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| Ed the ESD Sufferer |
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Etching of One-Armed Bandit God
With Supplicant c. 2020
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I
don’t mean to come across like I’m belittling the severity of Covid-19 in earlier posts, it’s just that death-dealing
viral pathogens get my defensive elbows out! There are hard times in countries
like Italy, Spain, France, England and now the USA with thousands of deaths,
and infection rates still going up in most parts of the world. It’s terrible,
not only the consequences for those afflicted with the disease and their
families, but because of the additional strains put on everyone with what looks
like a growing tsunami of economic disruption, already greater than the 2008-9 recession, and with many comparing
it to the Great Depression of the 1930s! Is this our deer in the headlights
moment? Could be.
And speaking of driving—I went to pick up a pizza and then went
to a convenience store to get some lottery tickets. (I’m starting to feel like that chicken in
the “operant conditioning” experiment, tap-tap-tapping all day on the red
button, hoping for my reward of GMO chicken-feed candy—AKA a lotto win—to stuff
down my gullet.)
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The warriors stepped from the jungle
and onto the beach.
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….. At
the pizza place they had the counter screened off with plastic sheets and you
paid via debit machine. A guy came round and placed your order on a chair by
the cash register. You take it and go. Same thing at the convenience store with
a new, hard-plastic screen between you and the tired clerk, who puts on gloves
for the umpteenth time. (New rule: convenience stores only for something I really need—I don’t want to spread my carona to
overworked, stressed-out clerks. They have enough to contend with besides servicing
my cheese-doodles habit! They are troopers all!
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“How long have you been social distancing?!”
(from ESD Journal) |
…..I
went to my local grocery store today. No lineup outside like later in the day.
Inside everyone seemed cool, calm and collected. Store is well stocked and
running smoothly. It seems quieter, though; I don’t here people chatting much, perhaps simply because less
people are in the store and it’s mostly individual shopping. The checkout lines
were orderly—one person at a time to the cash registers; use only store bags
(no reusables) and they don’t cost you extra. I am damn lucky living where I am
(i.e. planet Earth, Milky Way) Imagine living next to a black hole! (Hey, that’s my wife you’re talking about!) That would
be no joke.
…..Chatted with neighbour today as I was going out. Spoke more words in our short
conversation than I have all month!
Yep,
for now, it’s a Covid world, all right!
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