Lockdown 62

Lockdown Day 62 - 27 May 2020

Today the winter got hold of the free state, and from what I understand pretty much the rest of the country too. Wednesdays I usually have coffee@10 with the girls while in a whatsapp group call. Before lockdown we actually met at 07h00 for half an hour to download and recharge for the day. These were power moments I hope we can soon resume. The call works very well and is an excellent second best,  but I miss the human contact factor of the four of us just sitting at a table talking all at once, breathing in the aroma of espresso. And hearing the hissing of the steam and the familiar tapping of the portafilter as the Barista compresses the beans. 

Even though I miss the contact, I am simultaneously and painfully aware of strangers and the things they do, disregarding their own health and of course putting those around them at risk too. As with the coffee with friends, there are little things about life in general we just don’t seem to be allowed to do anymore, such as going from one shop to another with a trolley from the first shop which already has a bag in it (with the slip as proof) without any problems. I experienced this first hand today. First I was virtually forced to inhale sanitizer spray even before I could say I had my own. Then I was told that bag needs to be closed. It was too full to close so I wasn’t allowed into the shop. Really? Strike one.

In spite of lockdown, you still get the people who don’t give a damn about others. Like the couple behind me in the first shop. On the floor of the queue aisle the social distancing dots were hard to miss, being very clear and bright. The couple were literally breathing down my neck. And when I moved to the next dot, they moved with me, sharing my queue space. I turned around to ask them to please move away and was met with a “what’s-wrong-with-you“ look and a death defying stance. For my own sanity and to avoid an out of body cataclysm, I decided they are probably Martians who have learnt my language and dropped in to see what’s happening. Strike two.

But the best (or worst?) was when I had to use the lift to get to my car. I was in a queue, waiting my turn. I watched the shoppers get into the lift two at a time. When it was my turn I entered the lift and as I turned, three other people ran in as well. And just as the doors closed another stopped the door and also squeezed in. Really? I was in the far corner and couldn’t escape. Thankful for my space mask I faced the other people, only to find them avoiding my contemptuous gaze. Strike three. 

I was out. Literally and figuratively bombed. And completely done with this whole virus madness. Does anyone really know what is the truth about this virus? And why the world is the way it is, when  millions are still dying of other diseases there aren’t any cures for either? I found myself just sitting in the car trying to feel the way I felt when I parked in the first place. Desperately wanting to feel normal again. 

I object today against this new normal, because nothing of this is normal. Working from home isn’t normal. Wearing a space mask isn’t normal. Having to take off your wedding rings because your skin cannot take one spray of sanitizer any more, isn’t normal. And the list goes on. 

We are broken in a broken world. That is why God’s wholeness is the only thing that can bring back normal. So tonight I run into His strong tower and hear Him whisper, “at last, normal”. And tomorrow I shall get up and show up because I know I am in the hands of God who's got this.