, the flowers are put in your trunk, and you leave exact change only. Now this reminded me of being in the English countryside during hoof and mouth disease, whatever it was called.
Since regular sources of flowers, for me the Farmers' Market or The Watering Can, were closed, I thought I'd get flowers for friends, too. But Fonthill has flowers! Not allowed to open, two places had self-serve options in vacant lots. One of them a customer of mine long ago in the barn system, copied my idea exactly! He used a red tool box with a slit in the top to leave cash in (with a bicycle chain, though). But he also added a 21st century idea. If you didn't have exact change you could transfer money by phone to his online account. Cool.
There were some masks on the streets, but not a lot. There was much less traffic. The school zone flashing lights went off at 3:15 even though there's no school and won't be for weeks. The police were still stopping speeders. Gas is down to 78 cents but there's no where to go.
The Book Depot was closed but put 10,000 books on line and offered free delivery in March.
Nigh's got Health Dept. permission to take phone and online orders and deliver out the door to your car. All their Easter chocolate was made before the lockdown.
That's the outside world in St. Catharines, in Canada, on this first day of April, 2020. This was written just to record one exact moment in time so I'll be able to recall the wonder of our world ten years from now when I start to write The Great Canadian Novel I've been forever threatening people with. By the way, when in quarantine from the plague, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth and King Lear! This will have to do for now.
In lockdown again,
Bill
Wed 2020-04-01 5:18 PM
Living in a Dangerous Time
I got out today, having been cooped up for two weeks due to social isolation, and my, how the local world has changed.
Timmies now has drive-through only, with a gloved and masked person serving cheerfully. The Avondale (newspaper) has added distancing markers on the floor, plastic shields at the counter and shorter hours.
Dollarama (snacks you know--essential in a time of stay-at-home crisis) seemed to be running low on Viva Puffs, but Smartfood and creme eggs were still plentiful. No I didn't hoard up. I didn't mind bagging stuff myself. The cashier threw a hissy-fit about cash.
The Beer Store, now, was a different story. Cash ONLY, and you can't return empties anymore. (What will the beer bottle gleaners do?) The cash-out was weird, too--it reminded me of the Israeli check-point crossing into the West Bank. Yellow tape 9 feet away from the cashiers. Put your money in a cardboard box (and ID if needed) and step away while it was retrieved and change given. But thank heaven, they are still open. (I know, I know, in Doug Ford's Ontario the beer store will always be open.)
On the way to Virgil to pick up flowers at rock-bottom prices so the wholesale growers don't have to compost them all, I passed Private Eyes. Closed. I guess it's pretty hard to give lap dances during social distancing. Has anyone considered those poor girls, eh?
At the wholesale florist you don't get out of the car. You roll down your window, place your order with someone 15 feet away, the flowers are put in your trunk, and you leave exact change only. Now this reminded me of being in the English countryside during hoof and mouth disease, whatever it was called.
Since regular sources of flowers, for me the Farmers' Market or The Watering Can, were closed, I thought I'd get flowers for friends, too. But Fonthill has flowers! Not allowed to open, two places had self-serve options in vacant lots. One of them a customer of mine long ago in the barn system, copied my idea exactly! He used a red tool box with a slit in the top to leave cash in (with a bicycle chain, though). But he also added a 21st century idea. If you didn't have exact change you could transfer money by phone to his online account. Cool.
There were some masks on the streets, but not a lot. There was much less traffic. The school zone flashing lights went off at 3:15 even though there's no school and won't be for weeks. The police were still stopping speeders. Gas is down to 78 cents but there's no where to go.
The Book Depot was closed but put 10,000 books on line and offered free delivery in March.
Nigh's got Health Dept. permission to take phone and online orders and deliver out the door to your car. All their Easter chocolate was made before the lockdown.
That's the outside world in St. Catharines, in Canada, on this first day of April, 2020. This was written just to record one exact moment in time so I'll be able to recall the wonder of our world ten years from now when I start to write The Great Canadian Novel I've been forever threatening people with. By the way, when in quarantine from the plague, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth and King Lear! This will have to do for now.
In lockdown again,
Bill
Creator
Bill Hogan
Date
4/29/2020
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This item was submitted on April 29, 2020 by Bill Hogan /Billhoganantiques@hotmail.com using the form “Digital Submissions” on the site “Documenting COVID-19 in Niagara”: https://exhibits.library.brocku.ca/s/COVID-Niagara
Click here to view the collected data.