As Stage 3 approaches, many of us face a dilemma
A lot of this column is me, essentially. It’s nice that they feel the numbers are down far enough that we can open more things, but unless I’m doing something I really need to be doing, I’ll take a pass, thanks. I’ve got my own health concerns, but I also have other people in my life who need a little more protecting than your average bear. So based on that, what I’m seeing in other countries as they reopen, that this new world hasn’t exactly been constructed with blind people in mind and on the fact that I’ve got borderline COVID truthers entirely too close to me, I still feel like all of this is happening too quickly.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready for Stage 3.
A big chunk of Ontario, including Waterloo Region, has been given permission by the provincial government to reopen parts of the economy. By Friday, gyms, indoor restaurant dining, movie theatres, live sports events, and bars, will be permitted.
But I’m still holding my breath (under my mask) whenever someone walks too close to me on the street or in the store. I haven’t had the courage to have lunch on a restaurant patio, or get a haircut.
The COVID-19 virus can produce violent, long-lasting illness. It can kill you. We still understand very little about how it is transmitted. So the thought of someone else breathing on me, even a friendly, well-meaning person, feels kind of menacing.
“Opening bars is a terrible idea,” McGinnis said.
“We have recently seen appalling spectacles of a complete breakdown of physical distancing at pubs in England and the United States. Both countries are locking down bars again.
“Just because the province is moving to Stage Three, I am staying firmly in Stage One with a few tentative forays into Stage Two, thank you.”
We know we have to come out of our solitude sooner or later and join the rest of the world. And of course we want to support our local businesses.
But it’s not without its own kind of fear. A picture of a crowded beach now gives me a twinge of nausea. So do other previously innocuous features of North American culture, like a handshake or a salad bar.
I am right there with you, staying in my own personal phase 1. Living in the dumpster fire that is the United States has only added to my caution. My state is doing better than most since we have a governor on the side of science and my county is doing great except for a little town full of science deniers. I too, am not running to get my hair trimmed or my toenails cut (cue cautious clipping sounds). I want to live to see the other side of this thing, so I’ll stay home, thanks.
We live in Ontario, which is the second hardest hit province in the country. We’re right next to Quebec, which is the first. Things have been improving in both places for the most part, but there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about what’s to come. We have our share of science deniers here too, but the worst of what’s happening here in our country doesn’t hold a candle to what I’m seeing in yours. It’s absolute insanity, and I can’t help but think that a great deal of it is almost entirely preventable. I’m glad to hear you’re in one of the safer places, at least. Stay safe and stay well.
It appears that moving where you did was the best thing you could have done. Holy craaaap! I did get my hair cut, but I only did it because Tansy desperately needed a nail trim. I haven’t seen any family, I have hardly been anywhere, and that whole afternoon I was out getting Tansy’s nails trimmed, going to the bank because I had to, etc, I was super uneasy and super scared. Not my idea of fun.