Freaky Friday: The 13th of March

Friday the 13th has usually been a lucky day for me.  I was married on a Friday the 13th.  I like Fridays (even though they mean a longer than usual work day for me...but that's another story).  Growing up I adored the book Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers.  

But this Friday the 13th has got to be the FREAKIEST I've experienced.  I'll bet it's one of the freakiest for you too.

Let's start out with the fact that it's a rainy and foggy morning.  That just adds to the atmosphere that surrounds us all right now.  

Because it was raining, I dropped my son off at school.  This is his last day of school at least until the end of the month! The announcement came last night (while I was in the shower...because that's when the crap always hits the fan) that today, which had already been mandated as a 1/2 day so that the administration could figure out remote learning, would be the last day of "regular" school.  Monday and Tuesdays are "snow days" (since we had no snow...now that we've tempted fate will we have a major storm in April or May?).  Or at least they are for the students.  Teachers will be working on how to teach outside the classroom.  Starting on Wednesday classes will be done online.  I'm not exactly sure how that will work.  I'm guessing that no one's really sure how it will work.  (Who can blame them?)  We're all going to play this by ear, right?

Then, because it is Friday, my husband and I headed to our Shoprite.  We always do our weekly shopping first thing Friday morning.  We pulled into the parking lot at 7:40ish.  The lot was overflowing.  Not surprising, but consider that every other Friday when we go there are maybe a dozen cars in the lot.  I dropped off hubby and told him to start shopping and I would meet him.

It took me a few minutes to get a parking spot.  Part of the problem was that cars were blocking the aisle waiting for people to pull out.  I'm not jockeying for a position; I'll park wherever.  Wherever was what I call "the holiday lot;" that no man's land where employees park and where people who are grocery shopping on Christmas Eve have to park because everyone needs their last minute meal items.

I entered the store at the opposite end of where I dropped off my husband.  I figured I could start to grab items and meet him along the way.  Since we have an app for our list, I could see what he had picked up and what he hadn't gotten to yet.  I grabbed a loaf of bread and a pack of tissues (just in case; you know if you run out of toilet paper you can use tissues or paper towels or a variety of products) and search for him.  BUT, the store is packed AND it's in the process of being renovated.  Which means even on a good day, people are wandering around confused.  Confusion, items being sold out (or limited quantities allowed for purchase) and general panic made for an interesting shopping experience.  

I do want to say that despite the store being PACKED to the gills, people were still generally courteous.  (There IS hope for humanity.)  While my husband stood on a line, I did some more running to pick up extra items.  I asked the woman in front of him in line if she needed anything that I could get.  (She didn't).  Nearly all the check-out aisles were manned (even the self-service had a couple of employees around to help out).  A woman who was two people ahead of me was told she could only buy 2 containers of disinfecting wipes, I immediately took them (because I couldn't find any) and shared one with a woman in a different line.  Kindness and courtesy still DO have a place in our world.  

After this freaky Friday, the days, weeks and months to follow are sure to be just as strange as we all adjust to a new way of life.   A life where virtual classrooms will be the norm.  Where more people will work off site than on.  Where beloved diversions from life such a sporting events, concerts and plays will be on hold.  When the happiest place on earth (Disney) is closed (and for more than just a day, which was the case after 9/11) life is definitely off kilter.  But we WILL get through this.  Just as we have gotten through other challenges in history, we WILL get through this.  Life will NOT be the same, but maybe that's a good thing.  Maybe because illness knows no race, religion or gender we will realize how we are ALL of one race.  We have our differences, but we CAN work together.  Maybe as we share our hand sanitizers and rolls of paper towels, we will continue to share more.  As strange and awful as this situation may be, we have the opportunity to become better people.

Let's learn from this freaky Friday and come out as a united race that is compassionate and cares for our world.