First of all, I want to start before I get into writing by saying the phrase “The New Normal” needs to be banned from our vocabulary. I don’t think anything we are experiencing as a society thanks to this coronavirus outbreak is going to be normal. Could we experience recession or depression? Sure. Will we have a new society without sports, shopping, or basic human interaction? Nah.
That’s part of why I want to write about what I saw today as I went out in my neighborhood. This scene has the makings of old man Bill saying “back in my day,” and following it up with something that may or may not be an exaggeration. If I don’t write down what I saw, how will I be able to tell how much I stretched the truth?
Anyway, my trip out started with a stop at Costco. As I walked in, there was a line. They decided to only allow a certain number of people in the store at once in order to promote “social distancing.” I only waited a couple of minutes, so it wasn’t a huge deal. At the front door there was a list of what was “in stock” and “out of stock.” The list wasn’t of much significance to me, but I was disappointed by their lack of frozen broccoli and their organic chicken breasts (which do taste better, just so you know).
Thanks to their shopper limit, the checkout lines were practically nonexistent. It was sort of strange not waiting in line, to be honest. The person at the exit who marks the receipts more or less admitted that he didn’t really care how many items were in my cart. He had guessed 13 and saw 12 printed, and said it was good enough and it didn’t really matter. Finally, the truth comes out!
Driving down the main drag of my suburb was interesting and sort of depressing at the same time. It was rush hour on a Friday, and yet traffic was more like I would expect on a Saturday morning. Gas was $1.69 at the Shell gas station, which was actually ten cents more than it was at the Kroger. Many restaurants had printed or hand-written signs to say they were open, hoping someone would call or stop in. I just wished I could visit them all and support their business. The drive thru line at Chick-Fil-A remained unchanged-that is, horrifically long.
I ran into a friend at Walmart while grabbing a gallon of milk and some coffee filters. We talked about how our families were dealing with this mess. His oldest son and my son are really close friends, and I know how frustrating it is for them to not have Cub Scouts or school together. Our families are coping in different ways, although it appears the common bond between myself and him is beer.
For the first time in a couple weeks, my family decided to carryout food. I stopped at the new hot chicken place, and there were a few people there. A couple of folks were putting in orders, a couple more were picking up, and there was a DoorDash delivery driver there as well. Everyone was really friendly, which is a trend I’ve noticed pretty much every day for two weeks straight now. (Well, except that one guy who yelled at me for leaving dog poop in his yard. I forgot my bag-I told him I was coming back for it!)
In the end, I came home, we ate, and then went on yet another family walk. Hopefully that will be one positive we take from this time that remains even after the virus is long gone. We have gone on more walks together than at any other time in our entire life.
Maybe the phrase “the new normal” doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If we focus on the good things, it’s possible to make that phrase a sign of positive things to come. Maybe having nothing to watch on television isn’t so bad after all if it means more walks. Maybe being nice to fellow shoppers and customers could be a new path forward!
“Back in my day, we had this really nasty coronavirus going around. That year, we learned a little bit more about what was really important in this world and we started looking out for each other a little bit more.”
“Oh, and I walked ten miles in the snow, uphill both ways.”