Quarantine Bingo
Locally, with the shuttered tourist attractions, we’ve turned to a new source of entertainment: watching the regular press conferences from the Public Health office, letting the population know about how things are going. To be fair, that is not the source of our giggles. We take the pronouncements very seriously. However.
The method used to reach the greatest number of people in a timely manner means that we gather in front of our screens (TV and computer confounded). And, while we wait for the discourse to begin, the chat window is open.
There’s now a “Bingo card” to keep track of the inanities that scroll by, as we wait (sometimes for up to a half-hour) for the show. And given our sense of community, the comments are pointed. Personal. Where else can you get hints on the best lawn mower repair person, or learn about the sale price for a slab of bologna, over at the Co-Op? I have not, as yet, thrown my hat into the ring, but eventually.
We’d like to believe that this will all end, soon. We accept that it may not. A valid vaccine is still a mirage, and our feeble attempts at social distancing can be tripped up by a single tourist (if you believe the chat room). In reality, most of us are going to come through this without any real danger, but the fall looms large. Will schools open? If not, will parents go crazy? What if the government gets a silly idea about opening wide the gates (from viral hell), as the economy withers on the vine?
