Mar 16, 2020

Melismatic Monday



melismatic ~ florid in melody

How much things have changed in such a short space of time . . .

This time last week the Coronavirus (or COVID-19 if you prefer), was just something that was happening overseas. Didn’t really affect us unless we were travelling. Now it’s a pandemic and we’re pretty much on lock down.

Schools are closed, trips are being cancelled, businesses are closing up . . . the NBA and the NHL have suspended their games, the Juno awards have been cancelled . . . grocery stores are emptying out of stock faster than you can say “toilet paper.” We’ve been told to avoid social gatherings and stay at home whenever possible.

The March Break (which is this week) has been extended by two weeks, coinciding with the closing of many family friendly venues – Neb’s Funworld, the YMCA, the Cobourg Community Centre. Several daycares have closed their doors temporarily as well, which begs the question, what are parents going to do with their kids for three weeks?

For myself, this week’s poetry reading has been cancelled, tai chi classes have been suspended, and I suspect I’ll be getting word any time now that the Stitchery Guild meetings will be suspended.

My normal strategy for the weekly grocery shopping on Fridays is to hit Walmart at 7 a.m. when it opens, then No Frills at 8 a.m. when it opens. Walmart was nightmare. I’ve never seen it so busy, even at Christmas during a half price sale. No Frills was downright terrifying. People were buying non-perishables by the case, and bottled water and paper products (toilet paper, tissues, paper towels) by the cartload.

Seriously, do they really believe buying a year’s worth of toilet paper is going to keep them from getting sick? Wash your hands, people. And stop touching your faces!

1 comment:

Ann Bennett said...

It is wild how people are buying incredible amounts of toilet tissue. We were already stocked. My mother loves to grocery shop and she has her coupons. We are at the point where I say nothing about what is in her cart. We buy some eclectic items. Afterall, she has a coupon. And toilet paper does not rot as she says. So we have about a two month supply at any given time. I have not purchased any toilet tissue to help the supply chain. lol

The only thing I stocked up on were sardines, coffee, tea and creamer. The essentials. However, I only have 8 tins of sardines. We could have an emergency. Oh my.