It’s been a week since we took a trip outside the house. In that time Almonte has morphed into an alternate universe, it seems. Covid-19 will do that to you.
The streets were mostly deserted as we drove over to the east end of town. A few people were out walking dogs or kids but that was it. The only real busy spot was Tim Horton’s drive-thru – the main coffee shop was closed.
We got to the small plaza and Maria headed over to the pharmacy to get her prescription. I went to the Pet Valu store, which had a sign that only two customers were allowed at a time. They had zero, so I went inside.
That’s where the weirdness started. I had to tell them what I wanted, couldn’t go past the entrance to get my own stuff. Since I wasn’t sure what they had this wasn’t easy. I managed to get a few cans of cat food that I thought I needed, but since I couldn’t see the shelf I probably missed a few items. The clerk brought my stuff to the front, packed it up and I used my debit card. No cash wanted.
Then I went over to the pharmacy. They had promised the prescription yesterday but it still wasn’t ready. Maria wandered around the store, picking up a few items of groceries and sundries. We tried to avoid contact with a few other seniors who were there. After we got the prescription (now limited to 30 days only) we went to the front where the pharmacy clerk scanned in our items but left it up to us to pack in our own grocery bags. Again no cash wanted.
On the way home, we stopped in the deserted downtown to recycle some old telephones from Maria’s mother’s place, then moved on to get the mail from our mailbox. The streets looked like a neutron bomb had hit them. Or maybe we were just in an alternate universe. Who knows.
We are back in the house now and after the weirdness of our shopping trip, social distancing is looking better than ever. And we made sure to wash our hands.
