It's making many panic, and to be honest, after reading too much social media, I too, panicked. But when I shut off the computer, phone and television, I feel a soothing calm. My family is doing well. We're eating well, thanks to simple, often Mennonite-inspired, meals that can be prepared with a little planning. We all still have our sense of humour and when I'm feeling a little too cabin-fevery, I head outside for a walk or go for a drive in the car.
I've only gone into public to do the grocery shopping once since the state of emergency was issued. We can make anything out of anything, so instead of making a menu before a shopping trip, I see what's left in the store first, then plan meals in my head. My parents taught me how to make do in a McGyvery-Mennonite way.
My 16 year old daughter is finishing up her grade 11 studies at home through an online system that her highschool set up, quite swiftly I might add! She played her cards right so she's only got two classes until the end of the school year and an optional distance learning course. My 19 year old has been told to stay home and his work as a security guard has been put on hold for a couple of weeks. (He phoned in for a day off because he wasn't feeling well and they told him to stay home.) My husband is still heading to work every day but he works with so very few people in the auto body shop right now and they have work in the shop to keep them busy for awhile.
Normalcy for me consists of studying for my real estate exam (which I won't be able to write until the college opens up), listening to the radio as I'm going about daily chores and routine, baking treats, and anything to make us feel like we're not stuck in a chicken coop.
There's desperation in the air as people are struggling to make ends meet. The unsung heroes are working so very very hard to keep this country afloat and keep our population alive. Often not thanked enough.
It's our trucking companies who get a big shout out from me. That is whom I can relate to. It takes a special kind of person to work in the trucking industry.
I have family members, distant and immediate, friends and acquaintances in the industry so I have seen first-hand how truck drivers worry about paying the bills, the mortgage, keeping their families fed and happy. I've seen the distraught faces of truck drivers whose trucks have broken down on the side of the road. Fixing the truck on the side of the road sometimes is their only option or they manage to "limp" home after a multi-day trip of deliveries while their truck is making noises as steam curls out from under the hood. The expense of keeping one of those rigs on the road isn't cheap! I've seen the anger, frustration and disappointment when they're laid over for a few days at a warehouse far away from home or far from their destination due to changes in schedule. They have an incredible need and desire to stay on schedule.
They can only drive for a certain amount of hours each day and sometimes their "off" time may be filled with other tasks other than rest or sleep so please, for the love of God, if you see a semi-truck parked on the side of the road, maybe with a driver slumped over the steering wheel, don't hold down your horn for the purpose of startling the driver as you drive by. Just slow down and move to the other lane if possible.
Right now our truck drivers can't even find a decent place to eat while they're on the road. The ones crossing the borders can't take their own food along so they must rely on convenience-store food and we all know how healthy that stuff is. You've all seen the hours-old hot dogs tumbling around on the rollers in 7-11. Yeah, that. How about those sandwiches that are vacuum sealed, with condensation dribbling around in the bag, and display an expiry date a few weeks from now? Yum. Was that mould I just tasted or am I just too damn hungry to care?
The people in the trucking industry, health-care workers, emergency responders, cleaning industry, food service and grocery stores/bakeries/butcher-shops/hardware store owners and employees are working on a day-to-day basis, praying to God that they don't catch this awful virus and worse yet, spread it to their families.
Oh sure, my generation got a kick out of many great movies involving the beloved highway tractors we know and love today. How about Smokey and The Bandit? Or even Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive? Weren't those movies a hoot!
Let's give a cheer for all those essential services that are being provided for the rest of us at this trying time!
We'll get through this! Let's KEEP ON TRUCKING!!
