“A natural disaster would be interesting to see,” I once told some family members. “Not people dying or anything like that. I just think it would be fascinating to witness a devastating natural event of some kind. Don’t you think so?”
“No!” My family members were aghast. “That’s crazy! Why would you want to see something like that?”
“Oh.”
Apparently, not everyone daydreams about riding a boat down the street, or standing in a doorway during an earthquake and seeing if that really is the safest spot, or taking long, perilous journeys on foot.
Now, I realize such fantasies result from reading too many books. Real natural disasters produce terrible suffering, and I cringe if I see a dead dog beside the road. So my mature side doesn’t actually desire to witness a real disaster.
Not that it matters, I figured. Pennsylvania earthquakes are puny and I doubt our street has flooded since the days of Noah. We get snowstorms, but you are usually safe if you stay off the roads and buy your bread and milk.
So no big crises here— until now.
Two weeks, I wrote a blog post that briefly mentioned the coronavirus ripples starting to affect me. At that time, there was no COVID-19 cases in this state.
Now, that’s changed. There are over 70 cases in Pennsylvania now, and whether people think the problem is exaggerated or not, it’s starting to affect everyone.
Relying on the same primordial instincts that prompt us to buy bread and milk when it snows, we’re clearing the grocery shelves.
Here’s some pictures from a trip to Leola Giant on Saturday.
A woman and her daughter stopped to talk with Mom and I. “Do you know where I can buy toilet paper?”
She told us the Lancaster Giant is out of meat, and the Lancaster Giant, Wal-Mart, and Dollar General are out of toilet paper.
I mentioned Sharp Shopper to her. “The last time I was there they had toilet paper. But it might be gone now.”
Hand sanitizers were sold out. Bottled water was low. Even the baking supplies were low.
Do people think, “A pandemic! Let’s BAKE!”
That was two days ago. Apparently things aren’t getting any better.
There are all kinds of bizarre stories about the buying frenzy. One acquaintance got in line behind a man at Costco whose bill was $700. One large local supermarket reported last week was their best week ever, exceeding every sales record since the 1970’s.
One local butcher shop said they can hardly butcher beef fast enough keep up with the orders.
A local appliance store sold out of freezers (for the extra beef, I guess) and the store can’t get more freezers because the parts come from China.
My aunt Mabel from Wisconsin said her son came home and said, “What’s going on? I can’t find any toilet paper at Wal-Mart.”
A couple of days ago, Mom said, “I think I left a roll of paper towels in the barn when I washed the car windows.”
“Get it out now!” I told her, “What if someone thinks it’s toilet paper and breaks in?”
One couple at my parents’ church said they were away from home for a week, without newspapers or internet. “We came home and read the newspapers, and then went to the grocery store and saw the empty shelves.”
On Friday, the governor announced that all schools are closing for two weeks. My niece, Mikayla said “Now I wish we weren’t homeschooled!”
Some children were unhappy about having no snow days this winter. Now they are getting at least a two-week vacation, and the schools don’t have to make up the lost time.
My young co-worker, Teresa, says the joke is “The corona-children are just going to be a little denser than everyone else.”
Some people see a silver lining. “This will stop the idolatry of the sports world,” one person told my mother.
Things in Pennsylvania just took another twist this afternoon, when the governor announced a shutdown of non-essential businesses at midnight. So even as I write this, a bunch of local businesses need to figure out if they are “essential” or not.
I don’t feel like I have much to complain about. I’m not a schoolteacher or a mom suddenly forced into homeschooling. My job could be done remotely. I don’t own a business. I don’t have special trips or events planned. I live with my parents in a big house with plenty of food in the pantry and freezer. (Mom and Dad both grew up on farms. Dad’s family had no indoor plumbing or electricity. Ha, ha, if civilization collapses, I could hardly ask for better people to survive a cataclysm with!)
Most importantly, I’ve been blessed with excellent health. I really have very little to fear from the COVID-19, except I don’t want to pass on the virus to anyone else. So my goal for the next two weeks is to follow the guidelines— washing hands, not touching my face, and perhaps the hardest, staying at home. It won’t hurt me one bit.
Strange how much things have changed in two weeks.
Please stay well!
Yeah, it’s amazing how fast things have changed!
I went out for a jog Tuesday evening and the lack of traffic and closed stores was a little creepy.
It’s definitely getting quieter around here. Makes getting exercise safer.