Yesterday was Christmas, I got a delivery from Peapod. The texted me the night before and narrowed the delivery window to two hours. I got a text when it was on the way. I got a text when he got to the building. All done great. He came to my door, rang the bell, and left it outside. I thanked him through the door. He said, “You’re welcome ma’am.” I get that a lot on the phone. I brought the stuff in and when I unpacked I realized things were missing. Some of the things I cared most about; the meat gravy for poutine, one of the bags of potatoes for poutine, and all my snack foods for starters. I figured they were just out of these things. I was disappointed. Hours later I checked my email with the invoice and saw that all they were out of were the mini-sub rolls. Everything else should have been delivered. I was charged for them. I called customer service and got a message that they were overwhelmed and couldn’t take my call. A little later I tried again and got through. I had a 35-minute wait on hold. I found out if I had called immediately they would have sent the driver back with my things. I learned for next time. I did get credit. This is the kind of thing that will often get me upset but it didn’t. This is a challenging time for everyone. Everyone is overwhelmed. You have to cut people and organizations slack and be grateful when things run smoothly. At least I got the ice cream. I am going to have to go out now and get peanut butter, gravy, and half & half, as well as the snacks and potatoes. I have enough to eat, a roof over my head, digital entertainment, and I don’t have COVID-19. That makes me fortunate.
I had to go to the pharmacist yesterday to pick up my prescription. There are two lines to enter the store, one for prescriptions and one for buying anything else. Too bad there is no sign saying that and the guy watching the door didn’t say anything until I had already waited. I’ll cut him slack for that but not for wearing his mask under his nose. There are still so many people doing that, or even worse wearing it under their chin as a decoration. I have breathing issues because of chronic nasal congestion due to my tiny nasal passages, yet I have no trouble wearing a mask. Is it really that dreadful for some people that they’ll endanger themselves and others to not keep their mask on?
The original line I was on went in the direction opposite from the one I came from; I walked past the front of the line to get to the back. I was of course good and kept 6 feet from the person in front of me. It’s pretty easy to judge on a sidewalk, the squares are 5-feet. Two people came from the same direction as me and got online behind me. One complained to the other that I cut in front of her. They were walking behind me. I was always in front of them. She didn’t direct the comment at me, so I ignored it. The line slowly advanced and I moved up 6-feet at a time. Actually, less as other people weren’t as careful about the distancing as I was. As I was waiting for the next advance I heard breathing in my ear. The two people had come up right behind me. I turned and said, “excuse me, social distancing.” One of them got angry at me and complained that they only did it because the person in front of me had moved up and I hadn’t. Of course, the person hadn’t moved up until I after I turned around to complain. They anticipated the line moving. We got in a little back and forth. I should have not engaged them, but I did. When I was told to mind my own business, I pointed out that my health is my business. I caught myself, stopped arguing and then we were told that if we had an Rx to go on the other line. There was no other line. That meant I was in the front and went right in. I could have gone right in without any wait if I had known.
I didn’t make any phone calls yesterday. I got two! In the morning Peter called me. It started as social then we talked shop, presenting online concerts. We told our usual bad jokes and shared storied. It was too enjoyable. I got off to make breakfast, I was hungry. I did get Taylor ham delivered and it was calling to me. Only after I finished eating and was doing other things did I realized that I missed Karyn Oliver’s lunchtime concert. I have breakfast when other people have lunch. I had been looking forward to that. It’s about more than the music. Karyn’s a friend and I’m sure other friends would be watching so it would be going to a concert with friends; friends that I usually go out to eat with when Karyn plays in New York.
Later in the day John called me specifically to talk shop. Two calls in one day. We started making plans. Things are in the works. I hope I can follow through. Who is getting a phone call today? I don’t know yet. I have a few people in mind. In these structureless times it’s important that I maintain my structures; write every day and talk to a friend every day. Both mental and physical health have external element that’s random, but there are precautions you can take to minimize the risks. Writing is much like wearing a mask and exercising.
Wise Madness 