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Friday, April 17, 2020

a cure for the cold

This morning, I headed into the great white unknown.  Weather people said we got 12.2 inches of snow.  Important to carry out to that first decimal place so we can say, "OVER a foot!"




I've been using public transit off and on all winter.  I've mentioned here that I'm not a fan of contributing to traffic congestion.  It's one of the reasons I commute on my bicycle and plan living/working locations accordingly.



Yes, I have a car.  Yes, I have a driver's license.  I just don't particularly like driving in order to transport only myself if not necessary.  Plus, riding a bike is so much more fun.  On days when it's not, there is a very convenient bus route to/from my hospital job.






As I suspected once the lockdown order was given, ridership has gone way down, so I wasn't worried about being trapped on a bus with a bunch of breathing humans and vice versa.  This being a college town, the public buses are quite popular, and a good portion of the regulars were students.  All the schools and colleges are closed now, and I don't think there's ever been a time since when there were more than 4 riders on the bus.  Plus the buses are so clean! Grocery shopping causes more angst than riding the bus.

So anyway, there I was on the bus this morning.  I was the ONLY patron.  The driver was a trainee, possibly driving her first real route.  There was also a supervisory person riding along and offering encouragement.

It just felt kinda surreal.  There we were, three ladies on a big old bus, lumbering down the road in all it's frosty snow-covered glory with hardly any other apparent souls in the world.

As we approached my stop, I felt rather silly pulling the signal cord.  Like I should simply state, "This is my stop up next".  But I played along and pulled the cord.  We three acknowledged our appreciation for each other and wished each other health and safety.

I entered the hospital, met as always in the new normal - the nurse standing by to take temperatures.  The whole day, so far, felt like a dystopian novel.  I usually turn down the temp check, lying to them by saying I'd checked mine already.  But they've often joked that I'm taking their jobs away, so I decided to go full on dystopia and get the temperature swipe.

Nothing.

She looked at the readout and gave a little laugh.  Like, "PffffffT", then determined that my skin temperature was too cold to register.  She fanned my face for a while, strangely seeming to cool me down, then swiped again.

98.3 F and holding.

Later, in the kitchen, someone delivered a gift from Starbucks for everyone on staff.  We're a relatively small hospital, currently with reduced staffing, so this was ample:



Coffee and danish varieties all around - speaking of taking away our jobs...

But seriously, it was a much appreciated gift.  Each bag had some positive affirmations written on it.  Some might find that sappy, but it was with warm fuzzies as our small crew of four stood reading the bags...

...right before we snatched first dibs on one of the pastry bags before they headed out to the floors.






3 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

I hope you wore gloves before touching any of the bags?? The virus can linger on packaging for 24 hours! We have our newspaper delivered each day and we wait until the next day to read it. Talk about life never being the same again.

Abby said...

Joey, there is little evidence of the virus being spread by food or packaging even though the virus itself lingers on cardboard and other materials. I'm glad that restaurants are able to stay in business by providing delivery and takeout. If you're uneasy, you can wipe down packaging with disinfectant and let it air dry.



Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

I think you have a good gig here Abby. I would feel a bit safer since they for sure know what precautions to take and the correct protocol. It is eerie on the bus though. I get that! I wish I could ride a bike everywhere. Just said to Rick yesterday that I can't remember the last time I rode a bike. Except at the gym and that certainly does not count.