Last week my husband and I went grocery shopping because we were running low on a number of supplies. We went to Walmart in Simcoe hoping it was our best shot at a one-stop shop for everything we were running low on, along with a pack of wipes for a friend who has two kids but couldn’t find wipes locally on her last shop.
Even Walmart however was out of the oh-so-sought-after toilet paper unfortunately, so we were forced to make another stop at No Frills in Hagersville. They fortunately did have toilet paper, so we can comfortably stay home now without having to consider using our shower as a bidet.
While we needed to make the trip, we made sure to do our best to practice social distancing and frequent hand sanitization. To avoid touching our faces with our hands we actually used each other’s chins to scratch an itch on our faces at one point.
Both stores had taken obvious steps to help this process as well. Walmart provided hand sanitizer at the entrance, while No Frills limited the number of people entering the store at one time. Both used tape to mark six-foot spaces for waiting in line, and Walmart even made their narrower aisles one-way traffic with taped arrows on the floor.
Despite these efforts, we saw many people completely ignoring it all. They’d go the wrong way down an aisle or be going the right way and force their way by people from behind. They stand in line next to each other chatting away, rubbing their beard or wiping hair out of their face, and the man behind us consistently pushed his cart as close as physically possible without knocking the back of our ankles.
While there is no need to panic buy a year’s supply of toilet paper (or anything else for that matter), there is a need to take this pandemic seriously. We’ve seen how important this is this past weekend as the first death was seen in Haldimand and positive tests began rolling in. Our hearts break for the family that has lost a loved one, and for those families who are now anxiously awaiting to see how hard the virus hits them.
The people who were the worst culprits during our trip were also some of the people that are most vulnerable: seniors. My husband and I will, in all likelihood, be completely fine if we get COVID-19. It’ll likely be a regular old flu to us – annoying for a week, and then back to normal. We aren’t practising social distancing for fun or because we think other people are smelly – we’re doing it to save lives. We’re doing it because this virus can kill and the best way to beat it is to “flatten the curve” – to slow the spread of the virus. We’re doing it because we’re not about to gamble with the lives of our at-risk family and friends.
If you are not practising social distancing – do it! If not for yourself, do it for those around you. Seniors, cancer patients, those with heart disease or asthma or any other number of underlying medical conditions are at risk of serious complications from COVID-19. They need to take steps to protect themselves, and as a community we can help keep them safe and healthy as well.
Stay home unless you absolutely must go out. If you must go out, stay six feet away from anyone who does not live with you and do not touch your face until you’ve gotten home and washed your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
If you are at risk, just returned from abroad, or showing any symptoms – do not go out under any circumstances! Ask friends, family, or strangers on the Haldimand CareMongering Facebook page for help delivering whatever items you may need.
This only gets better if we all take action. We’re not asking you to go to war, we’re asking you to stay home. You can do it.
