On Thursday, after our first official case was announced in Rochester, I had to go to Wegmans. We had a small gathering to attend on Friday and I had items to buy for that, along with needing to bulk up on a few more essentials in case things got bad. I started noticing pretty quickly that Wegmans looked a bit different than it did when I was there on Monday. Bananas...gone (except organic). Bread...wiped out except a handful of non-store-brand options. Gluten-free pasta...two boxes of Barilla penne left but almost everything else Barilla gone. Regular pasta...almost entirely empty shelves. Bottled water...gone. Sanitizer, toilet paper, cleaning wipes...all still gone. The further I got into the store, the more disturbing it got. It started to feel like a natural disaster, or even what you've heard about socialism--limited quantities of necessities, empty shelves, and yes...long lines.
When I got to the front of the store, the lines were up the aisles halfway back in the store. This was at 9pm, mind you, which was a far cry from my normally quiet evening shopping trips. It only got worse by Friday, and by midday Wegmans announced they would begin closing at midnight and opening at 6pm (instead of their usual 24 hour schedule) in order to clean and restock. This morning there were long lines waiting to enter when the store reopened. It's pure insanity, and it's only getting worse. It's like this almost everywhere, but it's most shocking at Wegmans. After all, this is *Wegmans*--haven of grocery shoppers everywhere. And now it can't remain stocked and its ability to be always available has been broken. It's pretty sad and a little scary. I felt so unsettled after that trip because this is not the world I know.
I woke up Friday morning with a bit more peace and acceptance than I'd had, even though nothing had improved. Maybe it was just a better night's sleep. I will say that I felt a little better that we hadn't had a flood of positives after the first one, nor had we heard rumors of floods of pneumonia cases into hospitals or tons of reports of locals not being able to get tests. I know there are some testing problems, but without tons of widespread reports, I don't think we're being overwhelmed with cases just yet. If it was bad, we'd somehow be hearing about it. So I don't think things are desperate, but it's not exactly looking up either. Things have continued to get canceled and limited. Jacob's practices have no spectators, and my guess is they will be canceled soon, right along with his first few tournaments. Carter's basketball season was canceled, but thankfully we only had a couple games left. Museums and other kid-friendly diversions have closed. Little by little, we're being left with fewer options for leaving the house at all. Restaurants and stores seem to be hanging in there, but I have a feeling a lot of them will be on the brink shortly. I think restaurants have bought themselves a little time by encouraging pick-up or delivery. Our favorite pizza place has a knock-and-leave-it delivery option, and KFC is offering free GrubHub delivery for about six weeks. But I feel bad for their workers, who are probably putting themselves (and maybe customers) at risk as well. It's hard, because they probably need the paycheck and not every company can choose to pay employees when things close--though some have announced they will, which is great.
Last night, we had a super fun evening with my bible study group from church. We did a full-family get-together at the leaders' house. It was so much fun to have all four couples together just to socialize, and even though Craig didn't really know two of the couples, I think even he had fun. We ate and shared stories around the table, while the kids (mostly) did their own thing. Jacob spent some time with the other kids around his age, and Carter mostly just played on Craig's phone, unfortunately, since the other kids were all older. Of course while we were there he started showing symptoms of a cold (which in this current climate feels more concerning than it should). We thought it could be allergies to the dog, but no, I think it's a cold. At least it's more nasal congestion than the hallmark fever, aches, and cough, but still...not awesome. But we really had a great time and it felt like a last hurrah since almost everything else on our calendar is slowly getting canceled.
Late last night it was announced our county had a second positive test. I got a bit more concerned when I saw they are being treated at the hospital practically around the corner from us. When I woke up late this morning (well, after Carter's 8am visit and a little extra snooze...but with no basketball and really nothing else to wake up for, why not?), I happened to stumble across the county's morning press conference being livestreamed. It turned out that the positive was a woman who worked in a middle school in our district, supposedly as a lunch lady...and went to work sick. Well, crap. Luckily not Carter's school, but still. It's pretty awful to think about. It dawned on me as they called the superintendent up to the podium what was about to happen--and sure enough, school is closed indefinitely. But only our district closed, so of course everyone else was up in arms about their district. Over the course of the day, Jacob's school announced they'd be off Monday, but then the county closed the rest of the schools. Jacob's school then announced they would start distance learning on Wednesday for at least the two weeks prior to spring break. We're still waiting on details for what Carter might be doing. We're definitely going to need some structure or we're all going to go nuts. I'm already tired of saying no to the tablet and telling Jacob not to be on Xbox all day. Hopefully the decent weather will get even better before this is all over, because we're going to need outside time, no doubt.
As for Craig and me, it seems like we're okay to work from home, though it is not a mandate yet. However, the practicality of that is questionable. It's hard for me to do some of what I do at home, particularly without my big screen. I figured out how to use my TV as a monitor, but I may just have to bring my monitor home. But realistically, with two kids that will need an intense amount of direction and strong urging to step away from the screens and do some real learning, how the heck am I supposed to work from home and put in an honest day's work? I truly don't know, but I'm not sure there's another option.
Over the course of the day today, church got canceled, as did Jacob's confirmation class on Wednesday. That's two more things off our social calendar. Then we were supposed to see our niece and nephew in their senior musical this weekend, but that was also postponed. It's really becoming apparent how quiet these next few weeks will be. Craig's already getting stir-crazy and reorganized some of his keepsakes in the basement and cleared some things out of storage. I should probably start the daunting task of soaking and washing baby clothes for eventual consignment, since I'll have days on end at home--though I don't want to use all the laundry detergent until I know I can get more! And maybe I can get some home improvement done since those companies will probably need business and we won't have to worry about taking time off work to be home. I hope some good can come out of this time--even if it's just better work policies, sick policies, and health care considerations for those whose arrangements were lacking in those areas.
Cases are rising pretty rapidly elsewhere and widespread testing hasn't started yet. It was a tough dose of reality to hear that after four days of lockdown in Italy, their cases are rising more than ever--around 3,500 in one day, due to the incubation period. While some areas of our country (namely Seattle and Westchester County, NY--early hotspots) may be destined for similar fates, I'm hopeful we can stop that kind of rise in our area by the shutdown we're starting now. I don't think people are taking the "stay home" mentality seriously, but hopefully these steps are enough, or nearly so. This is just such a strange and scary time because there are so many unknowns, including knowing what's necessary and what's hype.
I realized today that all of the people blaming media hysteria are missing a key point--the hype didn't start here. Yes, the media were following it even when it was just in China, but China started the lockdown concept when it was clear it was a problem. Italy followed suit once things got bad there, but again, it was China's original concept to lock down, not the U.S. media. By the time it arrived here and had caused so much trouble in other countries, it made total sense for the media to make a big deal about it--although I think a lot of people interpreted it wrong, given the runs on toilet paper and sanitizer. Of course, those big hoarders didn't really think it through clearly since there's not a lot left for everyone else to stay safe, but it's not just them--because when everyone wants even one of an item they normally only buy once in a while, and they all want it at the same time, of course typical supplies are going to run out. But the fact is, it wasn't our idea to shut other countries down--they felt it was necessary--and now statistics support starting our own lockdowns sooner to minimize spread, so we're doing it. It's not like this was a manufactured hype all along. This is real and it's coming.
It's oddly comforting that we as a country--and to some degree the world--are going through this together. It's like the largest scale snow day ever--both in geographic span and duration--as we watch when other areas will fall. It's comforting when another area joins the closed contingent since it means we're one step closer to doing this all together. But how the world is going to support a generation of kids who are missing weeks of instruction, or parents who can't take time off work for their kids, or business owners who can't afford to be closed for weeks on end, I have no idea. This is such uncharted territory. I can't believe this is our reality, but we're living history and hopefully we can find our way through.
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