more than a little weird
The boyfriend called this morning from Vegas, where he drove for work just yesterday, planning to stay for a few days.
“I’m scared,” he said.
“Is it weird there?”
“Yes. I’m coming home today.”
I got dressed to go for a run. My exercise routine typically involves bribing myself with coffee. I run about a mile to one of my favorite coffee shops and then walk home with a large Americano in hand. I was feeling pretty good about myself. It would be my second run in a row. And then realized I probably shouldn’t be out in the world buying coffees now. So I watched CNN for awhile then ran the mile around the block and made coffee at home.
Trump held a news conference. It went off the rails immediately as he announced an interest-rate reduction to 0-0.25% -- which I think will just panic the market further when it opens on Monday. And he offered no reassurance. Or plan.
The governor of California, meanwhile, recommended everyone over the age of 65 to self isolate, ordered events cancelled for the next eight weeks, and closed bars. Restaurants are allowed to keep operating but delivery only. Gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited.
It seems like California, New York and New Jersey have come together to implement shared policies in lieu of leadership from Washington. New Jersey announced today a “soft curfew” encouraging people to stay home between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. No National Guard enforcement, which is good. But the guard is in place in New Rochelle, New York, attempting to help keep this thing contained in an outbreak area. Again, they say not for enforcement and instead for manpower and support, but it’s still happening. The east coast seems to be ahead of us by a few days in this crisis and I feel like whatever is happening elsewhere can be considered a preview of what’s about to happen here.
I keep saying lines that should be movie dialogue. But they’re real life. This is going to make a heck of a film in a few years.
I checked Amazon Fresh to see about getting groceries. Deliveries are on a two-day delay – usually I’m annoyed if I can’t get my potatoes to my door in an hour – and there’s a notice at the top of the website about slim inventories. This is all panic and not reality: domestic food supply chains are so far unaffected. And need I point out that toilet paper is a domestic freaking product?! And in other countries where everything else is closed, we’re seeing that grocery stores and drug stores are staying open.
So, hoping groceries start to make sense again in a few days, I don’t need to deal with that right now. I’ll plan to take a shopping trip Wednesday. And before I do, I’ll collect some requests from people who aren’t going shopping.
There’s a woman in her 70s who lives downstairs and she’s fantastic. While the rest of us in our 30s and 40s in this little five-unit apartment complex are occupied with our own stuff, she gardens in the communal space to keep it beautiful, takes the trash out, moves cars if they’re on the wrong side of the road during street cleaning day, and generally takes care of things when we don’t. When I first moved here eight years ago, I thought maybe she was nosy. Now I love that she keeps an eye on things for us. It’s like having a den mother. I knocked on her door and told her that California Governor Gavin Newsom is recommending she stay in. She didn’t miss a beat: “FUUUUCKKKK HIM!”
She’s solo and independent and feisty as F, and I totally get it. But, well, she’s also in her 70s. And this thing seems pretty real. I’m hearing reports of seniors at the grocery store at 5 a.m. trying to avoid people. I asked her to give me a shopping list anyway, and said I’d get her meals for her. She tells me she’s low on sourdough bread for her morning avocado toast. I’ll see if I can find some in the next couple of days. In the meantime, cooking for one sucks. I’ll make enough for two.
I’m really curious to hear real dispatches from the field. Like: what’s actually happening out there? I posed the question to facebook and got dozens of responses. Everybody is nervous. And doing what they can to cope. But the apocalypse isn’t upon us. Yet.
A sign near the Venice Pier encouraging us to maintain social distance. If the government won’t take action, people will.