There are some things I don’t completely hate about lockdown
“Hi, uh, my name is Drew and I’m here to pick up my groceries?” I said into the phone, a statement posed as a question because I didn’t really know what I was doing.
“Sure thing!” said the young woman, far too cheerily for someone getting paid minimum wage to risk her life every day at work. “We’ll bring them right out!”
As the pandemic chugs into its second year and our second lockdown approaches its second month, I think we can all agree that the whole thing is and has been abjectly awful. Beyond the unfathomable number of deaths, we are all just suffering from the unspeakable weight of it all.
There is no silver lining. No bright side. Even the valuable lessons we are learning, both as individuals and as a society, surely could have been achieved without the excessive body count and what feels like endless house arrest.
All that said, there are a few things about this whole situation that I don’t completely hate and in the interest of writing about something that isn’t just “this sucks, this sucks, this sucks” for the 55th straight week, allow me to document one or two.
Like online grocery shopping with curbside pickup. Since “Lockdown: The Sequel” started, I’ve been logging on once a week, ticking off my list with a few quick searches and clicks, then picking it up the next day. Not only is it COVID-safe, it’s lazy-man approved.
Not that getting to the grocery store is a huge challenge these days: there is no traffic to speak of. My neighbourhood (and my town) has quite the postapocalyptic feel to it, what with everyone staying inside and working from home. When I do have to go out, it doesn’t take long to get there and it is largely aggravation-free.
Speaking of free, so is my social calendar. And while I do miss seeing friends and family, we have hosted virtually every birthday and holiday celebration at our house for almost two decades. And while being a good host is something I take pride in (OK, my wife takes pride in and I agree to) feeling like you have to do it all the time gets exhausting: the break hasn’t been all bad.
It’s also been a bit weird to see what happens to my bank balance when I don’t spend any money: it goes up. Without casual shopping trips, vacations, restaurants to go to, $5 coffees to grab at the drive-thru, all we’re buying is food and booze and even a little uptick in those categories isn’t enough to dent our increased savings (and yes, we’ve been incredibly lucky so far.)
But while there are some things I’m willing to carry forward into whatever comes after COVID, mostly I’m ready to get back to my previous, sometimes annoying but ultimately enjoyable way of life. Except the grocery store: I ain’t never going back.
Drew Edwards thinks potato chips ordered online are more delicious than store-bought but agrees the theory needs further testing. A lot of testing. He can be reached at drew@drewedwards.ca.