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Corona - what does help you? Your fears, thoughts, everything

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serious crayons:

--- Quote from: brian on March 26, 2020, 12:08:54 am ---chemist, pharmacy
--- End quote ---

What's the difference between these? I'm not familiar with the word chemist (used this way) but I would have guessed the chemist was the pharmacist.


--- Quote from: Penthesilea on March 27, 2020, 04:39:41 am --- supermarkets, weekly markets
--- End quote ---

And what's the difference here? I'm not familiar with weekly markets. (ETA: maybe they're what we call farmers markets over here? Weekly gatherings of booths where farmers and others sell fresh produce, meat and eggs and sometimes handcrafts like soap and jewelry. They're usually open weekly. I really hope they can open this summer, for the sake of both customers and farmers!)




Here everything is closed except the essentials, which I think are more or less the same as you all have listed. The big question was whether liquor stores would stay open. MN is so straitlaced about alcohol that even beer and wine are not sold in grocery stores. Sale on Sundays has only been allowed for the past couple of years (they had to change the law when the Superbowl was held in Minneapolis!  :laugh:). Thankfully, the governor has deemed liquor stores essential.  :laugh:

Newspapers are considered essential, but we're all working from home whenever possible. I've left the house for work twice in the past two weeks, and two or three other times for errands.

I went out on the 14th for a story about what was happening out there, as things like theaters and art galleries were starting to shut down but most stores and restaurants were still open. These two women had just opened a new pie shop and had a line out the door and down the street. They'd been selling pies out of a church basement for three years and had built up a big fan base -- they sold out of pies by noon. I spoke to people in line at close quarters and stood inside the small crowded shop. One of the owners, who is very warm and extroverted, was literally hugging many of the people in line. I wrote a story with a kind of wry humor -- the term "social distancing" was still brand new. The women had just received their license the day before, and this coincidentally happened to be Pi Day. "It's the perfect time!" one woman said. "Well, kind of -- except for  [blah blah blah about the coronavirus]," my story said. I noted that she wasn't practicing social distancing, that people in line were blithely saying things like "Nothing should stand in the way of pie."

"This story won't age well," someone wrote in the comments. They were right. I didn't worry much about it at the time, but even by the next day it had become kind of shocking that people were cramming into a tight spot. Now, of course, it would be outright illegal.

I sometimes wonder how the pie shop is doing. They were takeout only, so hopefully their shop can stay open and still get business.

The only other time I've been out for work is to go to a historical museum where they were cleaning and sorting little pieces of prehistoric artifacts that archaeologists had found on an island. There were three other people in the building and we sat six feet apart as we talked.

Everything else I've done by phone. The challenge is to find things to write about when nothing is open, governments have mostly shut down and people aren't leaving their homes. I'm not on the team specifically covering COVID, thank god.

serious crayons:
Imagine how much worse this situation would be without social media, Skype, Zoom, texting, etc.

As far as I know, there were no lockdowns during the 1918 flu. Just think -- people would have been stuck in their houses with no internet, no TV, no radio, no recorded music. Many homes probably even lacked books, magazines and newspapers.

They probably couldn't have had lockdowns anyway because there'd be no way to get the word out to everybody. But if they had, they'd be miserable.

 

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: serious crayons on March 28, 2020, 10:44:07 am ---Thankfully, the governor has deemed liquor stores essential.  :laugh:
--- End quote ---

As far as I know, the governor of Pennsylvania has not changed his mind about that. Liquor stores are not essential. Gun shops are.  ::)

When the governor listed gun shops as not essential businesses, some shit-for-brain tried to sue him for infringing Second Amendment rights. The state Supreme Court threw out the suit, but apparently the justices suggested the governor rethink his decision about gun shops. So now you can buy a gun in Pennsylvania, although you have to have an appointment to do so.  ::)

And, to me, the weird things is, the state is losing revenue keeping liquor stores closed because hard liquor is a state monopoly in Pennsylvania.

brianr:
We generally say 'chemist. I added 'pharmacy' to explain.  I think the word pharmacy is up on the front of most chemists but we rarely use the term in general conversation. Markets may have lots of stalls selling all sorts of things. Our Saturday Farmers market, which has now sadly closed for the time being, only sells food and it must be grown or made locally. They are very strict on that. Although locally is quite broad. I buy lamb from Cardrona Farms and Cardrona is nearly 300 km away but is still in the Otago Regional Council. Our city newspaper is considered an essential. I do not have it delivered but read on line. The big downside is the online version does not have funeral notices and I missed the funeral of a dear friend last year because my other friends in that walking group just assumed I would know. They all have it delivered. I was sad to see that our weekly free paper has been stopped.
No restaurants or cafes are open, no takeaway and no delivery of cooked food with the exception of meals on wheels for the elderly.
I have read at various times about the Spanish Flu. I know theatres and gatherings were banned, do not know about churches, they would have been more important in those days. It would have been much harder without modern communication.
Yesterday was overcast and cool, the sun came out about 3.30pm, too late for me to be bothered going into the garden. Hopefully better today -Sunday

brianr:
I have just had a discussion online with an Australian telling them that here only pharmacies, supermarkets and fuel are essential. The person asked how we could buy liqueur in a supermarket or have a car serviced there. Our supermarkets sell beer and wine. The only time I have been to a liquor store since I moved to NZ was to buy a bottle of port. Auto repair shops here are only allowed to open and repair a car belonging to an essential worker. If my car breaks down, bad luck.
Just been skyping with my sister. Her husband has a nephew, Graham, about my age, mid 70's. He lives in Prague with his Czech wife, but is still an Australian tax resident so returns twice a year and stays a few months. He is quite wealthy. His wife was out here but went home about a week before all the flights were cancelled so they are separated. She is isolated at home like if in NZ, cannot even see her sister.
One of Graham's best mates here in Australia has just been diagnosed with cancer and given only a few months. Graham wants to visit him but he lives about 100km south of Sydney in a city with a cluster of Covid19 and Graham would have to catch the train. Forbidden in NZ but not yet in Australia. Both my sister and his wife have asked him not to go.
In NZ only one relative is allowed to attend a funeral, very upsetting for Maori who always have a Tangi which lasts 3 days of the community gathering and the family sitting with the body before it is buried. It is just so terrible in all sorts of ways.

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