Benchmarking the pandemic, by response
Slowly, I’ve come to realize one common thread to life during a pandemic. Nobody knows what is going on. Seriously. When you notice that people are actually tuning in to the press conferences, it’s because we’re all waiting for the “great reveal”.
Today, ON announced that their schools will stay closed until the fall. That’s an important benchmark, given their weight in the population. Similarly, other provinces are throwing out their projections, and as I said, it is clear that this is about as scientific as casting goat entrails. History can repeat itself; the idea of a secondary peak in the “numbers” is on our minds. We don’t want to count corpses, because someone made the wrong decision.
At least our national border is closed for “at least” another month. Hurts to be a tourist from away, but we don’t have a best practices manual.
I hope to look back, a year from now, and be able to say that it all went well. So far, my food supply (especially milk) remains constant. I don’t have to go anywhere; the shopping for a new car is relegated to some future date when the fancy show rooms are open again.
I continue to shop, virtually. No need to commit to time at a checkout, and maybe, perhaps, I’ll come across a real bargain price. I know, unlikely, but time “is on my side”. Soon I’ll be more concerned with the temperature at the beach, or the intensity of evening bugs. Minor details, compared to what the rest of the planet is trying to deal with.
