Living in a State of Emergency

Let me start by saying that I don't know where to start.  Like many, many other people around the world, I am at home.  My province declared a State of Emergency in the wake of the spreading pandemic.  The few stores that are open are grocery stores and pharmacies. Normally bustling city streets are eerily quiet.

To be truthful, it was a relief when the schools closed.  I work as a teacher and the school that I work for (not part of the public system) was absolutely against closing and probably would have forced us to keep working if they hadn't been ordered to close.  And no, I don't teach young children who tend to be asymptomatic or are at low risk of infection.  While everyone was madly stockpiling, I was working long hours with no time to prepare.  The mounting stress was unbearable.  On the last day of in-class instruction, I rushed out to my local grocery store for my weekly grocery run.  This is what I was confronted with.

One empty shelf after another.  No rice, no pasta.

No canned goods of any type.

No potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes.  No vegetables at all.  No onions, no garlic.  What?!!!  Who hoards onions and garlic?  There was no meat of any kind, no fish either.  Same for eggs.
Even a few days later, the meat shelves were empty at all local grocery stores.

Hmmm, I have been thinking of eating more vegetarian meals but being forced into that was a little disconcerting to say the least. 

And yes, I decided to get creative with my protein source by quick marching to the vegan/vegetarian aisles and checking out plant based options.  All I can say to that was that I was S.O.L.

Forget toilet paper and any kind of disinfectant.  Because my home is small and I live downtown, I have never felt the need to have a pantry.  I had very little in terms of basic staples at home.  Believe me it was incredibly challenging on all levels.  Even now, several days later, I have to go to quite a few grocery stores to find what I need.  At a certain point, it becomes counterproductive because I am putting myself at risk every time I go out and have to deal with panicked crowds of people and crazy lineups.

How have you been adjusting to the new normal?  It has been hard to adopt a zen attitude when the future feels so uncertain.  I, like countless others, have absolutely no idea if I'll have a job waiting for me when this is finally over.  I have been struggling to find some words of wisdom but I don't really have any except to say, "Please practice social distancing."  Do it for the sake of the humanity.  Containing this contagion will only work if we all join in together.