Tales of the Coronavirus

"So much can change in one week!" I said in my last post.  Now, only two days later, even more changes are taking place in our everyday life, sometimes on an hourly basis.  The entire city of San Francisco is on lock-down, with all residents asked to shelter in place.  And it appears that the same may be ordered for New York City.  Those are drastic measures, and it occurred to me today that, while we had basically "stocked up" after returning from Atlantic Beach, perhaps another trip to the grocery store might be necessary if we, too, would be asked to shelter in place for any length of time.

My visit to the Ingles grocery store in Cashiers was a little surreal.  As I parked my car, a man two spaces away was placing groceries in his car and I noticed he was wearing a protective mask.  As I entered, a woman was exiting wearing the same kind of mask; I thought perhaps she looked a little embarrassed.  We are normally very prudent about using hand sanitizer, but now we are being even more cautious, treating every surface (such as the handle of the grocery cart) as if it might be covered in coronavirus. 

The new rules for social interaction are calling for a separation of six feet, and I think I noticed some customers in the store giving me a wide berth as I headed down the aisles. I was startled to hear a young man stocking shelves tell his co-worker, "It's like committing suicide, coming in to work every day like this!"  And in the adjoining aisle I could hear an irate woman declaring, "They shouldn't be allowed to come in here!  They should be checking drivers licenses to make sure they are North Carolina residents!"  Calm, down, I felt like saying.  Take a deep breath!

I filled up my grocery cart quickly with the essential supplies that we had identified, including a couple of hearty meals that freeze well, like Martha's home-made baked ziti (which she is planning to prepare tonight) and lasagna.

We already have lots of flour, rice, and canned beans, but I bought some more flour and yeast.  The bread aisle in Ingles, and later at Bryson's, our local grocery store in Highlands, was completely cleaned out, which I had expected.

I sent this picture to our daughter Katy, who lives in Greenville, SC and fortunately works from home.  "The bread aisle at Bryson's today," I said.  "Two aisles away plenty of flour and yeast.  I can bake my own bread!"  It was the same in Greenville and elsewhere, she said.  She is more resourceful than many of her generation; she, too, can bake bread.  Those who depend on processed food and dining in restaurants will be affected more than we will.  Yes, we can bake bread, I thought, a little smugly.  But will it come to that?  To bread lines?

There was no hand sanitizer, of course, but I asked a woman stocking that area if they had aloe vera gel.  She pointed to the next aisle, and I found eight bottles, with a sign indicating only one could be purchased by a customer.  Others must have learned, as I did a week ago, that you can make your own hand sanitizer - one-third aloe vera to two-thirds isopropyl alcohol.  But of course,  there was no alcohol. 

I had expected the toilet paper aisle to be cleaned out, and it was.  Why people are stocking up on toilet paper is a little surprising, but I suppose seeing an empty aisle and only one or two small, off-brand packages of toilet paper left, creates the urge to snap them up, and that's exactly what I did.  I had also expected the milk aisle and the eggs to be empty, but what surprised me was all of the meat that was completely gone from the long refrigerated cases:  chicken, beef, pork, fish, all completely gone.  Similarly, the potatoes were mostly gone, but not the sweet potatoes, which are a healthier choice and in fact were on my grocery list. 

I managed to get most of the things on my list and found the rest at Bryson's, where there were plenty of eggs and also milk and meat of all kinds.  (Will the shoppers in Cashiers eventually discover it and descend upon it like a horde of locusts?)  But it was a sobering chapter in Tales of the Coronavirus, and I returned home unsettled, watching cables news reporting as the crisis expands farther and farther, thinking about all the many ways lives will be impacted.  In the afternoon I received a text from Macon County Emergency Management saying that a state of emergency had been declared, and in capital letters, NO MASS GATHERINGS OVER 100.  RESTAURANTS DRIVE-THRU CARRY OUT ONLY.  I thought of all of the ramifications that would have.

It is encouraging to hear that Macon County, as well as municipalities and states around  the country, are stepping forward and being proactive.  I know from my own career with the Town that public service often attracts some of the most competent and responsible people.  And in the midst of the panic buying and the nerves on edge, private individuals have also been coming forward with acts of goodness.  It was reported that a Houston couple, learning that a small restaurant would be closing, left a $9,400 tip for the wait and kitchen staff to help them through the coming weeks.  And Martha told me that Pescados, a take-out Tex-Mex place in Brevard, put out the word that any child (many of whom depend on school lunches and might be going hungry) can come by and receive a free taco, no questions asked.