![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/lGVHQpdHQ68J3qq72L7kw-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNothing illuminates the beauty of the average day quite so brilliantly as the fear that the average day has vanished indefinitely, maybe for always.<\/p>\n
And so, on the morning after the President of the United States declared the virus pandemic a national emergency, I ventured out to see how my little world would respond to this chapter of reality never imagined in my lifetime.\u00a0 The strict government guidelines on cancelling large gatherings and restricting business traffic were a few days off yet, so I set out to see what was open, what was closed, and who might be out and about<\/p>\n
First stop, the grocery store. Facebook updates had seemed incredible, with notes on shortages, featuring photos of empty shelves where abundance had reigned just days before.\u00a0It seemed like something that happens in some sad, faraway place we have no desire to visit, yet suddenly, we have arrived there.\u00a0 Still, this particular grocer\u2014my personal favorite, Trader Joe\u2019s—was ready for the small crowd that gathered for the 8 a.m. opening.\u00a0 \u201cGood morning!\u201d said a cheerful greeter as customers filed in quietly, hopefully.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re glad you are here today.\u201d\u00a0 Friendly charm as a talisman against panic?\u00a0 It was a brilliant strategy.\u00a0 I could feel myself breathing a little easier. \u00a0The woman just in front of me at the stack of carrying baskets grabbed one for herself, then turned around, extending her other arm and offered one to me.\u00a0\u201cGood morning,\u201d she said companionably, and I accepted the basket, returned the smile, and breathed just a little deeper still.<\/p>\n
I looked around, encouraged at the sight of full produce shelves, banana bunches brightly curled in piles of riotous yellow and ruby apples nearly spilling over their bins.\u00a0Bread shelves were lined with plump, fragrant bags.\u00a0 The amiable spirit of the crowd as shoppers spread out among the aisles seemed, indeed, to help stifle any urge to snatch multiples for hoarding, and I observed no one piling carts high.\u00a0 I leaned over the freezer section to snare a particular favorite, frozen organic blueberries, and met the eyes of a woman acquiring raspberries from the adjacent bin.\u00a0 \u201cGood morning,\u201d she said with a congenial nod, and I marveled at this group of strangers, so bent on offering civility.\u00a0 Determined to respond in kind, I admitted, \u201cI\u2019m so glad to find my blueberries this morning! I was afraid they might not have any.\u201d\u00a0 For this, I received an empathetic eye roll.\u00a0\u201cPeople need to BEHAVE,\u201d she answered firmly, with the authority of a sixth-grade teacher who brooks no foolishness from hormone-mad adolescents.\u00a0 \u201cThey need to wash their hands, only buy what they need, and BEHAVE.\u00a0 Now, you have a good day,\u201d she concluded briskly, pushing her cart in the other direction.<\/p>\n
A few aisles over, I was disappointed to find the shelves for canned goods nearly empty.\u00a0 No beans or diced tomatoes for chili, not on this day.\u00a0I stopped a box-toting staffer who was motoring past.\u00a0 \u201cNo beans at all today?\u201d\u00a0 I asked sadly.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll be full on this shelf later today, closer to closing time, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said, shifting his carton to the floor briefly so he could face me.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure you don\u2019t want to make another trip, and I\u2019m really so sorry.\u00a0 We were caught by surprise by all of this, like everyone, I guess, but we\u2019re starting to get a handle on it now.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to start getting better in the next few days.\u201d\u00a0 I get it, I answered with a shrug, thinking how hard it must be to disappoint so many people.\u00a0 \u201cHang in there.\u201d\u00a0 He hoisted his carton again and grinned back at me as he sped away, adding, \u201cYou do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next stop:\u00a0 some professional attention for the toenails.\u00a0It seems astonishing now, but just six days ago getting a pedicure still seemed like a logical, not risky, thing to do.\u00a0 Is it petty to crave a pedicure during a national crisis?\u00a0 Quite possibly, but I elected to view it as fuel for the local economy, and the urgent imperatives of social distancing were a day or two away from commanding the national consciousness, at least around here. I crossed the street to the popular nail salon that takes walk-ins and is regularly patronized by nearly everyone I know. On a pre-pandemic Saturday morning preceding spring break and beach plans for many families it would have been hopeless to get in without an appointment.\u00a0Stepping underneath a large American flag prominently placed at the entrance, I pushed open the door and walked into an empty salon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very glad to see you,\u201d said the smiling proprietor.\u00a0 I followed him to a chair and caught a whiff of disinfectant as I sat down and waited for the technician.\u00a0 As always, the place was sparkling clean, and I was impressed with the careful precautions\u2014gloves, masks on all technicians, sterilized instruments– throughout the process, though I knew those had long been there and were not instituted to combat our national problem.\u00a0 A few customers trickled in, probably a dozen or so on a morning when there would have been three times that many.\u00a0 With smooth, exfoliated feet and sparkling toenails, I passed him again on my way out the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I said, and paused, gesturing around the wide space.\u00a0 \u201cI hope things go OK for you, that people still come, you know\u2026\u201d I trailed off, struggling for something appropriate to say in this unknown territory.\u00a0Nodding, he gestured in a similar manner and answered in a heavy Asian accent, \u201cWe have lots of space, we spread people out, we be very careful.\u201d\u00a0 I regretted that I couldn\u2019t understand everything he explained, but his conclusion was clear as a bell. \u00a0He paused and gazed at me warmly, looking me straight in the eye.\u00a0\u201cIt be OK,\u201d he said, \u201cIt be OK.\u00a0This is America.\u201d\u00a0 I turned to go, overwhelmed by the ache in my heart, uncertain if I smiled in goodbye.\u00a0 Ducking again under his large American flag, I felt tears welling up and trickling out as I made my way to my car.\u00a0 Whether they were droplets of appreciation, of sympathy, or of sheer terror, I can\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
And, of course, a few days later, the flag continued waving above the door emblazoned with this sign.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nothing illuminates the beauty of the average day quite so brilliantly as the fear that the average day has vanished indefinitely, maybe for always. And so, on the morning after the President of the United States declared the virus pandemic a national emergency, I ventured out to see how my little world would respond to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}