The television was showing a serial/soap program When Calls the Heart, based on life in an early 20th Century resource town in Ontario.
The Bad Guy has just been caught and was on his way to a larger city and jail when Yours Truly wondered if he would get time off from jail for good behaviour.
Then I blurted to my partner and wife: “Are we going to get time off for good behaviour from this COVID lockdown?”
She didn't answer, apparently preferring to concentrate on the show.
The idea of time off from the lockdown for good behaviour appealed to me, as I’m sure it does for most of us, tired as we are of being restricted to our homes for almost two-and-one-half months.
Regular grocery shopping has become a tense chore with worry: did I go down the one-way aisle the right way? Did someone infected touch that apple? Is that masked person across protecting me from their symptoms?
In our chosen grocery store the one-way aisles are opposite the route we usually take, causing me to miss some items and requiring frequent retracing of steps.
These are just tiny inconsequential matters blown out of proportion by the lockdown.
I miss the fun of being with my partner on these shopping trips.
Because of age and underlying medical causes I was to be the stay-at-home member during the lockdown until someone ran a red light and hit her car on one of those grocery runs. She still suffers from deep soft tissue injuries.
Having grown up on a farm in the middle of nowhere and having been an only child for years, Yours Truly always thought there was no concern in being alone.
Now being alone in the midst of thousands has become a depressing matter of concern.
I miss a whole lot of little things from coffee/ice cream with friends, tedious regular lab tests, social events like the meat draws at the Legion, meeting friends over Friday night supper.
Thank Heavens for the technology that allows us to connect so easily.
A benefit off the lockdown has been establishing connections with a second cousin in South Africa whom I had not seen in 30 years.
South Africa’s lockdown is stiffer than in Canada. He tells me they are allowed one trip daily outside the home for groceries or medications.
Military constantly patrol the streets. Anyone caught breaking the lockdown rules faces six months in a South African jail, which is not a nice place.
Liquor stores are closed in South Africa, leading to a resurgence of home-brewed pineapple beer and bootlegging of real beer.
Hearing about that situation removed some of the depression about our lockdown. We have it pretty good by comparison.
The limited re-opening is a partial substitute for time off for good behaviour.
Once we fully re-open there should be a rush of people to take part in all activities. Just two hitches: Who will have money to spend and how many businesses will be left to take our cash?
Stay safe and keep two metres apart.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
