Chronicles of the Virus Day 19
I've become my mother.
My mother lived through the great hunger years of the 1940's in Spain. One result of that was that she always made enough food for an army (and tucked it away, she and my father). The other result was that she never wanted to find herself wanting something she needed, so she always had at least one bottle, packet, bag, whatever, in reserve.
At one point we must have had about ten boxes of Tide detergent. When I was little, my mother bought Oxydol. I still remember the green box with the white oval in the middle. It cleaned our clothes pretty well and wasn't as expensive as Tide. One day, her sister-in-law suggested she buy the no-brand detergent she did, saying it cleaned well and was much less expensive.
I don't remember the name, but I remember the itch. It turned out I was allergic to an ingredient in it. My mother threw it out and from that day on bought the most expensive detergent, to ensure I never itched again. So, every time she found Tide on sale, or had a coupon, she bought a box to make sure she wasn't caught off guard without any.
She also always made sure to have an extra packet of flour. Or meat in the freezer. Or anything that wasn't perishable tucked away in the pantry. As soon as she got down to one, she bought more, from pasta to tomato sauce to frozen peas.
For many years, I haven't followed her footsteps. Only in dishwashing detergent have I done something similar. I use Fairy. It's one of the most expensive, so I buy a bottle whenever they're on sale, unless I have four or five in reserve. Other than that, when I buy something is when I run out of it. Until now.
I've become a hoarder of sorts with all this going on. The week before confinement, when things were starting to blow up, I went on a shopping spree. More than anything, I wanted to make sure we had two weeks' supplies in case we fell ill. I still do. I went shopping again yesterday afternoon. Aside from the fruit and vegetables I stocked up on, I bought more cat food (always), I bought more olive oil, more meat, more coffee, more paper towels. (No toilet paper. We still have enough. And no, I didn't buy ten packets at the beginning.)
Things are obviously not normal. Besides people wearing masks and gloves, and having to put disinfectant and gloves on your hands obligatorily upon entering the store, there are many shelves without products. Things are being shipped out, but not uniformly or on time. There was no problem with the meat section, but the fruit had empty boxes. There were fewer vegetables on offer, and the pasta section had big holes. Toilet paper is back in stock, though. But rubber gloves of the kind used in household cleaning are sparse, with only a few, cheaper types. There was a dearth of liquor in one supermarket, and I doubt it was bought by young people for their weekend binging.
There is a yearning to get back to normal. People are getting fed up with staying at home. There's a video of a man who comes out on his balcony every day to shout, "Me aburro!" "I'm bored!" Only, every day he dresses up differently. From Gila, a Spanish comedian, to a cactus, to Princess Leia. He may be bored, but his neighbors aren't.
A British family has parodied the song from Les Miserables, and adapted it to our new way of living. They are definitely not getting bored, as seen from the dedication put into the act, and the digs and whines before they begin singing. Mum and Dad must be praying for a respite.
On the dark side, a neighbor from our parish has died from this virus. He was in the hospital back in February when my father-in-law was there, and he had multiple problems. The good thing is that infections and hospitalizations are beginning to let up in our area. Hopefully, the end is nearing.
Life continues.
My mother lived through the great hunger years of the 1940's in Spain. One result of that was that she always made enough food for an army (and tucked it away, she and my father). The other result was that she never wanted to find herself wanting something she needed, so she always had at least one bottle, packet, bag, whatever, in reserve.
At one point we must have had about ten boxes of Tide detergent. When I was little, my mother bought Oxydol. I still remember the green box with the white oval in the middle. It cleaned our clothes pretty well and wasn't as expensive as Tide. One day, her sister-in-law suggested she buy the no-brand detergent she did, saying it cleaned well and was much less expensive.
I don't remember the name, but I remember the itch. It turned out I was allergic to an ingredient in it. My mother threw it out and from that day on bought the most expensive detergent, to ensure I never itched again. So, every time she found Tide on sale, or had a coupon, she bought a box to make sure she wasn't caught off guard without any.
She also always made sure to have an extra packet of flour. Or meat in the freezer. Or anything that wasn't perishable tucked away in the pantry. As soon as she got down to one, she bought more, from pasta to tomato sauce to frozen peas.
For many years, I haven't followed her footsteps. Only in dishwashing detergent have I done something similar. I use Fairy. It's one of the most expensive, so I buy a bottle whenever they're on sale, unless I have four or five in reserve. Other than that, when I buy something is when I run out of it. Until now.
I've become a hoarder of sorts with all this going on. The week before confinement, when things were starting to blow up, I went on a shopping spree. More than anything, I wanted to make sure we had two weeks' supplies in case we fell ill. I still do. I went shopping again yesterday afternoon. Aside from the fruit and vegetables I stocked up on, I bought more cat food (always), I bought more olive oil, more meat, more coffee, more paper towels. (No toilet paper. We still have enough. And no, I didn't buy ten packets at the beginning.)
Things are obviously not normal. Besides people wearing masks and gloves, and having to put disinfectant and gloves on your hands obligatorily upon entering the store, there are many shelves without products. Things are being shipped out, but not uniformly or on time. There was no problem with the meat section, but the fruit had empty boxes. There were fewer vegetables on offer, and the pasta section had big holes. Toilet paper is back in stock, though. But rubber gloves of the kind used in household cleaning are sparse, with only a few, cheaper types. There was a dearth of liquor in one supermarket, and I doubt it was bought by young people for their weekend binging.
There is a yearning to get back to normal. People are getting fed up with staying at home. There's a video of a man who comes out on his balcony every day to shout, "Me aburro!" "I'm bored!" Only, every day he dresses up differently. From Gila, a Spanish comedian, to a cactus, to Princess Leia. He may be bored, but his neighbors aren't.
A British family has parodied the song from Les Miserables, and adapted it to our new way of living. They are definitely not getting bored, as seen from the dedication put into the act, and the digs and whines before they begin singing. Mum and Dad must be praying for a respite.
On the dark side, a neighbor from our parish has died from this virus. He was in the hospital back in February when my father-in-law was there, and he had multiple problems. The good thing is that infections and hospitalizations are beginning to let up in our area. Hopefully, the end is nearing.
Life continues.
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