Day 9: California Under Martial Law Lite (Meat Is Murder)

I ventured out yesterday. I needed cash. I waited until after the lunch rush was over and then headed to my local credit union. I figured I would be in and out fairly quickly. After all, with everyone filing for unemployment, how many people would be at the institution looking to do as I?

A lot.

So many, in fact, that the line was out the door to the back of the building where the drive-thru windows were located. People stood in line roughly six feet apart, several donning surgical masks. Every single one of them looking as miserable as I felt upon seeing the line. I did not have the heart to stand and wait. Not with that many people. Not for that long. Should I call the tip line Humboldt set up for those not following social distancing and cry foul? I knew some of them weren't six feet apart. They should be arrested, or at the very least beaten within an inch of their failing, Covid-19 carrying lives.

I did no such thing, but I did wonder if someone took it upon themselves to do so.

Not Arcata, but close enough.

Later, upon returning home, I stupidly checked into Facebook. The Lost Coast Outpost, one of our irreverent local news sources, had posted a video of the Arcata Plaza, which was utterly empty. The comments that followed the video were about as expected. People claiming everyone was in Eureka. Those saying that venturing outside for "frozen pizza" was wrong, dammit! And so on. Some kind soul, after seeing the vast empty space, took a moment to write that "we could do it!" Such uplifting sentiment. We could do it. We could, too.

The number of people testing positive for the virus rose to 14 yesterday in Humboldt. We can do it. New York's numbers keep rising. We can do it. The stimulus package passed and people are going to get an average of $1200 to take care of rent, groceries, credit card bills, and the ever important cable bill. We can do it. The economy may take over a decade to recover and brick and mortar storefronts may never look the same. We can do it.

The harsh reality is this: We decided since it was pay day to do curbside pick-up at Surfside, a burger joint in Eureka. A little treat for a hard week survived. Nobody was, quite appropriately, seated inside. The woman who took our order over the phone brought it out to us (no gloves, mind you), took our cards and brought them back. I almost did not want to eat it. I imagined my burger and onion rings crawling with the virus. In fact, I did not even finish my onion rings because of that. I honestly did not want to eat out anymore . . . even if I was bringing it home. Everything seemed tainted. Our brains are being reset by this social isolation and doomsday at your door coverage every fifteen minutes. Will anyone ever feel okay eating in a restaurant again if someone coughs or sneezes? I'm not sure, but I know right now I'm not feeling good about anything outside the confines of my four walls. Isolation is working in more ways than one, and that is a very bad sign.

We can do it.