On the first day of the “Great Toilet Paper Run” I went to my local shops totally unaware of what was about to unfold.
I have been spending a lot of time listening to people via the internet (as all who are connected have been) recently and these are some of my reflections on the current state of affairs on the “Pale Blue Dot.”
On that unsuspecting day, one that started out like any other, I ventured out to my local supermarket of which there are two that compete for market share in my area. As I walked down the empty isle’s, I thought to myself “gee they must have had a leak in the sprinkler system or something, Oh well, I’ll just get what I need from the other one.”
Having lived in my community for near on 30 years and being a chatty sort of a person, I know most of the staff, so I asked the floor manager, “hey Colleen, what’s going on?” After her explanation, I laughed and said “watch out for the Zombies, I’ve been watching these movies for years, (hubby is a huge fan of this type of entertainment) they’ll surely be showing up soon.” I went to the other supermarket to find the same state of affairs, so I kept a watchful eye out for the Zombies.
My initial response was “oh, this is just the flu… nothing to worry about.” However once the avalanche of information started, the closures, lockdowns, fear and courage that I saw on a daily basis made me realise this was far more serious than I had ever imagined. We were indeed living in one of hubby’s Bgrade sci-fi’s after all! Still no Zombies but luckily I had gotten my toilet paper a couple of days before the event, so we would sit tight and wait it out. Surely it couldn’t last too long…
As the days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, I saw many acts of kindness and villainy, people pulling together to get through it and people taking advantage of the situation. It was heartening to see so many trying to help others and just as disheartening to hear of those being let down by the systems that have been put in place to protect us. On a global scale, we tried to come together to find solutions to our problem and it was a beautiful thing. We did as we were told (well many of us tried) to “flatten the curve” when we realised that it might be someone’s loved one that might be taken by the disease if we allowed a “thinning of the herd” approach.
My initial response was to the latter I must admit but once I realised that I could infect someone who’s immune system was not as strong as my own, I quickly adopted the “Just Stay Home” approach to starve the virus. The world hit the pause button on the remote and everything changed… or has it.
Now that the immediate threat has passed, it looks like the Zombies are coming out after all. I just read a post that said it was all a big mistake and misdiagnosis. If this is true then all the grumblings, recriminations and finger pointing will start and the chain effect will take us back to where we were before this started.
I love that the sky seems a little more blue, the trees a little more green and for the first time in my life I am actually enjoying my own company. I don’t want to lose this feeling. I do however, really, really miss hugging!
It is my belief that we never go backwards, only forwards. As much as we long for a “return to normal” nothing will ever be the same. The question is… How do we move forward without letting the Zombies take over? “Oh” and In case you were wondering, my definition of a Zombie is “a mindless, heartless, creature that feeds off the needs and fears of another living being.”
So don’t let the Zombies get you down, just like viruses and parasites, they have always been a part of our world. Some we can live with and some… not so much 🌏